Freeport baseball set to face Steel Valley in semifinals

By: Doug Gulasy
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 | 5:20 PM

BASEBALL

Class 3A

1-Freeport (14-5) vs. 4-Steel Valley (11-8)

1:30 p.m. at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Hopewell (14-5) and 3-Keystone Oaks (14-4) on May 28 or 29 at Wild Things Park

Coaches: Ed Carr, Freeport; Pat Loughran, Steel Valley

Players to watch: Matt Mitchell, Jr., 1B, Freeport; Andre Good, Sr., OF, Steel Valley

Extra bases: The Section 1-3A opponents meet for a third time with a berth in the WPIAL championship game on the line. They split their regular-season games, with Steel Valley winning 10-4 on April 5, and Freeport responding with a 3-0 win May 4. … Freeport’s 1-0 win over Waynesburg in the quarterfinals was its first playoff victory since 2013. This is the Yellowjackets’ first semifinal appearance since 1998, when they finished as WPIAL runner-up. Jarrett Heilman pitched a one-hitter in the quarterfinals, retiring the first 17 batters and striking out 11. He is unavailable to pitch Wednesday. The Yellowjackets scored on a Joseph Hotalski squeeze play in the fourth inning. … Steel Valley is coming off an 8-0 win over Belle Vernon in the semifinals. Nick Harhai gave up one hit in 5 2/3 innings and struck out nine but is unavailable to pitch Wednesday. The Ironmen are appearing in the semifinals for the first time since 2015. Good, a Youngstown State recruit, ranked among the WPIAL leaders in home runs and RBIs during the regular season.

— Doug Gulasy

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Freeport, Steel Valley