Hempfield shows depth in WPIAL quarterfinal triumph over Pine-Richland

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | 9:36 PM

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Ground balls sure kept Hempfield first baseman Justin Sliwoski busy, which was exactly what pitcher Jake Anderson had wanted.

“Throw low, throw strikes and get them to roll over ground balls,” said Anderson, who forced nine groundouts in Tuesday's 9-1 victory over defending champion Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals. “They hit seven groundballs to our first baseman, so that's pretty good.”

No. 6 seed Pine-Richland (14-7) has a lineup with good left-handed hitters, so their grounders came quickly Sliwoski's way. Combined, the Rams managed just five singles against Anderson, who threw all seven innings and finished with a pitch count in the low 90s.

The right-hander relied on his defense, and his teammates played error free behind him on the artificial turf at West Mifflin.

The win advances No. 3 Hempfield (16-5) to face No. 10 North Allegheny (12-10) on Wednesday in a 7 p.m. semifinal at Upper St. Clair's Boyce-Mayview Park.

Keyed by the bottom of its batting order, Hempfield had three big innings Tuesday with three runs in the second, four in the fourth and two in the sixth. Tyler Dancu and Tommy Katonka, the Spartans' Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, went 3 for 5 with a walk, a double, three runs and three RBIs.

“That's kind of what we've liked about it all year, just the depth of the lineup one through nine,” Hempfield coach Tim Buzzard said. “Different people stepped up at different points.”

Leadoff hitter Nick DiAndreth reached base three times, drove in two runs and scored twice.

Nine runs were plenty for Anderson, who allowed four hits and a run in a tough first inning before cruising through the final six scoreless. Pine-Richland had just one hit after the first inning.

“I took a little more off the speed (after the first inning) and just worked on locating pitches,” said Anderson, who walked two, struck out three and hit one batter.

It was a solid outing for a pitcher who hadn't thrown a meaningful inning in about two weeks. Hempfield, which drew a first-round bye, last played May 9. In that 13-day wait, Anderson threw only three innings in a scrimmage.

“He wasn't as sharp as he's been, but he was still great,” Buzzard said. “He definitely had to battle more than he has of late, but he's a competitor. He held a really good lineup to one run.”

Anderson throws strikes, so Pine-Richland wanted to be aggressive but also wait for the right pitch, coach Kurt Wolfe said. There's no need to chase a strike on the outside corner when there will be others near the plate.

“I thought we did a good job of that early,” Wolfe said, “and then we got away from that a little bit in the second inning. Once they took the lead, then you know how it is. Kids try to do too much, and then we just completely got away from our game plan.”

Hempfield collected 10 hits and three walks off three Pine-Richland pitchers. Katonka, who bats ninth, showed the team's depth.

He entered with just two hits this season and a .077 batting average while recovering from an early-season broken hand. But the right fielder reached base twice, had two RBIs and scored a run.

“I started out the season pretty awfully,” Katonka said, “so for the playoffs, I had to do something.”

Katonka drew a key two-out walk in the second inning, and DiAndreth followed with a go-ahead, two-run single to lead 3-1.

In the fourth, Katonka drove a two-run single up the middle that gave Hempfield a 5-1 lead and chased Pine-Richland starter Matt Schietroma.

“I'm not surprised at all. He's been swinging the bat great,” Buzzard said. “He unfortunately had a bad break, literally, at the beginning of the year.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Hempfield Area, Pine-Richland