Baseball

BG no longer has to wait for district title

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

EBENSBURG -- Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic won the District 6 Class 1A baseball championship Wednesday afternoon, but Marauders coach Tommy Williams said that the accomplishment has actually been a year in the making.

Williams credited the hard work that has been put in by his team over the past 12 months as much as the 17-hit attack that the Marauders rode Wednesday to a 14-3, five-inning mercy-rule victory over Harmony in the district title game that was played on the posh Central Cambria High School baseball field.

"It feels great to win the District 1A championship,'' said Williams, who also led the Marauders to the District 6 Class 2A title back in 2019. "We're a senior-driven team and we knew that we would be favored to win District 6 this year, but these guys still had to play baseball and put in the work.''

BG fields a summer league team in the George B. Kelley Federation whose roster is compiled of the players from the high school varsity team, and the Marauders also participated in the Iron Horse League -- an indoor baseball circuit based in Windber -- this past winter.

"These kids have played winter ball, they're playing varsity baseball, they're playing summer baseball, and the numbers in our weight room have been very good as well,'' Williams said.

Wednesday's title victory earns the Marauders (16-7) a first-round home game in the PIAA Class 1A state playoffs. They'll host defending PIAA Class 1A state champion DuBois Central Catholic, a District 9 tournament runner-up this year, in a 4 p.m. game next Monday at Vets Field.

Sophomore Kade Sell led BG's batting attack Wednesday with a 4-for-4 batting performance that included a pair of two-run doubles in the second and third innings as BG bolted to an 8-3 lead after three innings.

"It's an amazing feeling - having a district gold medal around my neck has never happened to me before in my life,'' said Sell, who also earned the pitching victory by working four innings and teaming with senior Austin Beauchamp to limit Harmony to just four hits.

"When I was at the plate today, I was just trying to get in front of the baseball and trying to find any way that I could to help the team,'' Sell added.

After a Beauchamp sacrifice fly and an RBI single by junior catcher Kaden Wyandt gave the second-seeded Marauders a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, top-seeded Harmony scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning with the help of two BG errors to take a temporary 3-2 lead.

BG went back in front to stay for good, 5-3, with two runs in the top of the second inning, with Sell's two-out, two-run double to the base of the left field fence and Beauchamp's RBI single providing the big blows.

Harmony (13-3) also committed two throwing errors in the inning.

"It wasn't one of our best games, but I'm very proud of our kids,'' said Harmony coach Harvey Westover, whose team goes on the road Monday to play District 9 champion Clarion High School in a PIAA Class 1A first-round game. "We're a very small school that is graduating just 27 kids in this year's senior class, and this baseball team always plays right to the end in its games.

"The same kids on our baseball team also played on the basketball team that made it to the District 6 championship game this past winter,'' Westover added. "You don't see that happen very often at any school.''

BG padded its lead to 8-3 with three runs in the third inning on senior Nick Negola's RBI single and Sell's two-run double. The Marauders added a run in the fourth when junior Ryan Hagg scored on the back end of a double steal with junior Braylon Williams, and BG put the mercy rule into effect with a five-run fifth inning that was highlighted by Braylon Williams' bases-loaded three-run triple and RBI singles by sophomore Michael Cacciotti and senior Cooper Rother.

"Our defense shut them down today, and our bats came alive,'' Braylon Williams said.

The Marauders will face a solid challenge Monday against DuBois Central Catholic, which has had a solid season after winning the state championship in 2022.

"They're a well-disciplined team with a couple of good pitchers,'' Tommy Williams said of DuBois Central Catholic. "They're the defending state champs, and they've lost only five games all year. It will be good to have the home-field advantage against them.''

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (14): Rother ss 522, Dombrosky 3b-2b 420, Negola cf 422, Sell p-1b 414, Beauchamp 2b-p 211, Hofer ph 101, Wyandt c 201, Dixon ph 110, Hagg rf-lf 322, Cacciotti ph-rf 111, Williams 1b-3b 413, Gates lf 110. Totals - 30-14-17.

HARMONY (3): Fry c 211, Maseto p-ss 100, Bracken ss-p 312, Tarnow 210, Sward 3b 300, Hutton 1b 100, Pearce lf 201, Bailey 2b 200, Perruso rf 200. Totals - 18-3-4.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bishop Guilfoyle 233 15XX--14-17-3

Harmony 300 00X X--3-4-2

E--Sell, Beauchamp, Wyandt, Bracken, Pearce. 2B--Sell 2, Hagg, Cacciotti. RBI--Sell 4, Williams 3, Beauchamp 2, Negola, Wyandt, Cacciotti, Rother, Bracken, Hutton. SB--Hagg, Williams, Negola, Bracken. CS--Fry (Beauchamp to Wyandt). SF--Beauchamp. HBP--Wyandt (by Maseto); Gates (by Maseto).

PITCHING

Bishop Guilfoyle: Sell (W) 4IP, 3H, 3R, 0ER, 2BB, 4SO; Beauchamp 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 2SO.

Harmony: Maseto (L) 4IP, 12H, 9R, 6ER, 2BB, 2SO; Bracken 1IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 1SO.

Records: Bishop Guilfoyle (16-7); Harmony (13-13).

Umpires: Cody Cogan (plate); Jeff Holter (first base); Mike Kresovich (second base); Jerry Zollars (third base).

Time of game: 1:46.