Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Mt. Pleasant vaults into 1st place

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Mt. Pleasant lost its first three games of the season while playing at the Ripken Experience at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Vikings left the beach, and the setbacks, in the rearview mirror.

They only lost one of their next 12 games and vaulted into first place in Section 4-3A with a 4-1 upset of No. 3 Waynesburg on Monday.

But they weren’t done.

A 6-1 win over the Raiders followed Wednesday and the sweep moved the Vikings (11-4, 9-1) closer to a section title. Their winning streak reached seven.

The Vikings, who were leading the section with 103 runs scored, had only been tripped up once in section play in a 4-3 loss to Greensburg Salem.

In the first win over Waynesburg, Brady Poole drove in two runs and Luke Nicotera and Brady Painter each had one RBI to help Jake Kitz earn the win.

In Game 2, Connor Drzal grabbed the win while striking out 10 and also drove in three runs while Dylan Firmstone doubled and had two RBIs.

Playoff picture

Through midweek, 10 county teams had secured berths in the WPIAL playoffs.

They are Hempfield and Norwin in 6A; Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional in 5A; Latrobe, Belle Vernon and Kiski Area in 4A; Burrell and Mt. Pleasant in 3A; and Greensburg Central Catholic in 2A.

Marathon men

Belle Vernon and Latrobe didn’t disappoint in their much-anticipated Section 2-4A series, going 12 innings in the opener Monday with Belle Vernon eking out a 4-3 road win.

Latrobe had just been tabbed as the No. 1-ranked team in the TribLive 4A Top 5, but Belle Vernon used its strong pitching to hold back the Wildcats.

A couple of throwing errors allowed Belle Vernon to score two runs, the second to go ahead for good.

Adam LaCarte made it 4-3 when he scored from second on the Wildcats’ miscue.

LaCarte went 2 for 3 with a home run. Lefthander Parker Lind struck out 15 in 6⅓ innings.

The second game of the two-game series Wednesday also was tight. LaCarte also left his thumbprint on a 6-5 victory, delivering a walk-off single and earning the pitching win in relief.

Belle Vernon clinched its first section title since 2012 and fifth championship overall.

What a grab

Louis Amatucci lofted a foul ball outside of the first base line and three Belle Vernon defenders converged.

In Monday’s game, The fly ball hit off of first baseman John Bellissimo’s glove, bounced off second baseman Lucas Judy’s back, and somehow ended up in the glove of a heads-up Jake Gedekoh, who ran in from right field.

Bellissimo and Judy nearly collided while going after the harmless pop-up.

“John and Judy were closing in on it and must’ve popped it loose from one another,” said Gedekoh, who also is a standout running back for the Leopards’ championship football team. “I think they did because they always do, but, hey, sometimes things happen. It’s like football, you go toward the ball and good things happen.”

We’re willing to bet you’ve NEVER seen a catch quite like the one Belle Vernon pulled off tonight! #webgem

Bellissimo ➡️ Judy ➡️ Gedekoh pic.twitter.com/mrjHkyW1LD

— Westmoreland Sports Network (@WestmorelandSN) April 30, 2024

Rank and file

Latrobe was the biggest mover in the TribLive rankings, jumping from No. 3 to No. 1 in 4A.

Hempfield slid from No. 2 to No. 4 in 6A, while Penn-Trafford held strong at No. 3 in 5A, and Greensburg Central Catholic didn’t budge from No. 3 in 2A.

The other No. 1 teams are Mt. Lebanon (6A), West Allegheny (5A), Riverside (3A), Serra Catholic (2A), and Eden Christian (A).

Down the stretch

Four teams were still in contention for the top spot in Section 1-5A with a week left in the regular season.

Penn-Trafford (8-1) was a game ahead of Plum (8-2), while Fox Chapel (7-2) and Franklin Regional (7-3) were close behind.

Franklin Regional visits Penn-Trafford on Monday, then the teams meet again Tuesday in Murrysville.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford