Clutch plays help Latrobe hold off Franklin Regional in Section 1-5A baseball showdown

By: Dave Mackall
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 | 9:46 PM

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Cole Short watched the baseball bounding to third baseman Jack Stynchula while making his way to the first-base bag in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday. He tracked Stynchula’s long throw, which bounced several feet in front him, with runners on first and third.

Misplay the short-hop, and Latrobe likely loses its one-run lead.

“I knew off the bat there was going to be a chance of a pick,” said Short, a junior. “The worst is when you have to think about it.”

His instincts took over.

Despite playing first base this season for the first time in organized ball, Short made a real-time decision to perfection, coming up with the throw in time to get Franklin Regional’s Evan Meeker on a bang-bang play and preserving host Latrobe’s 9-8 WPIAL victory, the Wildcats’ seventh in a row.

“I didn’t know whether to try to block it up, because the runner from first would’ve scored, too, if I’d have missed it,” Short said. “I was thinking in my head, ‘Do I try to block this?’ I just went all out and tried to pick it.”

And it was game over.

“We have a pretty veteran team, but we had an opening at first and we wanted to get him out there,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “He’s been working there all year and in the fall for us. He’s out there for a reason. We have confidence in him. We have confidence he’s going to make those plays. He stepped up in a big situation and did it.”

Latrobe (9-3, 6-2 Section 1-5A) scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to erase a one-run deficit, then held on when Franklin Regional responded with three runs in the top of the seventh before Short’s dazzling game-ending play.

Sophomore right-hander Aaron Chappel, called up from the junior varsity team Monday after Latrobe’s nine-inning 4-2 victory at Franklin Regional, earned his first varsity save.

He entered the game in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, no outs and a run already in for the Panthers (7-3, 4-2).

After uncorking a wild pitch to allow another run to score, Chappel retired Ethan Raver on a popup before Franklin Regional closed within 9-8 on Latrobe shortstop Cooper Basciano’s fielding error.

But Chappel induced Nico Fioravanti to pop out to Basciano and Meeker to hit into the game-ending groundout to third.

Chappel, the fourth Latrobe pitcher, said he battled nerves when he was called upon in the seventh to relieve Hayden Porterfield, who failed to retire any of the four batters he faced.

“Just hoping my team would do what they were supposed to do out there on the field,” he said. “Just trying to do my best and throw strikes.”

When Chappel saw Short’s clean pick, he raised his hands, as Stynchula and Short raced to celebrate.

“Just super hyped,” Chappel said. “Everything was off my chest. Everything was off my shoulders.”

Franklin Regional took a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth on Fioravanti’s RBI single off Joe Razza, who pitched effectively until then, scattering seven hits and yielding three earned runs.

“He pitched well,” Matt Basciano said. “A lot of kids are getting opportunities this year, seeing some time. We’re really pleased and proud of what they’re doing. They step up when the opportunity presents itself. They’re going out there and producing. We’re really starting to come together as a team.”

Aaron Gaskey relieved Razza and retired Chase Lemke on a flyout to end the Franklin Regional rally.

Luke Williams’ two-run homer off Razza in the fifth gave Franklin Regional a 4-2 lead. But Latrobe tied it in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Mason Leonard and Luke Nipar-Smith’s RBI groundout.

Franklin Regional touched Razza for a pair of runs in the first before Latrobe, aided by Leonard’s double and a Franklin Regional error, got even at 2-2.

Williams led Franklin Regional with two hits and three RBIs. James Templeton pitched five effective innings for the Panthers, giving up four hits and four unearned runs.

Franklin Regional committed three errors and outhit Latrobe, 8-6.

“Hats off to them. They played a great game,” Franklin Regional coach Bob Saddler said. “Razza gave them a heckuva a start. He had us off-balance. But we’ve just got to play a cleaner game. We’ve got to be ourselves. We have to come out and play a clean seven innings, and I don’t feel like we did that today. We can’t have that against good teams.”

Tags: Franklin Regional, Latrobe