Parker Lind wins pitchers’ duel as Belle Vernon blanks Beaver in Class 4A quarterfinals

By: Liam Belan
Monday, May 19, 2025 | 11:16 PM

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Deep into the WPIAL playoffs, coaches often say strong pitching and defense are mandatory to win games.

During Monday’s Class 4A quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 Beaver and No. 5 Belle Vernon, two Division I pitchers faced off, and while Ty Butler was great for the Bobcats, Parker Lind stole the show in a 5-0 victory for his Leopards.

Lind hit the 105-pitch limit just short of recording the final out of the ballgame. In 6 2/3 innings, the Kent State commit surrendered three hits, all to Beaver’s Maddox Tanner, and three walks with 11 strikeouts.

“He was vintage Parker today,” Belle Vernon coach Tony Watson said. “He mixed up his pitches, got ahead in counts, got out of a tough jam early on, and after that, our bats woke up and we gave him a little cushion to work with.”

The defense behind him was on point as well, with the Leopards (16-6) posting no errors during an extremely clean game overall.

Lind outdueled Butler, a Gardner-Webb commit, as Beaver’s ace went five innings and gave up five hits, three runs and three walks with six strikeouts. The Bobcats (11-9) committed two errors behind him.

“Lind was dealing out there. I tip my cap to him because he had a really good game,” Beaver coach Michael Mabin said. “Butler was Butler for us as well, so it was a pitchers’ duel. We hit some good hard balls in the first inning. Ty tried to help himself with a long fly ball in the gap that just held up and didn’t quite get out on the warning track.

“We hit a couple of nice line drives throughout the game; one was a nice diving catch by their center fielder (Kole Doppelheuer), and we just couldn’t cash anything in or get any momentum. They were able to cash in on a few defensive mistakes that we made, so I tip my cap to them.”

Early on, both offenses were struggling against the pitchers, but Belle Vernon was first to figure things out.

Butler mowed through the Leopards in the top of the first with a game-opening strikeout, flyout and groundout to put the Bobcats on offense. After plunking the first batter that he faced, Lind wasted no time getting three outs on a fly out and two strikeouts. Maddox Tanner, who was hit, made it as far as third base, but Derek Hughes and RJ Sebek whiffed to strand him there.

The Leopards had more success against Butler in the second but ended up leaving two runners on the basepaths. After two strikeouts, Alonzo Wade notched the first hit of the game with a slow roller perfectly up the third-base line that Tanner couldn’t make a play on. He then advanced to second on an error from Sebek at first as he unknowingly lost the baseball trying to apply a tag on a pickoff attempt, allowing Wade to easily take second.

That gave Zach Plymire an opportunity with a runner in scoring position, and after going down 0-2, he managed to draw a walk and bring Chace Petrosky to the plate. In his battle with Butler, it was the pitcher who won after Petrosky took three strikes looking for the inning-ending out.

In the bottom of the second, Lind surrendered a walk but tacked on three outs around it to move things to the third, where his squad managed to score the first run of the game.

Jaden Johnson opened that frame by reaching first on an error. Doppelheuer bunted him over to second before Lucas Judy grounded out on a play that scored Johnson.

Judy sent a dribbler to Sebek, and Butler went to cover first base perfectly for an out, but he lost track of Johnson, who broke for home plate. By the time he turned and fired to catcher Tyler Kisling, Johnson was sliding into home to give Belle Vernon a 1-0 advantage.

Tanner managed the first hit for Beaver during the home half of the third, but Lind racked up two strikeouts and a groundout to again keep the Bobcats at bay. From there, the Leopards came up big with two outs and added to their lead.

Seth Tomalski opened the fourth with a popout before Wade drew a free pass. Plymire dropped a bunt to move him to second before Petrosky walked as well, setting up Johnson with two runners on and two down.

Johnson came up clutch with a roped single to right that managed to score both runners, giving Belle Vernon a 3-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth.

That was when the Bobcats threatened to get on the board despite no hits. Sebek reached first on a dropped third strike but was then out on a fielder’s choice. Two walks later, the bases were loaded with two outs for Braylon Chontos, but Lind took four pitches to strike him out and leave three Bobcats on the basepaths to keep the lead.

After a scoreless fifth, the Leopards notched two hits in the top of the sixth to add to their advantage. Derek Hughes replaced Butler on the mound and gave up a single to Plymire before picking up two outs. Then, after Plymire advanced to second on a wild pitch, Doppelheuer brought him in with a single to make it 4-0.

“Our goal was to work the count and get to their secondary pitching, and that’s exactly what happened,” Watson said. “I thought we played real well defensively. Top to bottom, everybody was into the game and engaged from the first pitch all the way to the last.”

Beaver went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth and Wade singled for his second hit of the game to make it 5-0 in the seventh. Lind got two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh before giving up his third hit to Tanner, and he was forced to leave the mound for Ian Porter. Porter came through and forced a flyout to end the game at 5-0.

Now, the Leopards will move on to play the winner of Monday night’s game between No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Ambridge in the WPIAL semifinals Tuesday.

As for the Bobcats, their season has come to an end after splitting the Section 1-4A title with Blackhawk.

“We’ve got three great seniors in Ty Butler, Ty Kisling and RJ Sebek,” Mabin said. “They’re just a bunch of leaders, and my heart goes out to them. I know this isn’t the way that they wanted this to end, but I know all three of them are going to do excellent in life. They’re fine young men, and I’m excited to see what their next chapter brings. We’ve got two of them playing ball collegiately, and we have another one going off to college to start his career as well, and I expect nothing but the best from those three.”

Tags: Beaver, Belle Vernon