WPIAL Baseball Playoff Recaps for Monday, May 23rd

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, May 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM

16 games in the books from Quarterfinals Monday as the Final Four are now set in the 2011 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs. While two top seeds (Peters Township and Elizabeth Forward) flexed their muscles, one was upset (Shady Side Academy) while another needed three unearned runs in the 7th to force extra innings before pulling out the win (Serra Catholic). Here are the recaps from a busy Quarterfinals Monday in all four classifications.

Thanks to Don Rebel, Mike Azadian, Josh Rowntree, Mark Schaas, Jess Levo, Steve Nagler, Dennis Fischer, Greg Kuntz, Bobby Fox, Jason Tennant and Sam Hall for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINALS:

Peters Township Indians 17 – Latrobe Wildcats 1
The hitting machine that is the Peters Township Indians were on display in all of their glory Monday night in their postseason opener at Ross Memorial Park at the Washington & Jefferson Sports Complex. It only took the top-seed Indians four innings to dispose of the Latrobe Wildcats 17-1. Peters greeted Latrobe starter Luke Zamiskie with three runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Justin Miller, a run scoring triple by Justin Bianco and an error by Wildcats second baseman Ryan Bisi. Latrobe though nearly tied it in the bottom of the second inning when Indians starter Ryan Minteer walked Derrick Zavatsky and Max Sciullo before an RBI single by Jason Stewart made it 3-1. Dom DePalma then follwed with what was nearly a two run double down the left field line, but home plate umpire Tom Gossman ruled the ball hit outside of the line. Minteer then retired the next three Wildcats to keep it 3-1. Peters Township added four runs in the 3rd inning on triples by Bianco and Chris Olivo and doubles by Austin Hancock and Will McClure. The end for Latrobe came in the 4th when PT sent 14 players to the plate against two pitchers and scored ten runs, highlighted by a grand slam home run by Brady Sheetz. Latrobe ends its season with a 10-9 mark while Peters Township improves to 18-1 with a 15th straight win, and will battle Butler in the Class AAAA Semifinals on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Butler Golden Tornado 10 – Hempfield Spartans 1
Butler continues to dominate this postseason on the hill and at the plate. After crushing Penn-Trafford 11-0 in Round One, the Golden Tornado cruised to a 10-1 victory Monday afternoon at LaRoche College over the Hempfield Spartans. Butler scored in every inning but one, as they plated two runs in the 1st, one each in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, two in the 6th and three in the 7th inning. Mick Fennell did it with his arm and his bat for the Golden Tornado. He was 5-for-5 batting with a triple, two runs scored and five RBI. On the mound, he pitched 7 innings, allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 2 walks and 6 strike outs. Hempfield ends their season with a record of 11-10 while Butler improves to 14-4 and will face Peters Township in the Semifinals of Class AAAA Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 12 – Norwin Knights 10
It took 22 runs, 32 hits, five pitchers, four errors and a rollercoaster ride to finish one of the more wild WPIAL Quarterfinal games in some time as tenth-seeded Bethel Park upset second-seeded Norwin, 12-10, handing the Knights their first and only loss of the 2011 season. Bethel Park got contribution from their entire lineup, with every player recording at least one hit and six batters hitting successfully at least twice. Eric Yobbi would go 3-for-3 for the Panthers, reaching base in all three at-bats and posting four RBIs. Bethel Park scored the games first run in the bottom of the first, as Logan Corrigan would single and then score from second on a Ben Nolan RBI base hit. Norwin wouldnt wait long, as Matt Palo would turn his base hit into a run on a Jake Haubrich RBI single, evening the game at 1-1. Bethel Park, as they did all night, would answer immediately, posting two runs in the bottom of the second on back-to-back RBI doubles by Kyle Barton and Aaron Lapaglia, scoring John Pauley and Barton respectively, making it 3-1 Bethel Park after two innings. The Black Hawks would tack on two more runs in the third, as consecutive doubles by Yobbi and Nolan would be followed by a RBI base hit by Anthony Cinello, pushing the lead to 5-1 BP after three innings. However, Norwin would fight back, batting around the lineup in the fourth, getting RBIs from Tommy Quealy, Cameron Onderko (2), Max McDowell and Nick Kolat. Their contributions scored Haubrich, Jake Prbanic, Jason Shirley, Quealy and Onderko, making it 6-5 Norwin after three and a half innings. Again though, Bethel Park would answer as Dakota Forsyth, Corrigan, Grant Brown, and Yobbi would all score runs on RBIs by Yobbi (2) and Pauley, pushing the Bethel Park advantage to 9-6 after four innings. Bethel Park would extend the lead in the fifth, as Yobbi would follow back-to-back doubles by Forsyth and Corrigan with a two-RBI base hit, followed by a RBI single by Cinello, making it 12-6 Panthers after five innings. Norwin would not go lightly however, as they would put up two runs in the sixth, as Joe Matijevich would follow consecutive singles by Kolat and Palo with a RBI single of his own, making it 12-8 after six innings. Norwin would put up two more runs in the seventh on RBIs by Kolat and Palo, scoring Onderko and McDowell, cutting the lead to 12-10. However, Bethel Park pitcher Ben Nolan would close the door and the Black Hawks would escape with the upset. All but two Bethel Park players scored a run and they scored in every inning they batter, except the sixth. Six different Panthers would record an RBI in the game. Kolat went four-for-five for the Knights, with two RBI. Lapaglia gets the win for Bethel Park, after throwing four innings, striking out five and surrendering five earned runs. Nick Cubarney is given the loss for Bethel Park after pitching only three innings and being charged with seven earned runs on eight hits.