Leechburg’s Mason Bertino contributes to 2nd no-hitter this month in win vs. Winchester Thurston
By:
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | 8:43 PM
Leechburg starting pitcher Mason Bertino delivers against Winchester Thurston on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Jake Cummings makes a running catch on a ball hit by Winchester Thurston’s Sam McComb on Tuesday.
Winchester Thurston’s Jake Cummings tags out Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Chase Henry steals second as he is hit by the throw to Winchester Thurston’s Sam Tarr on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Chase Henry scores behind Winchester Thurston catcher Sam McComb on Tuesday.
Winchester Thurston’s Hunter Rockwell scores past Leechburg catcher Rocco Vigna on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Logan Turiak hits a two-run double against Winchester Thurston on Tuesday.
Winchester Thurston catcher Sam McComb pulls in a pop-up by Leechburg’s Rocco Vigna on Tuesday.
Winchester Thurston’s Sam Hammons tags out Leechburg’s Jake Cummings on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Garrett Jones scores behind Winchester Thurston catcher Sam McComb on Tuesday.
Leechburg’s Brady Rollinger steals second base past Winchester Thurston’s Sam Tarr on Tuesday.
Two pitchers combined for a no-hitter, and Leechburg’s baseball team moved into sole possession of first place in its WPIAL section with a ninth consecutive victory on Tuesday, 9-3 against visiting Winchester Thurston.
Yet, Blue Devils coach Heath Shimer wasn’t exactly smiling.
An abundance of missteps — errors, walks, even body language — figured to be the catalyst for Shimer’s boisterous postgame tirade that resulted in a brief one-sided conversation.
“I’m trying to build a culture here, and it starts with respect and accountability,” Shimer said. “All my players didn’t have those things today. It’s selfish on their parts. That’s not how I do things.”
Leechburg’s Mason Bertino and Chase Henry combined for a no-hitter for the fifth-ranked Blue Devils, the second time this month Bertino has accomplished the feat.
But five walks and three errors during a sloppy fifth inning put a damper on Leechburg’s afternoon.
“I feel I was prepared to play today. … My bar is set really high this year,” Shimer said. “I’m upset because of some of the dynamics in how we carry ourselves on the field. It’s not up to my standards.”
Still, the victory was the ninth in a row for Leechburg (9-1, 9-0), which sits alone in first place in Section 2-1A after entering the day in a tie with Winchester Thurston (9-2, 8-1).
The teams are scheduled for a rematch Thursday at Winchester Thurston.
“We’re in uncharted waters under my tenure,” said Shimer, in his fifth season at Leechburg. “I’ve never been 9-0 in section.”
After retiring the first two Winchester Thurston batters in the sixth, Bertino was lifted after walking Sam Hammons and Austin Lenhardt-Barley to reach a PIAA-imposed maximum pitch count.
Bertino, a sophomore right-hander who tossed a complete-game no-hitter April 7 in a 7-0 victory over St. Joseph in the second game of a doubleheader, retired the first 10 Winchester Thurston batters before issuing a pair of walks to Lucas Picher and losing pitcher Mason Witten.
But the Bears couldn’t break through.
“We barreled up some baseballs and hit it right to them,” Winchester Thurston coach Paul McComb said.
Bertino struck out seven, walked five and yielded three unearned runs in the fifth. The runs were a byproduct of three Leechburg errors, including Bertino’s errant throw to second base on a potential inning-ending double play following a comebacker to the mound.
It led to Winchester Thurston’s only three runs and cut into an 8-0 Leechburg lead.
“We let them back in the game with the errors,” Shimer said. “When I left the mound, I said, ‘We need a double-play ball. It’s the pitcher’s best friend.’”
Sure enough, Bertino got Kaelin Leimer to bounce back to the mound. But when the play was over, Leechburg had committed two throwing errors, allowing two runs to score.
Bertino regrouped and snuffed the rally. After Benji Smuckler’s sacrifice fly accounted for the second out, Picher struck out to end the inning.
“That inning right there, giving up three runs like that, it’s kind of disappointing,” Shimer said.
Bertino took the blame for Leechburg’s nagging woes.
“I need to be more consistent with my control,” he said. “My biggest problem is learning to consistently throw strikes. That and mastering my offspeed pitch. When I start to walk people, I overthrow to try and overcompensate. It would’ve been nice to finish it out with another complete game, but I’m happy with the outcome.”
Henry, who made a dazzling, diving stop of Ben Kogan’s one-hopper to shortstop in the third, relieved Bertino with two outs in the sixth. He pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the Blue Devils, who broke open the game in the fourth on freshman Logan Turiak’s three-run double.
“They’re a great team. They’re definitely the real deal,” McComb said. “Well-coached, disciplined, good hitters.”
Leechburg took a 1-0 lead in the first against Witten on Bertino’s RBI single through the right side of the infield.
The Blue Devils made it 2-0 in the second on Henry’s RBI single. They added a pair of runs in the third on an RBI single by Garrett Jones and a bases-loaded walk to Jaxon Vargo.
Jake Cummings’ RBI single started Leechburg’s four-run fourth against Picher, who relieved Witten in the third and surrendered Turiak’s bases-clearing double.
“We’ve got to regroup and get back at it,” McComb said. “(Thursday’s) another day. This is not anything that’s going to hang with us. We’ll learn from it and get better. I liked the way we competed until the end.”
Tags: Leechburg, Winchester Thurston
More Baseball
• Plum baseball riding high ahead of WPIAL playoffs• High school roundup for May 2, 2025: Plum walks off New Castle in 11-homer slugfest
• What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Friday, May 2, 2025: 6A softball teams jockey for position
• Trib HSSN high school baseball team of the week for May 1, 2025
• High school roundup for May 1, 2025: North Allegheny wins series with rival North Hills on 1-hitter
