14th-seeded Burrell baseball stuns Mt. Pleasant in 1st round of WPIAL Class 3A playoffs
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Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 9:13 PM
Burrell’s AJ McLafferty celebrates after he hit a two-run triple and scored on an error against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game Tuesday at Gateway.
Burrell’s Trey Coury makes a diving catch to end the game against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game Tuesday at Gateway.
Burrell’s Ryan Bates (2) celebrates with Justin Hyland after making a diving catch against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game Tuesday at Gateway.
Burrell’s Adam Wass scores against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s AJ McLafferty scores against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s AJ McLafferty scores against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell pitcher Stevie Hasson meets catcher David Kleckner after finishing the sixth inning against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell pitcher Stevie Hasson delivers against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell pitcher Stevie Hasson meets catcher David Kleckner after finishing the first nning against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s Brayden Mell celebrates with AJ McLafferty after McLafferty scored against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s AJ McLafferty scores against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s Trey Coury makes a diving catch to end the game against Mt. Pleasant during their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Burrell’s Brayden Mell celebrates after defeating Mt. Pleasant in their WPIAL Class 3A playoff game on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at Gateway.
Any team wanting to be successful in the WPIAL playoffs should follow Burrell’s recipe Tuesday at Gateway.
The No. 14 Bucs combined timely hitting, sound defense and the crafty pitching of left-hander Stevie Hasson en route to a 6-2 upset of No. 3 Mt. Pleasant in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.
Hasson pitched six scoreless innings, allowed three hits and got flawless fielding by his defense.
“In games like this, the team that makes the fewer mistakes is going to win,” Burrell first-year coach Jay Miller said. “We did that. Stevie did a good job getting soft contact, and we came up with big hits.”
Isaac Lacinski and A.J. McLafferty drove in two runs each. Lacinski’s groundout scored Dylan McKallip in the third inning, and McLafferty’s two-run triple highlighted a four-run fourth inning.
With Burrell leading 2-0, McLafferty clubbed a Jacob Kitts pitch to left-center for a triple. McLafferty fell as he attempted to stop at third, but after he saw Mt. Pleasant misplay the ball, he raced home to make it 5-0.
“When we saw the brackets, getting Mt. Pleasant was the best matchup we could hope for,” Hasson said. “We did what we had to do, and I threw strikes and we put the bat on the ball and scored runs.”
Burrell’s defense turned a double play in the fifth inning after the Vikings put two runners on.
“That was a big turning point,” Miller said. “Our defense ended Mt. Pleasant’s threat.”
Lacinski drove in the sixth run of the game in the sixth inning.
Mt. Pleasant broke through in the bottom of the seventh inning against relief pitcher Brayden Mell on Cole Chatfield’s bad-hop two-run triple.
“There were times we had a chance to capitalize, and we didn’t and they did,” Mt. Pleasant coach Chris Firmstone said. “We hadn’t faced many left-handers this season, but again our plate appearances weren’t the best of the year. He wasn’t overpowering. He spotted and kept us off-balance.”
Burrell lost to Valley in a play-in game in 2023. Miller said the team learned from that experience and applied their knowledge Tuesday.
“We wanted to prove that we have a pretty sound section,” Miller said. “We were battle-tested all season, and we wanted to continue to see how battle-tested we are. We knew Mt. Pleasant was a sound team and would challenge us.”
Burrell will face the winner of the game between Neshannock and Waynesburg on May 20 at a site and time to be determined.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Burrell, Mt. Pleasant
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