Connellsville keeps playoff hopes alive
CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville kept their slim Section 2-AAAA playoff hopes alive Monday afternoon after racing out to a big lead, and then managing to hold off Greater Latrobe for a 12-10 win. The Falcons (3-4, 6-8) got a big day at the plate from senior first baseman Ben Herrington, who finished the day with three hits, including a two-run homer, and four RBIs. Joe Leonard also had three hits for the Falcons, all doubles, with an RBI and two runs scored. Fellow seniors Colton Wilhelm and Kaitan Smiley had two hits each with Wilhelm driving in two and Smiley getting an RBI.
The Wildcats (3-5, 4-8) made plenty of noise of their own, pounding out 13 hits on the day. Brent Heckel had two hits, one was a triple, and two RBIs. Andrew Oshnock had two hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Robbie Webber also had two hits, one a double, and drove in two runs.
“Our guys showed a lot of heart today. We had guys who wanted the ball and wanted to make some plays today,” Falcons head coach Brian Shipley said. “These guys have been part of playoff teams the last two years. They know what it takes to be successful. Hopefully we’re starting to put things together at the right time.”
The Falcons jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Brian Sherwood and Josh Keslar drew walks. Leonard doubled to drive in Sherwood. Wilhelm singled to drive in Keslar and Leonard. Herrington singled, and an error on the play moved Wilhelm to third and Herrington to second. Drew Harvey’s fly ball to left brought home Wilhelm.
Latrobe got one back in the second when Brian Hantz drew a walk, stole second and scored on a single by Brad Burkhardt.
The Falcons came back to add four more runs in the bottom of the second when Herrington drove in two runs with a double, then Wilhelm and Herrington were able to score on Latrobe errors giving the Falcons an 8-1 lead.
Latrobe got themselves back into the game with five runs in the top of the third as Heckel drove in two runs while Oshnock had an RBI double. Weber hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in another run, cutting the Falcons lead to 8-6.
“You can’t give up eight runs in the first two innings and expect to come back and win a lot of games,” Latrobe head coach Matt Basciano said. “My kids showed a lot of heart at the way they battled back. But we just dug ourselves too deep of a hole to climb out of.”
The Falcons added two more runs in the bottom of the third when Wilhelm was hit by a pitch, and Herrington cracked a two-run homer to straight away center to increase the Falcons’ lead to 10-6.
Both teams exchanged scores in the fourth. Latrobe picked up a run when Weber doubled and came around to score on a base hit by Neal West. Connellsville countered that in the bottom half of the inning when Smiley singled with two out and Sherwood walked. Smiley scored on a misplayed ball hit by Keslar to make the score 11-7 in favor of the Falcons.
Latrobe closed to within one run scoring three times in the top of sixth, as it was able to load the bases and Hantz drove in two with a hit. Weber followed that with another hit to drive in the third run.
The Falcons managed to pick up their final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Harvey was walked with one out.
He was replaced by courtesy runner Jeremy Molinaro who proceeded to steal second. He moved to third on a hit by Alex Fogle and scored on a two-out hit from Smiley.
Rob Egan was the starter for Connellsville and was able to get the win with relief help from Leonard and Herrington. Brian Newmeyer took the loss for Latrobe.
The Wildcats return to section play today against Albert Gallatin, while the Falcons are on the road for a section game at Franklin Regional.