‘A long way to go’: Despite strong start, Gateway baseball focused on staying hot

By: Michael Love
Sunday, April 6, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Gateway baseball team won its fifth game of the young season, 3-2 over McKeesport in its Section 4-5A opening series March 25.

The Gators, who upped their record to 5-1 with the victory, won four games all of last season.

First-year coach Andy Hoover said hard work in practice and execution in games have been keys to the early-season success.

“As a coaching staff, we try to put them in uncomfortable situations in practice so that when they get into uncomfortable situations in a game, it feels normal. Preparation is key for us,” Hoover said.

“This team plays better when they are loose. I’ve learned a lot from them. There is that attention to detail, but there is that relaxed feeling which lets them be at their best. That has helped them really jell as a team.

“The guys are excited about the wins, but we keep telling them that it is a long season, and we have a long way to go. We are now really getting into the thick of it with our schedule.”

Gateway hoped to improve upon last week’s section sweep of McKeesport with a section series against Montour on Monday and Tuesday.

A busy week continues Thursday with a nonsection home matchup against Armstrong at 4 p.m. before another nonsection game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kiski Area.

“We know this week and next, we’ll get a pretty good idea of who we are,” Hoover said.

Gateway rolled through early season games with wins over North Hills, 16-1; Penn Hills, 18-2; and McGuffey, 15-0.

The Gators routed McKeesport, 15-0, last Monday in the opening game of the section series.

Gateway’s lineup produced 71 runs and allowed just 10 over its first six games.

“With how baseball is, hitting is contagious,” Hoover said.

“One guy starts it, and the next guy goes. It’s a domino effect. Everyone wants to be part of that rally. It’s fun to see guys get hot and fun to see a number of them get hot at the same time. We’ve had quite a few guys swing a hot bat. We’re trying to keep that going as long as possible. Baseball is a hot and cold game, and fortunately, we’ve been pretty hot.”

Hoover said he’s pleased with the way a number of the underclassmen have contributed, especially sophomores such as Jon Saunders, Roman Jennings and Matt Cobbs.

“Some of the younger starters and big contributors didn’t play (varsity) last year,” Hoover said.

“For a lot of them, it is a fresh, new feeling. They weren’t part of last year where losing got contagious. They are providing a fresh perspective to what the upperclassmen and seniors are seeing. Those older players have bought into the changes, and are really making an impact, too. Everyone has enjoyed how we played coming out of the blocks.”

With the big run-scoring wins also came closer games against the Tigers and South Allegheny.

The Gladiators nipped the Gators, 5-4, in a nonsection contest March 27.

“The game against South Allegheny and (Game 2) against McKeesport showed a lot of character for our guys,” Hoover said.

Down two runs to South Allegheny heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Gators got a run on the board and were a close play at first base away from tying the game.

“That South Allegheny game, we were facing a really tough pitcher in (Hunter) Fullmer,” Hoover said.

“He had a lot of velocity that we weren’t ready for yet. The next day, we went into the (batting) cages and set the machine to 90.”

Saunders and junior first baseman Donovan Deluco each collected two hits and an RBI against South Allegheny, and Cobbs also knocked in a run.

“Even though it was a loss, we had a lot of fight at the end of that game, and we’re proud of that,” Hoover said.

“We also showed the same fight against McKeesport, and we ended up on top of that one. This is a team that doesn’t give up in any situation.”

Gateway collected six hits in the 3-2 victory over the Tigers. Saunders, Deluco and Jennings combined to total all six hits with two apiece.

Leading 2-0, Gateway saw McKeesport rally with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

But the Gators got the game winner in the top of the seventh as Jennings singled and scored on a Deluco base hit.

“Donovan really came up clutch for us,” Hoover said.

Jennings, in addition to scoring the game-winning run, got the win in relief as he struck out eight, allowed just one run, and walked none over three innings.

“Roman has really stepped up for us,” Hoover said.

“He sat the bench on JV last year. With Bucky Otterman, who was projected to be our starting shortstop, going down this year with an injury before the season started, Jennings has really come in and been a team leader for us. He’s been one of our top offensive guys, he’s held it down at shortstop, and he’s been one of our leading pitchers.”

Junior Cameron Gottschalk started and worked four innings, giving up two hits, no earned runs and a walk while striking out six.

Saunders started 3-0 on the mound with an 0.70 earned-run average (one earned run over 10 innings) and 20 strikeouts against just four walks.

Saunders also led the team in hitting over the first six games at .600 (9 of 15) with 10 runs scored and five RBIs.

Jennings’ win against McKeesport was his first decision of the season. He also collected nine RBIs and batted .474 through six games.

Cobbs fronted the team with 11 RBIs, while junior Ryan Deselich scored a team-best 13 runs.

“It’s just cool to get the opportunity to contribute,” Jennings said.

“We’re a younger team. A lot of the guys were on JV last year, so everyone coming up got the chance to prove themselves. A lot of people have shown up, and everyone is playing good.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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