Connellsville topples Albert Gallatin
CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville’s baseball team ended the season on a high note Wednesday as it celebrated “Senior Day” by beating Albert Gallatin 12-5 in Section 2-AAAA play. “All of the seniors had their moments this year; they are going to be missed,” Falcons coach Brian Shipley said. “It feels a little strange not making the playoffs this year but we got a little taste of success at times, winning some games late in the year against teams in our section that qualified for the playoffs.”
The Falcons got a big day at the plate from lead-off hitter Brian Sherwood who had three hits, two for triples. Drew Harvey collected two hits and drove in two runs, and Ben Herrington doubled, tripled and drove in a run. Dustyn Pastors finished the day with two hits, a double and triple to drive in two runs, Tyler Domer also added two hits and drove in two runs.
The Colonials made some noise too. Gene Franks continued to prove he is one of the best hitters in the section, cracking a solo homer and a double, and Elmer Engle had two hits and drove in two runs.
The Colonials (2-10, 5-12) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, A.J.Barnas was hit by a pitch. Robbie Egan, who pitched the win for the Falcons, got Franks to ground out to third. Engle then hit a two-out single to drive in Barnas who later had to leave the game because of a bruise after being hit by the pitch.
The Falcons (5-7, 9-11) wasted a triple from Sherwood in the bottom of the first as they had runners on second and third with no one out. Colonials sophomore hurler Eric Palmer got out of a tough spot, getting Joe Leonard and Harvey to hit ground outs to third and Alex Fogle to ground out to second.
The Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the second. Herrington doubled to start off the inning and came around to score on a base hit by Pastors.
Albert Gallatin regained the lead in the top of the third when Franks took an Egan pitch to straightaway center for a home run.
The Falcons regained the lead in the bottom of the third with two scores. John Keslar led off the inning with a double. He moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Harvey’s sacrifice fly to center. Alex Fogle doubled and scored on Herrington’ s triple, giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead.
“I’m proud of the way my team played but we can’t make mistakes,” Colonials coach Shawn Chory said. “We’re the smallest team in Quad-A and we don’t have the depth of other teams. This is our ninth game in 11 days. I’m pitching freshmen and sophomores because we don’t have enough arms. We’re a little drained physically and emotionally, but the kids come and give me everything they can each day. I’m proud of their effort. I’m sure this will pay off for some of the younger kids in the future.”
The Colonials scored two in the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. With one out Colin Packroni and Emmett Roper drew walks. Justin Swaney beat out a sacrifice bunt to load the bases before Logan Howard hit a ground ball to short, scoring Packroni. The throw to second for the force out was dropped, enabling Roper to score.
The Falcons responded with a four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Tyler Domer singled, and Sherwood tripled with one out to drive him in to tie the game.
Keslar followed with a hit, driving in Sherwood to give the Falcons a 5-4 lead. Leonard singled to left, and an error on the play brought Keslar while Leonard moved to second. Harvey singled to right, driving in Leonard giving the Falcons a 7-4 lead.
Connellsville scored once in the fifth when Pastors tripled and scored on Domer’s sacrifice fly to right. The Falcons added four more runs in the sixth. Leonard was safe on an error to start the inning. Harvey singled, and Herrington drew a one-out walk to load the bases.
Pastors’ sacrifice fly to center brought home Leonard before Domer singled, driving in Jeremy Molinaro who came on as a courtesy runner for Harvey. Kaitain Smiley’s grounder to short was misplayed, allowing Herrington to score. A second error on the play allowed Domer to cross the plate.
Albert Gallatin picked up one more run in the top of the seventh when Franks doubled and scored on a single by Engle.
“We had a solid effort from everybody, and Egan pitched well for us again. He has all five section wins for us,” Shipley said. “We had a lot of underclassmen get a lot of valuable playing time this year, and everyone is already excited for next year. I think the future might look good for us.”
Albert Gallatin closes out the season today when it host Laurel Highlands in an exhibition “Senior Day” game.