Belle Vernon wins in dramatic fashion, advances to title game
Holly Tonini
Belle Vernon catcher Parker Lynn tags out Hopewell’s Nolan Harnotto on an attempted squeeze play during a WPIAL Class AAA semifinal baseball game at Washington & Jefferson College’s Ross Memorial Park on Monday.
Holly Tonini
Belle Vernon’s Matt Callaway safely crosses home after a teamate hits a double in a game against Hopewell.
Holly Tonini
Belle Vernon’s Dylan Shupe ssmacks the ball in the bottom of the 4th inning in a game against Hopewell.
WASHINGTON — In one of the wildest games in WPIAL Class AAA baseball playoff history, Belle Vernon battled all of the emotions in Monday’s semifinal contest and Adam Ferita drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning for a dramatic 8-7 win against Hopewell at Washington & Jefferson College’s Ross Memorial Park.
“I have never been a part of a baseball game like this before,” Leopards coach Dan Palm said. “This group just never quits and Adam did a tremendous job of being patient at the plate and drawing the walk at the critical time.”
The seventh-seeded Leopards (18-4) will now play the winner the Blackhawk/Thomas Jefferson semifinal in next week’s Class AAA Championship at Consol Energy Park.
Belle Vernon grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but the Vikings (18-4) rallied with two runs in the third and grabbed a 3-1 lead after a solo home run by Logan Johnston.
In the fourth, the Leopards knotted things up at 3-3 after a two-run double by Dean Manown.
In the next inning, the Vikings seemed to take firm control of the game with three runs, but the Leopards continued to fight over the next two frames.
Belle Vernon added a run in the fifth, followed by four runs in the sixth via an RBI double by Manown, an outfield error that scored two runs and a sacrifice fly by Ferita that gave the Leopards an 8-7 lead through six innings.
“All year we have had big pitches, big hits and big defensive plays,” Palm said. “These kids never put their heads down today and never thought they were out of it. This group is very close and they deserve this win.”
In the seventh, Hopewell managed a run-producing hit in their final at-bat to tie things up before Belle Vernon made the late, game heroics in their final at-bat.
Dom Francia picked up the win for the Leopards in relief going three innings.
“This game was like a boxing match-up,” Palm said. “They threw some punches at us and we came back. We just tried to keep our emotions in check and make the smart plays on the field. We got some key hits, but more importantly we took a lot of pitches and drew up their pitch count. Our kids just rode all of the emotions today.”
The game was delayed in the second inning by an hour and 18 minute rain delay.