Top-seeded Indiana knocks off Leopards
MONROEVILLE 无毛视频� Belle Vernon delivered the first blow but Indiana came back with a flurry to knock the Leopards out of the WPIAL Class 4A baseball playoffs.
Four pitchers combined to throw a two-hitter and the top-seeded Indians pounded out 13 hits in defeating Belle Vernon 11-2 on a chilly, rainy Tuesday night at Gateway High School.
Tim Birch had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs and Carter Pull also had three hits and two RBIs for Indiana which advanced to the district final against third-seeded Elizabeth Forward on either May 27 or 28 at the Washington Wild Things EQT Park.
The Indians also got three RBIs from Rocco Consentino, two hits and two RBIs from Sully Van Hoose and two hits and an RBI from Mark Collinger as well as a double each from Charlie Manzi and Caden Force.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 a reason these guys are where they无毛视频檙e at,无毛视频� Leopards coach Tony Watson said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a great team. They just kept bringing in guys throwing upper 80s one after another and we didn无毛视频檛 have an answer for them today.无毛视频�
Van Hoose started for Indiana and allowed one run in two innings. Winning pitcher Ryan Okopal gave up one run over two innings, Brady Oakes followed with two scoreless frames and Collinger finished up by striking out the side in the seventh.
Belle Vernon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Kole Doppelheuer walked, stole second and scored on Connor Bergman无毛视频檚 single to center.
Indiana tied in the bottom of the inning on Collinger无毛视频檚 run-scoring single then surged ahead with a six-run third inning that knocked Leopards starting pitcher Lucas Judy from the game. The frame included four hits, two errors and a walk.
Belle Vernon made it 7-2 with a run in the fourth. Cole Matusik walked, went to second when Seth Tomalski was hit by a pitch, took third when Alonzo Wade hit into a force out and scored on Zach Plymire无毛视频檚 single to center.
The Indians added three more runs in the bottom of the inning off relievers Ian Porter and Matusik to go up 10-2, then tacked on one more run in the sixth.
无毛视频淲e had to make a few pitching changes,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淭hese guys were hitting everything today. They were squaring balls up, hitting gap to gap. We really didn无毛视频檛 have an answer for them on the mound. Lucas had some command issues the first couple innings.无毛视频�
Judy took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 2 鈪� innings, although only one of the runs was earned.
无毛视频淲e didn无毛视频檛 put the ball in play today like we normally do,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淭he errors (four) hurt us.无毛视频�
Plymire was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base and Tomalski reached base in all three of his plate appearances with two walks and a hit by pitch.
Watson lauded the Indians.
无毛视频淚 tip my hat to those guys,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淭hey played a solid game all the way around.无毛视频�
The season isn无毛视频檛 over for Belle Vernon which can still qualify for the PIAA tournament if it can defeat Central Valley in the third-place consolation game with the day, site and time for that matchup to be determined.
无毛视频淚 told them to wash it off, keep their heads up, you had one of the best years in school history as far as baseball goes and that I was proud of them and I was glad to see they didn无毛视频檛 quit,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淭hey kept going. I told them not to lose focus for the next round.
无毛视频淚 said you guys made a good run in the WPIAL. You无毛视频檝e still got one more game where we can get into the state tournament and maybe make some noise there. I无毛视频檓 hoping we can regroup and get back to it.无毛视频�
The Leopards have ended several program droughts the past two seasons, winning a section championship for the first time in 12 years in 2024, winning a playoff game (7-0 against Derry in the first round and then 5-0 over Beaver in Monday无毛视频檚 quarterfinals) for the first time in 13 years this season and also reaching the WPIAL final four for the first time since 2012.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e certainly building. I mean Rome wasn无毛视频檛 built in a day,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e been head coach here five years and we无毛视频檙e seeing some progress from the fruits of our labor, the hard work, the winter workouts, the fall games.
无毛视频淲e got a close-knit group of guys here. They pull for one another. That无毛视频檚 what really does it to get us to this point.无毛视频