Valley baseball holds off Shady Side Academy for key section win

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, April 23, 2018 | 9:24 PM

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Jim Basilone had a look of satisfaction on his face after Valley's 4-3 victory at Shady Side Academy on Monday.

The Vikings coach knew his players had just gutted out an important Section 1-3A triumph that kept them at the top of the standings with Steel Valley and Burrell.

“A thing I like about this team is that they keep battling every inning, no matter what is the situation,” Basilone said.

“They didn't quit or give up. We always talk with the guys about maintaining their focus. They don't let anything that happened in the past affect what they still have to do.”

Valley scored twice in the first and third innings to lead 4-0 before Shady Side made it close down the stretch.

Steel Valley and Burrell scored double-digit shutout victories Monday to stay atop the section standings with 5-1 records. Valley's triumph also put it at 5-1 as the second half of section play has begun. The Vikings will visit Steel Valley on Wednesday in a rematch of a 5-4 Valley win on April 11.

Freshman Cayden Quinn pitched into the sixth for Valley. He gave up a walk to lead off the frame before giving way to Shane Demharter.

Demharter got one out before surrendering a single to No. 8 hitter Matt Wellstead.

Wellstead was gunned down by Valley catcher Jake McNabb on a steal attempt for the second out, but the Indians drew three straight walks. The last one by John Salvitti pushed a run across the plate to trim the Valley advantage to 4-3.

With the bases still loaded, Demharter went 2-0 on No. 3 hitter Luke Keenan before battling back and getting the designated hitter to pop out to second to end the threat.

“It was the first time Shane pitched this year,” Basilone said. “He was a little nervous, but he got the job done when it counted. He kept battling.”

Mike George singled for the Indians to lead off the bottom of the seventh against Vikings reliever Andrew Serakowski. Heath Newman laid down a sacrifice bunt to move George to second.

With the tying run in scoring position, Serakowski induced a pair of slow-rolling grounders to snuff out the Shady Side rally and end the game.

“For Andrew to come in and shut the door like he did, not giving up a square pitch to hit, it was good to see,” Basilone said.

Serakowski earned the save for Quinn, who gave up four hits and two walks while striking out five. Quinn had surpassed the 90-pitch mark when he left the game. He gave up an Ethan Critchlow bloop single to shallow center in the bottom of the third to plate the Indians' first two runs.

“This was a big win for us,” Quinn said. “It makes us look good in the playoff picture. It also helps us as a team. (It) brings us closer together.”

Only one of the runs was earned in the bottom of the third as a result of a fielding error.

“Cayden threw a lot of first-pitch strikes,” Basilone said. “That was big. He showed a lot of maturity.”

Shady Side left 10 runners on base. The Indians had runners on first and second with no outs in the second and fifth innings and didn't score.

“That was a tough one,” Shady Side Academy coach Jordan Steranka said. “We had opportunities. We got guys on. We did our job getting on base. We were just looking for that one extra big hit. A number of guys were putting a little too much pressure on themselves. But give Valley credit. They made the plays when they needed to.”

Eli Ferres came up big at the plate for Valley in the top of the third. With two outs and two on, Ferris doubled home both runners to extend the Vikings' lead to 4-0.

With one out, Shawn Demharter singled and stole second, and Jake McNabb was hit by a pitch.

Dan Antonacci hit into a fielder's choice that eliminated Demharter from the base paths, but it kept two runners on base and set up Ferres' big hit.

Houser and Shane Demharter led off the game with a single and a walk, respectively. Houser later scored on a McNabb fielder's choice, and Demharter crossed home as the result of a throwing error on the same play.

Houser and Shawn Demharter each finished with two hits.

The Vikings managed just two baserunners over the last four innings. Houser singled with two outs in the fourth and McNabb reached on an error in the fifth.

Colin Kolano went the distance for the Indians; he gave up six hits and walked one while striking out four.

“We always come here and battle with them.” Basilone said. “It's always a tough game. It makes the wins that much sweeter.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Shady Side Academy, Valley