Plum baseball looks to finish strong

By: Michael Love
Saturday, May 1, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum varsity baseball team fashioned an unblemished Section 2-5A record through a pair of victories over Penn Hills on April 26 and 27.

That put the Mustangs at 6-0 heading into a scheduled home-and-home section series against Woodland Hills.

Plum was to pay a visit to the Wolverines on Friday and host the second game on Saturday.

The Saturday game marked the first home game of the 2021 season for the Mustangs on their newly refurbished field on the Plum High School campus.

Plum also was to take on Hampton in section play Monday and Tuesday

All four games were to be contested past the deadline for this week’s edition.

The Mustangs are scheduled to host Class 6A Seneca Valley on Thursday.

The Plum players were road warriors through their first nine games and posted a 6-3 overall record.

The series wins over Penn Hills were bounce-back efforts after nonsection setbacks to Keystone Oaks, 8-7, and Hempfield, 12-7.

Some two-out lightning in Game 1 against the Indians helped Plum set the tempo.

After the first two batters were retired, eight reached safely on six hits and two Penn Hills fielding errors. Six runs scored, more than what ultimately would be needed in the 9-5 victory.

The Mustangs added some insurance with two runs in the third and one more in the fourth.

Plum collected 10 hits in all. Colin Solinski paced the offensive attack with a 3-for-4 effort. Nate Nate McMasters and Brady Dojonovic recorded doubles, while Dojonovic, Solinski, Silvio Ionadi, Matt Frazzetta, Caden Norcutt, Cam Wickline and Johnny Ioannou tallied RBIs.

Dojonovic started and worked four innings on the mound. He gave up five earned runs, five hits, walked two and struck out seven to pick up the win.

In Game 2, Plum needed a late-inning rally to overcome Penn Hills.

The Mustangs posted five runs in the bottom of the sixth to turn around what was a 2-1 deficit. Ethan Kircher had the big hit of the sixth with a three-run homer that extended the Plum advantage to four runs.

McMasters and Ionadi fronted the Mustangs’ 11-hit attack with three hits apiece. Ionadi doubled, drove in a run and scored twice.

Solinski started and pitched through the sixth. He got the win after surrendering six hits, one walk and two earned runs while fanning three.

Plum softball on pause

With five Section 1-5A games left, Plum softball was forced off the field last week because of covid issues.

A section doubleheader with Woodland Hills last Wednesday, Friday’s section matchup with Kiski Area, and Monday’s section clash with Armstrong were postponed.

Thursday’s scheduled nonsection game against Hempfield also is off.

Coach Phil DiLonardo said he hoped his team will be able to play their remaining section games before the end of the regular season.

The Mustangs are scheduled to come back to game action Friday at home against Penn Hills, DiLonardo said.

Plum is 8-3 overall, and it improved to 6-1 in section play after a 7-6 win over Franklin Regional on April 26.

The game was a measure of payback after a 5-0 loss to the Panthers on April 7. The victory was the Mustangs’ fourth in a row.

All 13 runs were scored in the final four innings, and Jaralyn Kincaid’s run-scoring double in the bottom of the seventh allowed Plum to enjoy a walk-off win.

Plum collected 10 hits, with Kincaid and Melanie Meinke producing two hits apiece. Makenzie Lang hit her team-best fifth home run, and she now has 15 RBIs.

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.

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