Uniontown pounds Laurel Highlands
HOPWOOD – The site was different, but the result was almost exactly the same. Uniontown’s offense exploded on Laurel Highlands for the second time in nine days in rolling to a 14-2 non-section baseball victory in five innings on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Hutchinson Field.
Ryan Robowski hammered a pair of home runs and scored three times, Ryan Kennedy doubled and singled twice, scored twice and had three RBIs, and Josh King also had three hits with two RBIs and two runs as coach Rob Kezmarsky’s squad improved to 5-8-1.
That was more than enough for winning pitcher Nick Apicella, who allowed one earned run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts in going the distance.
The Red Raiders defeated the Mustangs 10-0 in five innings on April 21 at Wharton Township Field.
“They picked up right where they left off the last time we played them,” LH coach Tom Landman said. “They had their hitting shoes on again today. Uniontown is one of the better hitting teams I’ve seen, and they certainly hit better against us than any team we’ve played this year.”
In his defense, Landman’s pitching staff has worn thin as the season has gone along.
“This was our fourth game in four days,” Landman said. “That’s really backed us up on pitching.
“But the bottom line is Uniontown out-hit us, out-pitched us, and played better defense than us.”
Every Red Raider starter had at least one hit except Steve Kezmarsky, who hit the ball hard twice in going 0 for 4.
Cory Sawka was 1 for 3 with two RBIs, three runs, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base; Mike George had two hits and two RBIs; Nathan Fike had two hits, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base; Apicella had one hit and scored twice; and Alan Witt had a double and two RBIs.
“It was a beautiful day,” coach Kezmarsky said with a smile. “That’s a good win for the kids. It’s nice for them to beat LH twice in what’s been sort of a tough year for us.
“We play in a real tough section (2-AAAA) and we’ve lost some very tough ballgames, but these kids have tried hard and played through the whole year.
“Hopefully, in the next two weeks, we can win a few section games so these kids can end the season feeling good about themselves.”
Robowski agreed.
“I just wish we could trade these wins against Laurel Highlands for some section wins so we could make the playoffs,” Robowski said. “But no matter what, we’d like to end the season on a good note.”
Landman sent Jim Blosser out to start the game, and after George singled and was picked off first by catcher Brent Coughenour, there were two outs with no one on.
Then the floodgates opened up.
The left-hand hitting Robowski drove the next pitch well over the right-field fence to make it 1-0. That was followed by a single to left by Apicella, a run-scoring double to left-center by Fike, an RBI single to center by King, a run-scoring double to left by Sawka, and RBI infield hit by Kennedy and a run-scoring double to center by Witt.
Landman called on Kevin Gmiter to relieve Blosser, and he got out of the inning without any further damage, but the Red Raiders had an imposing 6-0 lead.
Laurel Highlands fought back with a pair of runs off Apicella in the second. Eric Fudala reached on an error, Rich Kolesar walked and one out later Chris Miller walked to load the bases for Coughenour, who sent a two-run single into left field to make it 6-2.
Uniontown answered in the top of the third as Kennedy hit an RBI double and scored on George’s single to put the margin back at six.
“We got down right off the bat, but when we got those two runs to make it 6-2, we were still in the ballgame,” Landman said. “But they answered with two more runs and took the momentum right back.”
The Mustangs’ only other hits were singles by Darryl Gesso and Jake Barnhart.
Gmiter was knocked from the mound in a four-run fourth that began with Robowski’s second homer, also to right field on the first pitch.
“I was just looking for a pitch in my zone, and those pitches were both there,” Robowski said of his pair of blasts. “I actually could tell they were out as soon as I hit them. The ball was carrying pretty well here today.”
King’s RBI single and Sawka’s sacrifice fly capped the game’s scoring in the top of the fifth, and Apicella finished up with a perfect frame in the bottom of the inning to close out the game on the 10-run rule.
“Nick pitched real well today, Robowski has done it all for us all year, and it was nice to see Ryan Kennedy have a good game,” Kezmarsky said. “He’s a senior who’s a first-year player and he’s hit the ball well all year.”
Both teams return to section action on Monday. Uniontown hosts Latrobe, while Laurel Highlands (2-AAA) travels to Greensburg Salem.