Gateway baseball team off to strong start after extra-inning victory

By: Michael Love
Sunday, April 10, 2022 | 8:01 AM

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With five seniors and several other returning underclassmen to fuel the machine, the Gateway baseball team’s optimism for the 2022 season grew in the weeks leading up to the season opener at Pine-Richland on March 29.

The Gators won that game in close fashion, 7-6, and it sparked the team to a 3-1 start through a 10-inning, 3-2 victory over Section 1-5A rival Kiski Area on the road April 5.

“The guys are really optimistic and excited about how things are going,” Gateway coach Mark Wardzinski said. “The guys are just happy to get outside and play games. We had been inside working out for months. Getting to show what we could do was a great feeling.”

Gateway broke through in the top of the 10th against Kiski as sophomore Taili Thompson reached on a throwing error by the Kiski Area shortstop.

Junior Floyd McKenna then grounded to first base, moving Thompson to third.

Fellow junior Nolan Boehm came up with a sacrifice fly to score Thompson.

Senior Will Roper pitched the bottom of the 10th, and he scored the win. Boehm started and pitched into the sixth, and Roper relieved him and went the rest of the way. Each struck out eight and surrendered just two hits.

“Both pitchers did very well,” Wardzinski said. “They got ahead in the count and kept (Kiski’s) guys guessing. There were a number of strong defensive plays. (Junior) Nate Demchak threw a guy out at the plate from center field in the sixth, and without that, we don’t win that game. There were a number of nice plays in the infield, too. The guys played well, and that’s what we expect of them.”

Also logging innings so far this spring have been senior Grady Otterman, junior Brody Clemens and McKenna.

Boehm, in addition to his sacrifice fly, went 3 for 4 at the plate, and through four games, he batted .500 (7 of 14) with two doubles, a triple and six RBIs.

Demchak, a second-team all-section selection last year, led the team with a .533 average (8 of 15) with four doubles and four RBIs through the four games.

Joining Demchack on last year’s all-section team was McKenna, a first-team selection as a pitcher; and senior first-baseman Ryan Greggerson, a second-team pick in 2021.

Gateway hopes to improve on last year’s 7-7 overall record and its 6-4 mark in Section 1.

The Gators, who survived a covid pause in the middle of the regular season, suffered a 4-3 loss to Mars in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Demchak echoed coach Wardzinski’s positive assessment of the early goings which included an 11-1 victory over North Catholic on March 30.

“We’ve been working really hard from all the way back in November to now,” Demchak said.

“We’ve just been grinding and getting after it. We’ve built a lot of team chemistry, and we have a good bond going. With the experience we have back and some newcomers, the expectations for this team is high. We have strengths at the plate, on defense, and our pitching can get the job done. It’s exciting to see what we can do.”

The extra-inning triumph over the Cavaliers was a bounce-back game for the Gators after they suffered a 6-4 loss in the first game of the section series.

Gateway was scheduled to play a nonsection game at Butler on Friday before a section series against Penn-Trafford on Monday and Tuesday.

Issues with the lights and field maintenance, Wardzinski said, have kept Gateway off its home field at the high school.

The team played at Pine-Richland and against North Catholic at No Offseason in Russelton.

The first game against Kiski Area was at CCAC-Boyce.

Gateway has practiced at CCAC and at Pitcairn Community Park in addition to workouts in the expansive auxiliary gym at the high school.

Wardzinski said he hoped the team could get on the field for Monday’s scheduled home game against Penn-Trafford.

“We told the guys going into the second game with Kiski that it was crucial we split with them,” Wardzinski said.

“If we didn’t, we were going to be behind the 8-ball getting ready to face Penn-Trafford and all the other teams. There is no easy win in this section.”

“Every single team can beat everyone else. Last year, it was kind of the same. Franklin Regional did kind of pull away from everyone else by going undefeated, but we beat Latrobe twice, Latrobe beat Penn-Trafford twice, and Penn-Trafford beat us twice. With the set-up again where you are facing each team twice in consecutive days, every team has at least two really good pitchers. It will be interesting to see how things go in section play.”

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.

Tags: Gateway