May 23, 2006 By Alan Smodic For The Herald Standard 3 min read

WASHINGTON – Through the first five innings, Connellsville starter Joe Leonard made quick work of the Upper St. Clair offense. He allowed only two hits and struck out seven over that span. It only took one pitch, though, to turn his whole game around.

After a single and an error put runners on the corner with one out, Upper St. Clair coach Jerry Malarkey sent pinch-hitter Russ Kropp to the plate.

And he delivered.

Kropp belted a belt-high Leonard fastball well over the 325-feet sign in left field for a three-run homer and a 3-2 Panthers lead.

Upper St. Clair reliever Pat Gannon pitched the final two innings for the save as the Falcons eventually lost, 4-2, in their WPIAL Quad-A first-round playoff game at Washington & Jefferson College on Monday.

“You can’t have four or five errors and expect to beat a good team,” Connellsville coach Brian Shipley said afterwards. “Joe had to pitch to that kid, but it should have never come to that.

“Errors will kill you.”

The Falcons’ offense gave Leonard a two-run lead in the fourth inning with one hit. Colton Wilhelm led off with a double and scored when the shortstop’s throw sailed beyond the first baseman on Josh Coffman’s grounder.

Coffman later reached third on a balk and scored two pitches later on starter Ryan Cain’s wild pitch.

For the next two innings, the two runs were enough for Leonard and the Connellsville defense.

“He pitched very well,” Malarkey said of Leonard. “I started to get a little concerned as the game went on because we weren’t getting production where I thought we would and he kept getting stronger.”

In the sixth, however, the errors finally started to add up.

The Panthers sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, picking up only three hits in the process. Pat Glass singled to lead off the inning and, after a strikeout by Leonard, moved to third on an error.

Kropp then delivered the home run, but the offense didn’t stop there. A single and two walks chased Leonard from the game in favor of Coffman. With the bases loaded, Coffman got Jack Greenberg to hit a ground ball to short, but an error allowed another run to score.

“You just can’t do that,” Shipley said of his defense. “You’ve got to play flawless baseball because good teams will find a way to win.”

Connellsville sent the top of the order up in the seventh inning for one last shot, but failed to plate any runs. With one out, Tyler Onusko drew a walk, which allowed the tying run to step up to the plate in Andy Schleihauf and Leonard.

Both connected on hard line drives to the outfield, but they found the mitt of the right fielder and center fielder, respectively, as Gannon held on for the save.

“Gannon’s been doing that for us since the middle of last year,” Malarkey said. “If we get a good four or five innings out of our starters, he’s been able to come in and close out the games.”

Leonard took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in 5 2-3 innings, while striking out eight and walking five.

“That was probably the best game I’ve seen him pitch all year,” Shipley said. “He was in command the whole game, but found himself in a bad situation. And that one pitch just got up.”