WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Wednesday, May 31st

By: Bruce Markey
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 | 9:39 PM

What started with three play-in games Tuesday continued with two more district consolation games on Wednesday. State playoff berths were earned by Serra Catholic and Union while the 2017 campaign came to an end for Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Jefferson-Morgan. Here are recaps from those two games played at the Washington & Jefferson College Sports Complex.

A special thanks to Mark Schaas and Bobby Fox for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS 2-A Consolation Game:

Serra Catholic Eagles 2 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 0
While only a junior, Ben Visnesky has pitched in some big games for the Eagles and Wednesday was no exception. With the season on the line, Visnesky tossed a complete game and Serra Catholic is on the the state playoffs for the third straight year. Visnesky was the winning pitcher in last year’s title game against Greensburg Central Catholic and followed that up with an 8-0 record this year. He started strong allowing one base runner over 3.2 innings. He pitched out of a two out jam in the fourth, getting Luke Gapinski to ground into a force play after giving up back to back hits. Serra Catholic missed an opportunity to take an early lead when Mike Ulishney lined a shot in the first to the wall but was thrown out after over shooting third base. The Eagles got three straight hits in the fourth as Ben Bowen plated twin brother Zach with the first run. Jeff Cella followed with a hard shot to Keifer Bishop at first, who was able to keep the ball in the infield for an out but a second run scored and that was all Visnesky needed. The Eagles missed an opportunity in the sixth with runners at second and third with one out but couldn’t score. Trailing by two, OLSH loaded the bases, but with two outs Patrick Brogan struck out on three pitches to end the game. Serra Catholic (21-2) had only seven hits. Nate Piontka and Ben Bowen had two each.Visnesky allowed five hits and fanned eight. Patrick Brennan had a great game on defense at third base, he figured in on eight OLSH outs. The Eagles meet District 10 champ Rocky Grove on Monday in a rematch of from last year’s playoffs. OLSH ends the season at 16-6. Jeff Zick and Bishop each had two hits. Dylan Osheka was the hard luck loser, his first of the season. He also went the distance, fanning seven

WPIAL CLASS 1-A Consolation Game:

Union Scotties 12 – Jefferson-Morgan Rockets 0
Last year, Union came one win short of qualifying for the PIAA 1-A playoffs, but fell in the 2016 WPIAL consolation game to Vincentian Academy. This year, the Scotties left no doubt in a return trip to the third-place contest, as they dropped Jefferson-Morgan 12-0 at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park in Washington. Union (11-7) took advantage of five J-M (11-6) errors that played a major role in an unearned run in the top of the first inning and a game-breaking six-spot in the third. Five of those scores were of the unearned variety. The Scotties went on to score two in the sixth and three more in the seventh to close out the win. The victors were led by sophomore centerfielder Seth Pinkerton, who went four-for-five with four singles, four runs scored and an RBI. He also reached base on an error. Junior Even Pinkerton, Seth’s older brother, added a three-for-four effort with two RBI and a run scored. Freshman leftfielder Braydon Porter drove in a pair of runs to contribute to the winning cause. All of the offensive support was more than enough for junior starting pitcher Matt Costello, who was excellent on the hill. The righty scattered five hits and two walks over six scoreless innings to get the win. He racked up nine strikeouts in his latest victory. Senior Jefferson-Morgan catcher Isaac Dean tripled and walked in the loss. Senior Gage Clark pitched the first six innings of the loss and allowed nine runs, only three of which were earned, on nine hits, two walks and a hit batsman. He struck out three opposing hitters on the day. Union advances to the PIAA Class A tournament, where they will take on the winner of Clarion and Oswayo Valley on Monday, June 5. Those two schools will face each other in the District 9/10 title game on Thursday, June 1.