Fox Chapel, Plum baseball teams meet again with high stakes

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 6:04 PM

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It is becoming an annual tradition that the Fox Chapel and Plum baseball teams meet in the final section series with something on the line.

This is the fourth year in a row that there’s playoff implications for their two-game set.

Fox Chapel and Plum are 8-2 in Section 1-5A, one game behind Penn-Trafford, which is in the pole position for the section title. However, if the Warriors stumble against Franklin Regional next week, Fox Chapel or Plum could end up winning a section championship.

“It has always been a rivalry, but I think it’s become bigger over the years, because of what’s been at stake,” Fox Chapel coach Jim Hastings said. “They’re always tight games that could go either way. They’re a well-coached team that plays fundamentally sound, so we know we have to play good baseball to beat them.”

This year’s series starts Monday at Plum and moves to Fox Chapel on Tuesday.

Fox Chapel and Plum have split each of the last three years. Plum has had walk-off wins twice in 2021 and last year to earn splits and, in the process, win a section title.

“It feels like it always means something, but that’s a good thing because it means both teams are playing well,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer said.

Fox Chapel has won seven in a row, including a win over Class 6A Pine-Richland and most recently a section series sweep of Armstrong.

Plum has won seven of eight and also has a win over a 6A opponent, North Allegheny. This week, the Mustangs swept Franklin Regional, which previously had only one loss in section play.

“I feel like both teams are coming in with momentum, so it’s going to be a clash of two teams that are playing well,” Vollmer said. “It’s going to come down to who executes the best. Both teams have good talent and good arms. A lot of times in games like this, it comes down to someone making a mistake and it being exposed by the other team.”

Both games should feature excellent pitching matchups.

Plum has seniors Erik Streussnig and Colin Watson as experienced starters with other capable arms in the bullpen if needed. Both picked up wins in the Franklin Regional series. Streussnig has a 2.66 ERA.

Fox Chapel lefty Jeremy Haigh, a junior, has been one of the better pitchers in the WPIAL over the last two years and carries a 1.32 ERA with 42 strikeouts. Blake Krushinski, a sophomore, has been strong as a starter as well, pitching to a 3.80 ERA. Senior Christian Wilkinson is the closer and has a 0.47 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings. Another reliever, Justin Ling, has not allowed an earned run in 13 innings.

The Foxes scored 22 runs in two games against Armstrong, had six runs in the win over Pine-Richland and 10 against Deer Lakes.

“I think we’ve played well all year, and we’re 13-3 for a reason,” Hastings said. “We’ve had really good pitching all year long, and recently our bats have started to heat up a little bit. We’re starting to really hit the ball. I don’t know if it’s the weather or playing consistently throughout the week, but we’ve played good baseball.”

Jack Anderson has led the way offensively for Plum, hitting over .400. The Mustangs put up 19 runs against Franklin Regional. Daniel Macioce also had a good series against Franklin Regional, and Vollmer said there were contributions throughout the lineup. He knows they’ll need a similar effort against the Foxes.

“The goal is to go out and play clean baseball,” Vollmer said. “We know we have to make good decisions at the plate, get ourselves into good counts and do damage when we get a chance. Not miss those pitches when we have an opportunity because I don’t think we’re going to get a ton of opportunities with the pitching staff they have.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Fox Chapel, Plum