Montour celebrates 1-run win over Quaker Valley in WPIAL 4A quarterfinals
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Monday, May 24, 2021 | 11:51 PM
Montour’s Matt Luchovick celebrates after scoring during the sixth inning of a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal against Quaker Valley on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Matt Luchovick (2) scores as the ball gets past Quaker Valley catcher Zeke Hendricks during the sixth inning of their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour catcher Matt Luchovick celebrates after turning a double play against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Gannon Kadlecik doubles in a run against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Mason Sike connects on an RBI double during the sixth inning against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Mason Sike celebrates his RBI double during the sixth inning against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Mason Sike celebrates his RBI double during the sixth inning against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour’s Brock Janeda drives in a run against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour left fielder Ryan Gallagher makes a catch in the outfield against Quaker Valley during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Quaker Valley center fielder Jack Gardinier makes a running catch in the outfield against Montour during a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour catcher Matt Luchovick celebrates with Nick Walker during their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal against Quaker Valley on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
Montour catcher Matt Luchovick celebrates with pitcher Gannon Kadlecik after defeating Quaker Valley, 6-5, in their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday, May 24, 2021, at Fox Chapel High School.
With two runners on, no outs and trailing by a run, Montour’s Mason Sike was told to be ready to lay down a bunt.
To his surprise, the bunt sign never came.
“I was really thinking it was going to happen, and he gave me the green light,” said Sike, who instead lined an RBI double to left, part of a three-run, sixth-inning rally to defeat Quaker Valley, 6-5, in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal Monday at Fox Chapel.
“He trusted me enough to let me swing,” Sike said, “and it ended up paying off.”
In a one-run game, as Montour knows well this season, small decisions can make big differences.
“I was torn,” Spartans coach Bob Janeda said. “I’m happy with the results.”
The back-and-forth win carried top-seeded Montour (14-5) to the semifinals to face No. 5 Laurel Highlands at 3 p.m. Tuesday back at Fox Chapel.
Against No. 9 Quaker Valley (9-12), the Spartans had trailed 2-0, led 3-2, trailed 4-3 and led 6-4. The Quakers tried to retake the lead again in the seventh, but Montour closer Gannon Kadlecik shut down the Quakers’ rally after one run.
“It was a hard game throughout,” Sike said. “We ended up coming clutch.”
Montour’s bats did damage in two innings, scoring three runs each in the third and sixth innings. Kadlecik keyed the third-inning rally with a two-run double.
In the sixth, Montour’s Ryan Gallagher followed Sike’s double with a sacrifice fly that scored Matt Luchovick. Sike then jogged home for a 6-4 lead when Quaker Valley’s arrant relay throw to the plate bounced out of play.
“The fans, the Burkett Birds (student section), they were all going nuts,” Sike said. “It’s the playoffs, bottom six and you’ve got the lead? That’s the best feeling in the world.”
Sike’s double wasn’t the only time he made Janeda’s strategy look flawless Monday.
In the top of the sixth, with Sike pitching in relief, Janeda decided to load the bases with an intentional walk. Sike promptly forced a comebacker that sparked a pitcher, to catcher to first base double-play to escape the jam unfazed.
Quaker Valley’s lead seemed destined to grow, but instead stayed 4-3.
“We were one hit away,” QV coach Dean Owrey said. “That ground ball back to the pitcher, six inches (farther away) and it gets through there and I get two runs.”
Sike pitched a scoreless sixth inning to earn the win in relief.
Montour starter Dylan Mathiesen allowed four runs on four hits over five innings, walked three and hit one batter. Luchovick relieved Sike and retired three of the four batters he faced to earn the save.
Quaker Valley scored two runs each in the first and fifth innings off Mathiesen and one in the seventh charged to Sike. Hunter Doherty and Jack Gardinier each scored twice for the Quakers, and Zeke Hendricks had three RBIs.
QV starter Adam Tanabe pitched the first three innings, and Jackson Bould handled the final three. They each allowed three runs.
As section foes, this was the third time Montour and Quaker Valley played one another this season. Montour won 11-3 and 7-5 in March.
“This is not the team that played them March 29 and March 30,” Owrey said. “I’ve got four sophomores and five juniors. I don’t have a senior on the field. … We were playing our best baseball at the end of the season.”
Montour played its share of close games this spring, losing five by a combined six runs.
But memories of another one-run loss loomed larger Monday. The last time the WPIAL held playoffs, Montour lost 5-4 in the first round in 2019.
“We remembered how that felt walking out of there,” Janeda said. “We said today, we’ve got to be on the other end of this.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Montour, Quaker Valley
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