Baseball

Still going …

BG keeps scoring, advances to final

The Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic-Williamsburg District 6 Class 1A semifinal baseball game started at breakneck pace with each team plating four runs in the first and two more in the second before BG gradually pulled away.

Guilfoyle scored one in the fourth, another in the fifth and tacked on three more in the sixth in an 11-6 win Friday at Vets Field to earn a shot at district gold.

Owen Dombrosky had three hits and two RBIs, while Austin Beauchamp's two hits plated three.

"Clear mind, clear thoughts, get my hands to the ball, get the base hits," Dombrosky said. "Pop-ups and long fly balls are routine outs here at Vets Field, so I just go for base hits up the middle."

The second-seeded Marauders play top-seed Harmony 4 p.m. Wednesday at Central Cambria High School in the district final. Harmony advanced with a 2-1 win over Portage.

Cooper Rother, Nick Negola and Hamilton Gates each had two hits as well. Gates and Ryan Hagg each knocked in two.

Dombrosky started and went 4-plus innings. He gave up all six Williamsburg runs, but only three of them were earned. Kade Sell closed out the win with three shoutout innings, allowing just two base-runners.

"We were in a tough situation when I came in with a runner on second, and I walked the first guy," Sell said. "It was just pumping from there. Hitting my spots and trusting the defense to make plays."

Dombrosky threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the top of the fifth to end Williamsburg's last good scoring opportunity.

With runners on first and third and one out, he fielded a ball along the third base line and decided to throw home instead of trying for a double play. The throw was high, but catcher Kaden Wyandt grabbed it and got the tag down just in time.

"I positioned myself in a way that I could grab the ball and get the tag down as quickly as possible -- try to block his foot from getting to the plate," Wyandt said.

Looking to advance to its second straight district title game, Williamsburg flew out of the gate.

After Rowan Gorsuch knocked in Luke Uplinger to give the Blue Pirates a 1-0 lead three batters into the game, the next three runs scored on one play.

An Alex Brantner single scored Gorsuch ahead of a throwing error that allowed Parker Crownover to score. Another errant throw allowed Brantner to circle the bases for the little league home run.

A third BG throwing error set up Williamsburg's two-run second inning as well.

"They put the bat on the ball in the first inning. It may have been some nerves both ways. They didn't play sound defense in the bottom of the first either," BG coach Tommy Williams said.

An errant throw and a misplayed ball in the outfield helped BG get all four runs back in its half of the first.

A Beauchamp single scored Rother and Negola. After Wyandt scored on a groundout, Beauchamp came around on a Hagg squeeze bunt.

Williamsburg committed seven errors in all, leading to six unearned runs.

"We came out hitting. Bam, bam scored a couple runs. That really helped us. We were ready. The kids wanted to win," Williamsburg coach Jerry Palmer said. "We had some errors, a good many. Then they took off with the bats."

Dombrosky scored the go-ahead run in the fourth on a Beauchamp groundout then singled home Gates in the fifth before the three insurance runs in the sixth.

Williamsburg finished the season at 9-12.

"Championship game last year. Semifinals this year. We got a lot coming back. We've got some good years coming," Palmer said.

WILLIAMSBURG (6): Uplinger c 411, Long ss 301, Gorsuch p-2b 311, Crownover 3b-p 310, A. Brantner 1b 211, Verbonitz cf 300, L. Brantner 2b-3b 300, Wagner LF 210, Parks dh 311, Hughes rf 000. Totals - 26 6 5.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (11): Rother ss 422, Dombrosky p-3b 423, Negola cf 412, Sell 1b-p 221, Beauchamp 2b 422, Wyandt c 401, Hagg rf 200, Dixon ph 100, Williams 3b-1b 410, Gates lf 412. Totals - 33 11 13.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Williamsburg 420 000 0 - 6 5 7

Bishop Guilfoyle 420 113 x - 11 13 4

E--Long 2, A. Brantner, Wagner, Crownover, Uplinger, Hughes, Beauchamp, Dombrosky, Williams, Wyandt. 2B--Long, Rother, Wyandt. RBI--Long, Gorsuch 2, A. Brantner, Dombrosky 2, Negola, Beauchamp 3, Wyandt, Hagg 2, Gates 2.

Pitching

Williamsburg - Gorsuch (L) 5.2IP, 12H, 10R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, 98 pitches. Crownover .1IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K 10 pitches.

Bishop Guilfoyle - Dombrosky (W) 4+IP, 4H, 6R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K, 81 pitches. Sell (SV) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4SO.

Records: Williamsburg (9-12); Bishop Guilfoyle (15-7).