PIAA Baseball Quarterfinals Recaps for Thursday, June 7th

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 8, 2012 | 12:20 AM

District 7 had eight baseball teams put up a 'W' in round one. With a couple of head-to-head matchups, there was a chance to have as many as six teams play in next weeks PIAA Semifinals. Instead, only two remain alive for state gold. Here are recaps from all six games on a tough day for D-7.

A special thanks to Mark Schaas for his help on these recaps.

PIAA CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

Altoona Mountain Lions 6 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 3
And then there were none. That is how many WPIAL teams are left in the PIAA Class AAAA playoffs after Mount Lebanon lost to Altoona at Somerset. Mount Lebanon actually held a 3-1 lead after the first inning, but it was all Altoona after that. The Blue Devils jumped on Altoona in the first inning when Ian Happ hit a three-run homer. But Mount Lebanon had only four hits the rest of the way. Altoona tied the game with two runs in the second inning. The game was delayed close to an hour in the fourth inning. When the game resumed, Mount Lebanon coach Patt McCloskey removed starter Mike Duffy from the game brought in Ian Happ. But in the fifth, Altoona broke the game open with a three runs.  Altoona kept starting pitcher, Ben Wyland, in after the rain delay and he pitched the entire game. Mount Lebanon had seven hits.

PIAA CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:

Blackhawk Cougars 6 – Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 1
In a rematch of the WPIAL semifinals, the Cougars exploded for more runs than they had scored the entire district and state playoffs combined. Blackhawk, with the win, moves to the PIAA semifinals for the first time since 2007. The Cougars will face West York on Monday, site and time to be determined. Blackhawk scored five runs in the seventh inning, the Cougars had won three consecutive 1-0 decisions in the post-season. After one out, Brandon Mansell tripled to right center, with the infield in Brendan Kearney singled past first baseman Joe Shaffer to bring home the go-ahead run. Kearney said he was looking for something to drive in the air to right field or hard thru the infield. He got a fast ball and got it thru. The Cougars added on with three consecutive singles by Brendan McKay, Matt Emge and Tyler Craig. Steve O'Hara was hit by a pitch to bring in the sixth run. McKay was stellar on the mound allowing just four hits and fanning twelve. Greg Schneider was the hard luck loser for the second time against the Cougars, he went 6.1 innings, allowing five runs, three earned, he fanned eleven. The pitchers duel that everyone expected came true thru the first three innings. Schneider allowed a base runner in each inning, but struck out five, including the final outs of the first, second and third. McKay allowed a one out double to Joe McHugh in the first, but set down the next eight batters, six by strikeout. Blackhawk had a chance again in the fourth, after two outs, Steve O'Hara walked and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Schneider got Nick Martin to strike out to end the inning. The Pitt recruit headed off the mound after the strikeout, then stopped as some of his Jaguar teammates did not realize that there were three outs. TJ squandered an opportunity as McHugh drew a leadoff walk, coach Rich Krivanek called for the hit and run, McHugh took off, Schneider hit a fly ball to right field, McHugh rounded second as O'Hara made the catch, he was doubled off first for the second out. Both teams stranded a runner in the fifth, Blackhawk finally scored a run in the sixth, after one out Emge singled to right center, Craig singled to put two runners on base, O'Hara hit an easy double play ball to second, Craig went hard into second base, forcing McHugh to throw low on the turn, the ball got away from Shaffer at first, allowing courtesy runner Zach Hildebrand to score. Thomas Jefferson broke a scoreless streak for Blackhawk in the sixth, Ryan Ruffing singled with one out, then with two outs, Schneider drove a high fastball into right center for a triple, scoring Ruffing. That run ended the Blackhawk shutout streak at 42.2 innings, the Cougars had not allowed a run since May 5th and had won three consecutive 1-0 decisions in the post-season. Head coach Bob Amalia said he was waiting for the offense to break out, the defense has been great for the Cougars, they are errorless in nine consecutive games. He said Kearney is a good contact hitter and he knew he would come thru in a big situation. Emge was 2-4 with an rbi, Craig also was 2-4, Blackhawk is now 22-2 overall. For TJ, McHugh and Colton Booher doubled, Schneider tripled, the Jaguars finish 17-6 overall.

