Leechburg baseball team making presence felt loud and clear

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, April 13, 2023 | 8:58 PM

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Leechburg baseball coach Heath Shimer looked at his roster coming into the season and knew the potential was there for success.

“I have seven seniors that start and I’m thankful, but I also realize that we have to make noise this year,” Shimer said. “When you have seven seniors that are contributing every day and putting the work in … it’s now or never.

“They’ve been playing together since they’ve been in second or third grade, so it’s like a big brotherhood, to be honest.”

So far, the Blue Devils have put themselves in position to make the noise Shimer wants to make.

They are 5-4 overall and 4-2 in Section 2-A.

The seven seniors are Collin Cook, Braiden Turiak, Logan Kline, Owen McDermott, Tyler Burke, Matt Curfman and Eli Verner.

Two of them will play collegiately. McDermott is headed to Mount Aloysius, and Burke is going to Bethany.

All seven are a part of an offense that has scored more than 10 runs four times and averages nearly 11 runs a game.

McDermott, Turiak, Chase Henry, Rocco Vigna, Burke, Curfman and Verner all hitting above or nearly .300. McDermott, Turiak and Henry are in the .500 range. McDermott has belted 11 doubles.

“We can hit one through nine, and it becomes contagious,” Shimer said. “Chase Henry is a sophomore batting leadoff for us, and he is just killing the ball. Then we got Braiden Turiak hitting well, and Owen McDermott, who can put the ball wherever he wants. Matt Curfman is hitting double after double, and Logan Kline hit one out of the park (Wednesday), so he’s hitting seeds now, too. The guys just want to hit rockets and keep advancing on the bases.”

Leechburg’s two losses in section play came against two-time defending WPIAL Class A champion Union. The Blue Devils lost the opener 4-2 at Union and a 17-16 heartbreaker the following day at home.

Though his team lost both, Shimer felt the Blue Devils showed they can play with the best Class A has to offer.

“I wish we could’ve played Union the second-to-last or last week of the year, so it could have had a playoff-type feel, but that’s not how the schedule worked out,” Shimer said. “I think we did well. I look at it this way: Sometimes you lose battles, but you win wars. I hope that comes true. (Union) coach Bill (Sanders) told me, ‘I wish you guys luck, but I don’t want to see you in the playoffs.’ ”

McDermott and Burke have led the Blue Devils on the mound. Burke pitched a one-hitter in a win over Summit Academy on Wednesday. Both sport ERAs under 3.50.

One area Shimer said the team needs to clean up in the pitching department is walks and hit batsmen. Those two unforced errors came back to bite them in the losses to Union.

Shimer believes the team can remedy both issues as the season goes on.

“That’s a plague we have to kill,” Shimer said. “That’s something we’ll figure out, though.”

Leechburg continues section play next week with St. Joseph. The Blue Devils have a big section series the final week of the season against Rochester, which is undefeated in Section 2-A at 4-0 along with Union.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

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