No. 1 Pine-Richland turns tables on Latrobe, rallies for 1-run win in WPIAL 5A quarterfinals
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Monday, May 19, 2025 | 9:38 PM
Pine-Richland celebrates with Drew Boivin after he drove in the winning run against Latrobe in the bottom of the seventh inning during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Pine-Richland’s Austin Cwynar scores the winning run to beat Latrobe during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Pine-Richland’s Anthony Mengine scores against Latrobe during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Latrobe starting pitcher Cole Short throws against Pine-Richland during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Latrobe’s Andrew Hantz tracks down a ball hit by Pine-Richland’s Drew Boivin but was deep enough to score Austin Cwynar on a sacrifice fly for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Latrobe’s Mason Leonard dives for a ball hit by Pine-Richland’s Logan Plummer during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Latrobe’s Luke Nipar-Smith hits an RBI single against Pine-Richland during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Latrobe’s Jack Stynchula can’t handle a throw as Pine-Richland’s Anthony Mengine gets to third during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Pine-Richland’s Anthony Mengine can’t hang on to a ball hit by Latrobe’s Eli Boring during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Pine-Richland’s Drew Boivin track down a ball hit by Latrobe’s Andrew Hantz during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Plum High School.
Usually, it is Latrobe finding ways to win one-run baseball games.
But it was top-seeded Pine-Richland that captured some late drama against the Wildcats on Monday in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals, using a last-inning rally to win its second straight one-run game and advance in the playoffs.
Drew Boivin delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to score Jake Waddell for an 8-7 walk-off victory at Plum.
Pine-Richland (19-3) will have a quick turnaround as it takes on the winner of No. 4 Bethel Park and No. 5 Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Plum. The Rams also clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs.
Ninth-seeded Latrobe, which played in its ninth one-run decision of the season, is finished at 15-7.
“We’ve played so many grind-it-out games and scrimmages (against Latrobe),” Pine-Richland coach Kurt Wolfe said. “We expected another fistfight with them.”
Boivin, the starting pitcher who was chased in the second inning after Latrobe went ahead 3-1, rallied to provide late heroics.
“I knew I needed a selfless at-bat,” he said. “I just wanted to hit something deep. We have a very resilient team, and we’re unselfish. The whole team came back and supported me.”
Pine-Richland also rallied from deficits of 6-3 and 7-5 before finally getting past the Wildcats, who edged Fox Chapel, 2-1, in the first round. In 2023, Latrobe upset 4A No. 1 seed Montour.
Latrobe bumped up to 5A this season and remained in its usual playoff form but could not hang on.
“That was a great high school game,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “This one stings. It hurts. But I couldn’t be more proud of our guys with the fight they have shown.”
Latrobe brought in Joe Razza in relief of starter Cole Short (106 pitches) in the bottom of the sixth with a 7-5 lead.
Anthony Mengine ripped an RBI single to cut the deficit to 7-6, and Short issued a walk to Logan Plummer to load the bases.
Razza got Sam Heckert to ground into a fielder’s choice to cut down the threat and preserve a one-run lead.
“We were confident coming up after that,” Basciano said. “We were confident we could do it. Credit to Pine-Richland as the No. 1 seed.”
But the Rams weren’t done. After Latrobe left two on in the top of the seventh, Ben Husted led off with a walk and Waddell singled to right, with Husted reaching third.
Anthony Annichine followed with a single down the right-field line to tie it 7-7.
Pinch-runner Austin Cwynar stole second, and Tanner Cunningham walked to load the bases for Boivin.
“Drew didn’t have the game he wanted on the mound,” Wolfe said. “He came up and took a big swing. I told him to shorten it up and put the ball in play. That’s what he did.”
Boivin was tackled by teammates in shallow right field after the winning run scored, ice from a Gatorade cooler spilling onto the turf.
Mengine went 4 for 4 with a double and RBI in the win. Logan Plummer, who also pitched in relief, hit a two-run homer, and Husted, Anthony Annichine and Heckert each had two hits for the Rams.
“We can win in different ways,” Wolfe said. “We weren’t at our best … We gave them 10 baserunners and made two errors. But the sticks came out today.”
Luke Nipar-Smith had a four-RBI day for the Wildcats, his two-run single making it 3-1 in the second.
Husted tied it with a two-run double in the third before Eli Boring’s groundout and Nipar-Smith’s infield single knocked in runs for a 5-3 lead in the fourth.
Andrew Hant made it 6-3 in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, but Mengine doubled in the fifth before Plummer smacked a two-run shot to right, trimming the margin to 6-5.
“That woke us up and got us going,” Boivin said.
Latrobe went ahead 7-5 in the sixth on a precisely placed bunt by Cole Short, who reached on an error, allowing Boring to score after he also reached on an error.
Keegan Deihl, the Rams ace, came on in relief in the seventh and earned the win. He recorded a strikeout and a flyout.
“No, we weren’t saving him,” Wolfe said when asked by Deihl did not start. “We’re not saving anybody. He was on four days’ rest after throwing (over) 100 pitches.”
Plummer and Tristan Farrar also pitched for the Rams.
“We’re starting to show our two-way guys late in the season,” Boivin said. “This was my second game in the outfield. Logan Plummer also showed he is a two-way player today. Tanner Cunningham, too.”
Leadoff hitter Brody Rumon was 3 for 5 for the Wildcats, and Cooper Basciano went 2 for 2 with a double. Rumon and Basciano are two of 11 seniors who played their last game in Latrobe orange and black.
Pine-Richland, which clipped No. 16 Trinity, 1-0, in the first round has won 15 of its last 16 games.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Latrobe, Pine-Richland
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