Top 15 baseball finals in 15 years at Wild Things Park: South Park tops Hopewell in 9 innings

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, May 27, 2018 | 9:12 PM

The TribLive High School Sports Network is counting down the Top 15 WPIAL baseball championship games held over the past 15 years at Wild Things Park.

Catch all the postseason action on the exclusive broadcast home of the WPIAL baseball playoffs, the TribLive High School Sports Network.

Here's a look at No. 2:

2013 Class AAA championship: South Park 4, Hopewell 3 (9 inn.)

For South Park, it was a perfect ending to at that point, a perfect season.

While Hopewell was trying to win a second WPIAL baseball championship in four years and entered the 2013 Class AAA title game with a record of 20-3, the Vikings were underdogs against undefeated South Park.

The two battled through eight innings tied 3-3 when in the ninth, the Eagles walked away with their first district crown.

Adam Thompson drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Nick Yobbi with what would be the championship-winning run in the top of the ninth as South Park defeated Hopewell, 4-3.

The game started on a high note for Hopewell as Logan Johnston followed a Ryan Cox leadoff single with a two-run homer over the right-field fence to put the Vikings ahead 2-0. They were the first two runs given up by South Park in the playoffs after shutout victories over West Mifflin (10-0), Thomas Jefferson (6-0) and Keystone Oaks (1-0).

Hopewell made it 3-0 in the second when Clayton Covalt walked, went to third on Shane Martin's single and scored on a South Park throwing error.

In the fourth, the Eagles would tie the game. Chris Winkler was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a balk and scored on a Shane Fetsko base hit. Randy Dobank then launched a two-run home run that tied the game 3-3.

While the contest would remain tied for another four innings, Hopewell had several chances to add to its lead or break the deadlock once the game was tied.

In the third inning, the Vikings loaded the bases with no outs but could not score. In the bottom of the seventh, Hopewell again loaded the bases, this time with one out, but again came away empty.

It looked like the Vikings won it in the eighth. With runners at first and second and one out, Ryan Cox laid down a bunt in front of home plate. Eagles catcher Justin Dilla's throw hit Cox in the back and rolled down the right field line as Martin raced home and Hopewell celebrated. But the home plate umpire ruled Cox was running in fair territory down the line and called him out for interference.

Both runners returned to first and second, and then the Vikings' Arion Sepp lined out to right field.

Yobbi led off the South Park ninth with a single and was sacrificed to second. Hopewell pitcher Stefan Mrkonja walked two batters with two outs to load the bases, bringing up Thompson who walked to force in the go-ahead run.

Dobnak pitched the final 2 ²⁄₃ innings for the win. He set the Vikings down in order in the ninth.

“You don't really script it that way,” South Park coach Steve Bucci said afterward. “But I'm proud of them for the way they battled.”

South Park became the fifth team to win a WPIAL baseball championship with a perfect record. The Eagles would improve to 25-0 with a first-round state playoff win over Somerset before losing for the only time in 2013 in the PIAA quarterfinals, 3-0 to Keystone Oaks.

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Hopewell, South Park