Williamsburg upsets P-O in opener of Curve event
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Williamsburg made a few mistakes, didn't have many opportunities to score, but the Blue Pirates found themselves with a chance to take the lead against Class 3A power Philipsburg-Osceola in the bottom of the sixth inning of Thursday's Curve Invitational quarterfinal game at PNG Field.
Luke Uplinger didn't disappoint the Williamsburg faithful in attendance.
The senior catcher lined a go-ahead single to the outfield to put Williamsburg ahead, and Andrew Clark's nice play at third and a scoop from Rowan Gorsuch at first a half inning later sealed a 5-4 upset win over the Mounties.
It was the first time Williamsburg has been competitive, much less won, a game held at PNG Field.
"It's a big win," Uplinger said. "They are a 3A school. We came in here honestly doubting ourselves a little bit, but we came here to play baseball and have fun, and this is what it's all about. We only have 11 kids on the team. We're a small school. This is just such a big win. I always look forward to playing here any chance we get, and we finally won our first game here."
Williamsburg entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing, 4-3, after two killer two-out errors and a passed ball helped account for all four Philipsburg-Osceola runs against starting pitcher Gorsuch and reliever Preston Long.
"We have five starting freshmen," Williamsburg coach Jerry Palmer said. "One said to me they have always caught the ball one-handed, and I told them it was time to change, because sooner or later it's going to bite you. You have to be mechanically in tune. We had a dropped ball behind first base. Freshmen can be timid, and it takes time. We have some players, but they are still young."
With one out in the sixth, Logan Brantner beat out an infield single, and an out later, Latrell Barroner drew a walk. Will Lower tied the game with an RBI single that chased Philipsburg-Osceola starting pitcher Aidan Minarchick. Uplinger greeted relief pitcher Brandon Hahn with the go-ahead single to score Barroner.
"I came up there against a new pitcher that I have never seen before and just kept my eyes on the ball and let the bat do the work," Uplinger said. "Slap hits is all it takes to get the win sometimes."
Williamsburg went to one of the five starting freshmen, Ethan Reffner, to close out the game in the seventh inning. He retired the first batter before Fischer White reached on an error, but a strikeout and ground out later, Williamsburg won.
"He wasn't even nervous," Palmer said. "He does have that maturity. When we started the season, we lost two kids. Parker Crownover, a great kid who would have been a star for us, moved away. We only had two pitchers, and I knew someone was going to have to step up. He hasn't thrown a lot, but we have put him in here and there to see what he's capable of, and he has good movement on his pitches."
Philipsburg-Osceola has dropped three in a row (Bellefonte, Tyrone, Williamsburg) after starting 9-1.
"Aidan threw great for us," Philipsburg-Osceola coach Doug Sankey said. "But we had to use Baughman yesterday in relief, and that messed things up for us. Brandon (Hahn) is going to be our Friday guy. (Zach) Yoder threw Monday, so win or lose, he was going to have to come back on three days rest. It throws a wrench in things when you play like nine games in 12 days. We hit the ball well, but they played good defense."
The Mounties are the defending District 6 Class 3A champions and among the leaders in the 3A rankings this season. Connor Matier had two hits for P-O.
"We have to start playing smarter baseball," Sankey said. "We really haven't practiced a lot the last two weeks. We have a couple guys banged up, but if we're healthy and we have Brandon Hahn on the mound, we'll be OK. When you get into districts, you're playing once a week instead of five times a week."
Williamsburg began the season 1-4 but has now won five of its last seven games.
"Coaches have told us that we are a scrappy team and when we started hitting we'd be tough," Palmer said. "We are now, and I give them credit. They get nervous here, but today they held it together. I was impressed. We got opportunistic hits."
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (4): McDonald 2b 401, Baughman 3b 211, Lamb ss 300, Peterson rf 211, Hahn cf-p 311, Knepp 1b 400, Minarchick p 000, Russell pr 000, Ivicic lf 000, White dh 200, Yoder lf-cf 400, Matier c 402, Wagner cr 010. Totals -- 28-4-6.
WILLIAMSBURG (5): Uplinger c 311, Gorsuch p-1b 402, Clark 3b 201, Long ss-p-ss 311, Reffner rf-p 311, Brantner lf-ss-rf 311, Neri cf 200, Becker 1b 000, Barroner lf 110, Lower 2b 301. Totals -- 24-5-8.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Philipsburg-Osceola 002 101 0--4 6 1
Williamsburg 020 012 X--5 8 4
E--Yoder, Uplinger, Reffner, Becker, Clark. 2B--Hahn, Gorsuch, Long. RBI--Peterson; Uplinger, Becker, Lower.
PITCHING
Philipsburg-Osceola: MInarchick (L)–5 2/3IP, 7H, 4BB, 4K, 5R, 5ER, 83 pitches; Hahn--1/3 IP, 1H, 0BB, 0K, 0R, 0ER, 5 pitches.
Williamsburg: Gorsuch--4 IP, 4H, 6BB, 0K, 3R, 0ER, 71 pitches; Long (W)–2 IP, 2H, 2BB, 0K, 1R, 0ER, 29 pitches; Reffner (S)–1 IP, 0H, 0BB, 1K, 0R, 0ER, 20 pitches.
Umpires: Jim Klausman (HP); Dave Gildea (bases).
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (9-4); Williamsburg (6-6).