Baseball

BC unable to hold early leads vs. McCort

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

Giving opponents free passes often proves to be a death knell for any baseball team at any level, and it certainly proved to be for Bishop Carroll in the District 6 Class 1A championship game Tuesday night at Vets Field.

The sixth-seeded Huskies built early leads of 5-0 and 7-3, but watched both evaporate as top-seeded Bishop McCort capitalized on nine walks and five hit batsmen to stop Carroll's Cinderella run through the district playoffs by defeating the Huskies, 11-7.

It was the 10th district baseball championship in program history for McCort, which has now won the district title eight times in 13 seasons.

Both teams will advance to the PIAA state playoffs against District 9 opponents on Monday. McCort (14-8) will play District 9 runner-up DuBois Central Catholic at a District 6 site, and Carroll (10-13) will go on the road to meet District 9 champion Clarion High School at a District 9 site. Clarion defeated DuBois Central Catholic, 10-1 in the District 9 title game Tuesday.

"We started out well, we scored five runs in the third inning, and got it up to seven in the fifth inning but then our pitching fell apart,'' Carroll coach Bill Schenk said. "I don't know if it was a case of nerves getting to the players or not, but there were a lot of hit batters and walks.''

Carroll sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the third inning against McCort starting pitcher Mason Pfeil, and scored the first five runs of the game with a two-run single by Mark Mento, an RBI double by Zander Sekerak, and RBI singles by Jacob Gregg and Max Oravec providing the key hits.

McCort narrowed the gap to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the third without the benefit of a hit, as three walks and a hit batsman played key roles. McCort chased starter Luke Repko by scoring two more runs in the fourth inning, with Jonathan Delia drawing a bases-loaded walk.

Carroll responded with two runs in the top of the fifth inning, which a McCort error extended, as the Huskies took their 7-3 lead.

McCort took control with six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate against Carroll relievers Jacob Gregg and Preston Gillin. Three Crushers were hit by Gregg pitches in the inning, including Brock Beppler with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Eli Zasadni had an RBI single in the inning against Gregg, another run scored on a Gillin wild pitch and an RBI groundout by Pfeil, and the final run scored on Adam Radkowski's RBI single.

"We were just trying to chip away, one hit at a time,'' said Beppler, who had a double and single and drove in two runs. "We all believe in each other, we know what we can do, and we came back.''

Ahead 9-7, McCort rode the solid relief pitching of junior right-hander Lucas Turner to the finish line. Turner worked four innings to get credit for the pitching victory, allowing just two runs and one hit whle striking out four batters.

"What an absolutely unbelievable effort from Lucas Turner - he was firing the ball in the 90s tonight,'' McCort coach Chris Pfeil said. "I'm so proud of this team. We worked hard all year, and this is a very special senior class that is walking off with another district championship, and a chance to finish the story in two weeks (in the state championship game).''

Beppler's RBI single keyed McCort's two-run sixth inning that gave the Crushers the 11-7 cushion.

"I just wanted to (get Carroll to) put the ball in play tonight, and my velo (velocity) was good,'' Turner said. "I'm glad I could win this one with my friends. We've worked hard all season.''

Carroll - which got two hits apiece Tuesday from Gregg, Gillin and Max Oravec — had won three straight playoff games to reach the championship game. Schenk said the Huskies' mission now is to regroup.

"I just told our players after the game to keep their heads up,'' Schenk said. "They're disappointed that they didn't win the District 6 championship game, but we still get to play in the state tournament, and we've just got to get back on the field and work on what we need to work on.''

BISHOP CARROLL (7): Repko p-cf 300, Gillin 1b-3b-p 512, Casses ss 210, Myers rf 401, Mento cf-1b 411, Sekerak 2b 311, Gregg 3b-p-3b 222, Becquet c 000, Franceschini dh 400, Oravec lf 312. Totals - 28-7-9.

BISHOP MCCORT (11): Beppler cf 312, M. Pfeil p-2b 200, Delia 2b-3b 300, A. Radkowski ss 301, Turner 3b-p 310, Gordon cf 010, E. Radkowski c 402, Neumann c 020, Zasadni lf 422, Stigers dh 020, Jarvis rf 121, Preuss 1b 000. Totals - 23-11-8.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bishop Carroll 005 020 0--7-9-2

Bishop McCort 001 262 X--11-8-2

E--M. Pfeil, Delia, Repko, Casses. 2B--Myers, Sekerak, Beppler. RBI--Mento 2, Casses, Sekerak, Gregg, Oravec, Beppler 2, A. Radkowski 2, M. Pfeil, Delia, Zasadni. SB--Oravec 2, M. Pfeil, Stigers, Jarvis. HBP--M. Pfeil (by Repko), A. Radkowski (by Repko); Turner (by Gregg); Stigers (by Gregg); Beppler (by Gregg). CS-Beppler (Repko to Gregg). LOB--Bishop Carroll 10, Bishop McCort 9.

PITCHING:

Bishop Carroll: Repko 3 2/3IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, 7BB, 6SO; Gregg (L) 1/3IP, 3H, 6R, 5ER, 0BB, 0S0; Gillin 2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1SO.

Bishop McCort: M. Pfeil 3IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 6SO; Turner (W) 4IP, 1H, 2R, 0ER, 5BB, 4SO.

Umpires: Derrick Soellner (plate); Bill Wolf (first base); Matt Cursio (second base); Jim Cushion (third base).

Records: Bishop Carroll (10-13); Bishop McCort (14-8).

Time of game: 2:32.