Uniontown golfers rally past Mustangs
Offhand, this might have been the biggest comeback since Little Sheba. All season long, Uniontown and Laurel Highlands have battled for honors in Division I, Section 2 and they were locked in another nail biter Wednesday at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
With two holes to go, Laurel Highlands held the lead.
But then Uniontown took over, and when the last putt had dropped, the Red Raiders had made a swing of 12 strokes to come from behind and defeat the Mustangs, 193 to 196, and complete a sweep of their section schedule.
The momentum really changed on eight (514 yards, par 5) when Zach Rockwell eagled and Greg Franko birdied to offset a bird by Laurel Highlands’ Brandon Katzeff, whose 30-foot putt missed by two inches of being an eagle.
Then came the wrapup on nine where Franko and Rockwell both parred.
Another hero for Uniontown was No. 5 player Jarrod Bartok, who will probably shoot many more rounds as good, but none will be any more important than the 39 he came in with Wednesday.
With the first four in on each side, Laurel Highlands had a one-stroke lead, 153 to 154. Then the final foursome came in, Bartok posting a 39 and teammate Ryan Hutnick 52, while Laurel Highlands counted a 43 by Cory Chrise and 46 by Santino Marchitello. With the highest scores thrown out on each side, the 52 and 46 went out, leaving Bartok’s 39 the final edge over Chrise’s 43.
Bartok said, “I didn’t have any birds today, and I closed with a par and double bogey. I knew the match was close, so I had to put the pressure on my opponent. I got a par, then on nine my chip took a bad bounce and I ended up two over. But that was enough for a 39 to get our team the final edge. My chipping was good today. I chipped close and didn’t have to make any long putts.”
The win left Uniontown 15-1 overall, including a historic 14-game section sweep, the first time a Raider team has done that. The win also extends Uniontown’s section winning streak to 27.
The Mustangs finish 11-3 in section play, 16-4 overall.
Coach Aaron Scott, with an ear-to-ear smile, said, “Going unbeaten in any sport is a real accomplishment, and they worked hard all season for the championship, but no harder than they worked today to come back and win. They turned it on over the last two holes, and if LH made a mistake, we capitalized on it and swung the momentum our way.
“We made the putts today and that was a big factor, as were Jarrod’s 39 and Rockwell’s eagle. I credit LH, they pushed us today, made us really work to get the win, and together I think we made everybody see what high school golf is supposed to be all about. We had touch competition all season from LH, Albert Gallatin and Mount Pleasant, and we had to work hard to keep ahead of those three.”
Mustang coach Don Crawford added, “We had them with two holes left, but we gave back the edge on the last two, a swing of 12 strokes. We had a big letdown on those last two holes, but it was also a real fine comeback by Uniontown. Both teams played super all year, but today we had only two golfers break 40 and you don’t beat good teams when you hit in the 40’s.”
Rockwell was medalist for Uniontown with a par 36, and shared match honors with Laurel Highlands Katzeff and Brian John. Franko had 37, Bartok 39, Jonathon Latsnic 40 and Bobby Umbel 41 to complete the winning card.
Rockwell eagled eight when he “hit a real good drive to the right side of the fairway, then hit a seven-iron 170 yards to about 12 feet from the pin and got the putt. Overall, I hit my tee shots well, and my irons were pretty strong, but my short game wasn’t as good as usual and my putting could have been better.”
Franko was “not really pleased overall with my game today, for I know I can play better, and we needed every stroke we could get today. The pin placements were real tough, and it was hard to get second shots close. I don’t think anybody hit too close today.”
Franko birdied four (334, 4) and eight. On four he “hit my drive to the right of the fairway, about 80 yards from the green, then a sand wedge to 15 feet from the pin and got the putt. On eight, I hit a real good drive down the middle, then put a six-iron second shot about 25 feet from the cup and two-putted, the last one from a foot away. I really didn’t do anything great today, nor did I do anything really bad, I was just consistent in what I did.”
Katzeff birdied eight and bogied four and nine. On eight, he “two-putted. My second shot went about 30 feet past the pin, and I had a good putt coming back, but the ball stopped about two inches away from the cup, that much short of an eagle. I played pretty consistent, I didn’t drive all that well, but the putter bailed me out. I had a lot of two-putt greens.”
Next up is WPIAL team competition for both next Tuesday, at a site still to be announced.