Baseball

P-O blanks Tyrone in title game

D6 3A baseball final

JOHNSTOWN -- Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner knew his team was capable of some big things this season, but he listed two concerns at the beginning of the season -- lack of offense and injuries.

Both bit the Golden Eagles to an extent Monday afternoon in the District 6 Class 3A championship game against Philipsburg-Osceola at Sargent's Stadium at the Point.

Caiden Bonsell, Ross Gampe and Landon Postreich held the Mounties to just two hits, but an unearned run turned out to be the difference in a 1-0 setback for the 2021 PIAA champions.

The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the third inning when Brandon Hahn was hit by a pitch, went to second on a bunt single by Sam McDonald and scored on a ball that looked like it could have ended the inning. With one out, Jake DeSimone hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop Ashton Walk, who fielded it cleanly and tossed to second base. The throw was seemingly on line but wasn't gloved, and the ball trickled into the outfield as Hahn scored.

"All we needed was one run to keep us in this game," Gampe said. "Our defense did what they were supposed to do, and our pitching was great, phenomenal actually. We beat ourselves, actually. They scored on an error that should have been a double-play ball."

Bonsell got a strikeout and a grounder to end the inning and escape further damage.

"All in all, the fielding was good other than that one play," Soellner said. "We were good with pitching and fielding. To not score a run, that's going to kill you. We took too many called third strikes. I don't know if we just weren't ready, too nervous or what but we haven't taken a third strike hardly at all this year. I'm not sure what was going on there."

Tyrone had its two best scoring chances the next two innings.

Walk led off the top of the fourth with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Gampe walked, but Philipsburg-Osceola starting pitcher Denny Prestash got a pop out, grounder and a strikeout with Walk at third and Gampe at second to end the inning.

"Denny has the right demeanor to play baseball, one of those sports you need to stay relaxed," Philipsburg-Osceola coach Doug Sankey said. "He's focused, but sometimes you wonder if he's into the game, because his demeanor never changes whether he walks or strikes a guy out. He's carried us both pitching and hitting, and he's just so mentally tough."

Zac LeGars singled in the fifth to put runners at first and second with two outs, and Walk hit one sharply in the hole between shortstop and third, but Parker Lamb made a nice play to his right and threw to the shortest base, third, for the final out of the inning.

"A little bit of pressure, but I knew my team and defense behind me was ready to rock and roll," Prestash said. "We had it. Baseball is a hard sport to be good at, but our team really came together and got the job done."

Soellner said getting clutch hits has been a problem for his team since the first game of this season.

"It actually has happened a few times this year," Soellner said. "The first inning of the year against Bald Eagle, we loaded them up and couldn't get a run in. Unfortunately, it has happened to us a few times this year offensively. Offense has been our weakness."

Gampe relieved Bonsell to start the bottom of the fifth inning and struck out the first batter he faced. He threw a ball to McDonald and signaled that he needed to come out of the game. After being looked over by a trainer, he returned to play first base and was replaced on the mound by Postreich.

"Neither (Bonsell or Gampe) can go the distance," Soellner said. "Caiden is on a little bit of a count, and Ross hasn't felt great all year. Obviously, he's probably done (pitching) now too."

Postreich kept the game in reach with 1ª scoreless innings.

"He's been more than capable," Soellner said. "He's just going to have to step up a little more."

Gavin Emigh recorded the final three outs on the mound for the Mounties, striking out Tyrone's first two batters of the inning looking. The Golden Eagles will play the winner of Wednesday's WPIAL championship game between Riverside and Neshannock at a WPIAL site on Monday, June 5.

"We know we are playing in one of the toughest districts in the state," Gampe said. "The last three years, it has been Mount Union, us and Central that have won (states), so we definitely still have hope that we can come back and win some more games."

On another field, Philipsburg-Osceola may have score a few more runs, but other than left field, the Point has one of the deepest outfields in District 6.

"We hit the ball pretty hard," Sankey said. "Denny would have had a home run. Jamey (Massung) would have had a home run. T.J. (Wildman) hit one pretty deep."

Soellner said all of the extra room was definitely an advantage for the Golden Eagles.

"If there's one thing about Tyrone, we have had outfield since I got here," Soellner said. "They cover so much ground. They have tons of speed. That's actually been our most consistent thing over the years, and this year has been no different."

P-O and Tyrone represented the Mountain League in the District 6 3A final, Hollidaysburg in the 5A final, Bellefonte in the 4A final and Bald Eagle Area will play in the 2A final today. The Mountain League has no teams in 6A or 1A, the only District 6 championship games the league was not part of this season.

"We played a lot of high-pressure games against a lot of really good teams," Sankey said. "I just think that prepares you. It obviously prepared them too. They knocked off Westmont and Forest Hills, both on the road. At least we had a home game. They went on the road twice."

TYRONE (0): LeGars cf 301, Walk ss 301, Gampe 1b-p-1b 200, Hamer c 201, N. Patterson cr 000, Coleman rf 300, B. McClure 3b 300, Lehner 2b 301, Bonsell p 000, C. McClure 1b 000, Postreich p 000, Oakes dh 301, J. Patterson pr 000, Miller lf 300. Totals -- 25-0-5.

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (1): Gustkey c 200, DeSimone cf 200, Lamb ss 200, Wildman 3b 200, Prestash p-lf 300, Massung 1b 301, Harpster pr 000, Emigh rf-p 000, Knepp dh 300, Hahn lf-rf 210, McDonald 2b 201. Totals -- 21-1-2.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Tyrone 000 000 0--0 5 1

Philipsburg-Osceola 001 000 X--1 2 0

E--Lehner. SB--Oakes, DeSimone. HBP--Hahn (by Bonsell).

PITCHING

Tyrone: Bonsell (L)--4IP, 1H, 4K, 2BB, 1HBP, 1R, 0ER, 56 pitches. Gampe--1/3IP, 0H, 1K, 0BB, 0R, 0ER, 5 pitches. Postreich--1 2/3IP, 1H, 0K, 2BB, 0R, 0ER, 25 pitches.

Philipsburg-Osceola: Prestash (W)--6IP, 5H, 4K, 2BB, 0R, 0ER, 96 pitches. Emigh (S)--1IP, 0H, 2K, 0BB, 0R, 0ER, 12 pitches.

Umpires: Scott Druckemiller (HP); Tim Plank (1B); Ed Parks (2B); Brett Hebert (3B).

Records: Tyrone (12-11); Philipsburg-Osceola (16-7).