West York Bulldogs 6 – Belle Vernon Leopards 2
The best season in Belle Vernon history came to an end with the Class AAA lost at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona. West York scored the first three runs of the game and Belle Vernon could never catch up. Belle Vernon had to deal with a West York team that came into the game with 132 stolen bases. Tyler Frankel started for Belle Vernon, but Dylan Pietrantoni relieved him in the second and Belle Vernon losing, 4-0. West York will play Blackhawk in the semifinals Monday.

PIAA CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

Riverside Panthers 5 – South Fayette Lions 4
The Panthers got a one out two run homer to right from Tyler Falk as Riverside continues their quest to defend their PIAA crown. Riverside left nine runners on base over the first five innings, but pitcher Blaise McCarty and some good defense allowed Riverside to recover from a 4-0 first inning deficit. South Fayette took the lead after two out, Mike Fetchet, Chris Sarnowski and Dylan Witt all singled, the throw by shortstop Devin Kelosky sailed over the head of Falk at first, allowing Fetchet to score. Nathan Smith crushed a two run triple to left center to make it 3-0, he would come on a wild pitch. Riverside got a run in the second, Ian Sutherland singled, was bunted to second and continued his trip around the bases with a wild pitch and passed ball. McCarty would set down the Lions in order in both the second and third. Witt led off the fourth with a double after being sacrificed to third, he would get doubled up between third and home on a Mike Savisky grounder to short on a drawn in infield. The Panthers cut the lead to 4-2. Cory Belonzi led the fourth off on a single, he went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a grounder to second. Kelosky struck out, but the ball got away from catcher Sarnowski, allowing Belonzi to score and Kelosky to reach. Maybe the biggest defensive play happended in the top of the fifth, Jake Quattro singled, was bunted to second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Tyler Godwin hit a fly ball to right that Sutherland got into good throwing position to make the catch, he fired a strike to Tyler Whitlach at the plate to nail Quattro and keep the game at 4-2. Whitlach drew a bases loaded walk in the fifth to cut the lead to one after five. For the third consecutive inning, South Fayette ran themselves out of a scoring opportunity, Dylan Opar came onto to run for Sarnowski, he was picked off by McCarty to end the threat. In the bottom of the sixth, after Kelosky struck out, Dylan Jones reached on a throwing error on shortstop Quattro, setting up the Falk at bat. The senior first baseman said he laid off a fastball but jumped all over an Aaron Fonner curve for the homer. Fonner came on in relief in the fifth inning of starter Adam Nietsch.
In the seventh for South Fayette, Savisky singled to lead off the inning, he was bunted to second by Blake Barber, Quattro walked to put runners at first and second. Fonner hit a hard shot to first that Falk fielded cleanly, he just took the out at first, setting up both the tying and go ahead runners in scoring position. Tyler Godwin hit a deep grounder to the left side, but the throw was in time to get the sophomore and continue the Riverside story. The Panthers only had five hits, Falk's homer was the only extra base hit. Falk was 2-3. McCarthy was the winning pitcher, Riverside goes to 20-6 on the second, the Panthers will meet North Star in the semifinals Monday, the Cougars defeated Saegertown 2-1 in the first game at NA. South Fayette had seven hits, Sarnowski went 2-3, Witt was 2-2 and hit by a pitch. The Lions end the season at 16-8.

PIAA CLASS A Quarterfinals:

Elk County Catholic Crusaders 4 – Neshannock Lancers 3
WPIAL champion Neshannock saw its season end with the Class A loss at White Township Park in Indiana. Jack Herzing pitched a three-hitter for Elk Founty Catholic.

Bishop McCort Crimson Crushers 9 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 8
The Chargers had the tying tun at third base in the final inning, but could not get him home as they fell to the District 6 champion Crimson Crushers at Someset High School.