May 17, 2008 By Jonathan Guth For The 3 min read

ROBINSON TWP – In a game that was delayed nearly 45 minutes by rain, Rochester shut out Jefferson-Morgan 6-0 behind an unusual pitching day from the Rams’ JC Figueiredo in the opening round of the WPIAL Class A baseball playoffs. The game was held at the Burkett Sports Complex, where the grounds crew did an excellent job preparing the field after steady rain hit the area.

Figueiredo went six innings, threw 117 pitches, allowed one hit and no runs. The junior lefty struck out 15 Rocket batters and walked six.

“When he’s (Figueiredo) on it’s tough to beat him,” Rams coach Brian Verrico said. “I was a little worried about the walks, especially in the second inning, but he has a no-hitter this year.”

The Rockets had trouble making contact all day and did not put a ball hit in play until the fourth inning when Terry Lawrence connected on Jefferson-Morgan’s only hit, a single.

“Their kid (Figueiredo) did a great job,” Rockets coach John Curtis said. “Our guys kind of ran into a buzz saw today.”

Lawrence started for Jefferson-Morgan (13-6) and went 2 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on two hits. He struck out one but walked four batters. With one out in the third, Lawrence gave way to Michael Mox.

The Rockets’ best scoring chance came in the second inning when Figueiredo walked Lawrence, Nick Mox and Scott Bogdan to load the bases.

He started the inning with a strikeout before letting Lawrence go on a free pass. After another strikeout, Mox and Bogdan walked before Figueiredo shut the door with his third strikeout of the inning.

“We just couldn’t get on base,” Curtis said. “We didn’t put the ball in play. They were way better than us today.”

The big inning for Rochester (16-4) came in the third when Jimmy Battaglia walked with the bases loaded to bring home Derek Gallagher for a 2-0 lead. That chased Lawrence and brought in Mox.

Zach Matthews hit an RBI single before Brandon Gray’s RBI sacrifice fly gave the Rams some insurance and a 4-0 lead going into the fourth inning.

Rochester tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning to stretch its lead to 6-0.

Jefferson-Morgan made some contact on Figueiredo in the sixth inning on two ground-ball outs.

Matthews relieved Figueiredo in the seventh inning and sent down three Rockets on strikes around one walk.

Matthews finished with two singles and an RBI, while leadoff man Chad Pennington had a single, double and two walks for the Rams, along with scoring the game’s first run.

The Rams move on to the quarterfinals to play Chartiers-Houston.

“We do not know where we will play,” Verrico said. “It may be at this field, but I don’t know. I just hope to rest my pitcher. I am glad we got to play this game today. Also, give credit to Jefferson-Morgan. They are a great team. I went with my best pitcher against them today.”

Jefferson-Morgan’s season comes to an end, but they played a tough game.

“Our kids had a great year,” Curtis said. “We had a great week of practice but just played a good team with a good pitcher.”