Missed opportunities prove costly for Plum baseball team

By: Michael Love
Saturday, May 28, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum baseball team was no stranger to a close game even before it played its WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff game against No. 6 Shaler on May 17 at North Allegheny.

The 11th-seeded Mustangs battled to keep their season alive, but the Titans were just that much better in a 4-2 victory which ended Plum’s season.

“It was a microcosm of our season,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer said.

“It was a very good, close game against a really strong team in Shaler. They showed that all year. I felt we had a number of opportunities to win that game. We just fell a little bit short.”

Shaler saw its own 2022 spring season close one game later with a 6-5 loss to No. 3 West Allegheny in the quarterfinals.

Senior infielder Silvio Ionadi collected a double for Plum in the playoff setback, and Titans pitcher Derek Leas struck out 10.

Plum went 8-4 in Section 2 and all four losses — one to Fox Chapel, one to Hampton and both games against Mars — were decided by just one run.

“We had opportunities in all of them,” Vollmer said.

The other two losses in the regular season came against two of the top teams in Class 6A — Central Catholic, 5-2, and North Allegheny, 12-2.

“I think we were a few hits away from having a really special season,” Vollmer said.

“Our execution at times could’ve been a little bit better. It just didn’t happen this year. That’s baseball. Things just didn’t break our way, I suppose. We were right there and competed in every game, regardless of opponent.”

Vollmer said the team struggled to score runs at times throughout the season. It tallied two or fewer runs in a game eight times.

“That, at times, put a lot of pressure on the defense and the pitching,” he said.

“In a number of games, we gave ourselves very little margin for error. We were hanging on every pitch, and that is a tough way to go through a season. We are going to continue to work on building our offense more while keeping our defense and pitching at a high level.”

The pitching staff, paced by the efforts of senior Justin Giarrusso, finished the season with a team earned-run average of 2.07.

Giarrusso’s ERA was 0.65, and he picked up three victories in nine appearances en route to second-team all-section honors.

“Our pitching was tremendous all year long,” Vollmer said.

“Justin Giarrusso wasn’t recognized to the level he should’ve been. His season was phenomenal. He only gave up 11 hits in section play. How he didn’t make all-section (first team); I really feel it was wrong. I firmly believe he was the best pitcher in our section.”

Senior pitcher/first baseman Colin Solinski, junior pitcher/infielder Caden Norcutt, sophomore pitcher/infielder Colin Watson, and junior pitcher/outfielder James Rumcik also recorded wins as the Mustangs finished 12-7 overall.

Ionadi, along with junior outfielder Brady Dojonovic, were named to the all-section first team.

Ionadi led the team in batting average (.386), doubles (9), home runs (2), total hits (23) and runs scored (16) while finishing second in RBIs with 11.

Dojonovic batted .343 with 11 runs scored.

Solinski, who led the team with 16 RBIs, joined junior Caden Norcutt as third-team picks.

Ionadi, Giarrusso and Solinski closed out their Plum varsity careers, along with fellow seniors John Ioannou, Brett Kelly, Jake Bell, Cameron Wickline, Joshua Gentile and Joshua Tedrick.

“We’re going to really miss all of these seniors,” Vollmer said.

“They all brought their own elements to our team. At the same time, the future is really bright.”

Dojonovic and Norcutt will help form the core of next year’s team with the likes of juniors Nick Lamia (.325), Carson Svidron (.318) and Logan Kemmerer (.295).

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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