WPIAL champion West Allegheny avoids 1st-round trap, blanks Thomas Jefferson

By: Liam Belan
Monday, June 6, 2022 | 9:23 PM

West Allegheny knew that the environment would be different going from the WPIAL championship game to a PIAA first-round matchup with Thomas Jefferson in the middle of the afternoon on a Monday, yet the result remained the same as the Indians defeated the Jaguars, 7-0.

“This is always a trap game. You go from playing with 3,000 fans to 100,” West Allegheny coach Bryan Cornell said. “That was the focus all week.”

West Allegheny (20-4) was led by several standout performers, with Colin Marinpetro going 3 for 4 with two RBIs and Brady and Gavin Miller turning in strong showings at the plate. Angelo Volomino went 2 for 3 with a double to lead Thomas Jefferson (15-9).

It was older brother Gavin, the Auburn baseball commit, who started the scoring off early for the Indians. As the second batter of the game for West Allegheny, Miller drove an off-speed delivery from Brady Haberman just over the left field wall for a solo home run.

The contest was the first game that Gavin returned to defensive duties after battling several injuries over the past few months, and it was back to business as usual.

“It felt like it was back to normal, like how things should have been from about the middle point of the season, but it’s a blessing to be back in the field,” he said.

Later in the bottom of the first, Marinpetro and Brady Miller singled, but Haberman was able to escape the inning with a one-run deficit.

The score remained 1-0 through the second and third frames as both pitchers seemed to settle in. Haberman went 4⅔ innings and finished with six runs allowed on eight hits. Anthony Pass earned the win with three strikeouts and four hits allowed in five scoreless innings.

Things changed in the bottom of the fourth as the Indians managed to double their lead when Austin Buzza drove in Brady Miller with two outs. Buzza stole second but was eventually stranded.

West Allegheny solidified its victory with a four-run fifth inning.

After keeping the Jaguars scoreless in the top of the frame, Marinpetro, pinch hitter Devan Zirwas and both Millers were able to score.

Gavin Miller reached on an error and scored on a Marinpetro double, Brady Miller drove Marinpetro in with a single, and Zirwas singled to score Brady Miller from third after he stole second and reached third on an error, putting an end to Haberman’s day. McClain Flinn pitched the remainder of the game, and Anthony Raineri singled off of him to bring Zirwas home.

The spurt from West Allegheny made the score 6-0 heading into the top of the sixth. Volomino singled against a new pitcher in Buzza to lead the inning off for the Jaguars, but they were unable to generate runs all day as Volomino was caught trying to steal second and no one else reached base.

“We just couldn’t piece anything together,” Thomas Jefferson coach Tim Vickers said. “We got to this point by doing small-ball type things, but when you’re down big, you can’t go that route.”

The Indians added one more run in the bottom of the sixth as pinch hitter Parker Brown was walked and eventually scored on an RBI single from Marinpetro.

The Jaguars stranded three runners to end the game without a run as Buzza hit two batters and allowed a hit to Flinn.

Despite the result for Vickers’ squad, he was satisfied with the strides that his ballclub has made.

“This program had five wins last year, and now we’re sitting in the first round of the state playoffs, so you’ve got to give the kids a ton of credit,” Vickers said. “They worked their tails off over the course of the season, and as it got later in the year, things just didn’t go our way.”

Clearly, the turnaround for the Jaguars was dramatic despite the loss, and Vickers gives full credit to his squad.

“We got back to what we have done as a program,” Vickers said. “The kids got into the weight room last July and got right into offseason pitching and hitting, and that was pretty much it.”

West Allegheny will meet Bethel Park in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Tags: Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny