Top-seeded Cougars breeze past Uniontown, 17-1
Uniontown's Tito Cantalamessa (1) slides into second base on a wild pitch as Blackhawk's Joe Campagna waits for the throw during Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAA first round playoff game at Fox Chapel. Cantalamessa eventually came around to score the Red Raiders' lone run in a 17-1 loss to the Cougars.
Blackhawk's Joe Campagna hits a grand slam in the top of the first inning of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAA first round playoff game against Uniontown at Fox Chapel High School.
Uniontown's Luke Wallace pitches against Blackhawk during Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAA first round playoff game at Fox Chapel High School.
Joel Brewton
Uniontown’s Tyler Frazee (16) catches a fly ball during Tuesday’s WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff game against Blackhawk at Fox Chapel High School.
FOX CHAPEL — When Uniontown’s baseball team took the field at Fox Chapel Area High School on Tuesday, it was the Red Raiders’ first appearance in the WPIAL playoffs since 2002.
Blackhawk, on the other hand, has been in the postseason every year since then.
That experience showed as the top-seeded Cougars looked completely at ease in defeating Uniontown, 17-1, in their Class AAA first-round game. The contest was stopped after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Joe Campagna hit a first-inning grand slam and winning pitcher Dante Parente drove in four runs as Blackhawk (12-2), which tied for the Section 1-AAA section title, moved on to face Indiana today in the quarterfinals.
Uniontown (8-10), which finished third in Section 2-AAA, looks to build on one of its most successful seasons in over a decade.
“I told our guys after the game, ‘Hey, don’t hang your heads, you had a great season. This is something to build on for this program, and you gave your school district something to be proud of,'” said Red Raiders second-year coach Ken Musko, who said his team may have been nervous, but wasn’t intimidated.
“There’s nothing like playing the best,” Musko said. “That’s what you want to do. That’s how you get better. We played good teams all year, like Indiana and LH.
“I think we were ready to play, but it’s the mentality, though. Blackhawk, they’re used to this.”
The Cougars held back ace starter Brendan McKay, who’s pitched 58 innings this year without giving up a run, but their No. 2 pitcher wasn’t bad either. Parente entered the game with a 5-0 record and a 2.36 ERA.
Blackhawk took control in the first inning off Uniontown starter Luke Wallace. A single, error and walk set the stage for Campagna, who blasted a 3-2 pitch over the center field fence for a 4-0 lead.
Parente’s run-scoring single in the third made it 5-0.
One of the Red Raiders’ few bright spots, center fielder Tito Cantalamessa, scored Uniontown’s only run in the bottom of the third when he singled to center, took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a passed ball and scored on Zach Stashick’s ground out.
Cantalamessa had all three of Uniontown’s hits, including a ringing double to right field in the fifth, and tracked down three fly balls in the outfield.
“I thought today he did a great job,” Musko said of his center fielder. “He hasn’t played the last two years, but he came out this year and put a little bit of time in. His stick’s always been great and he has great speed. I’m proud of him.”
The Cougars came right back with a four-run fourth, however, highlighted by Parente’s three-run double, to go up 9-1.
Musko pulled Wallace after four innings and 117 pitches. He allowed eight earned runs on four hits with six walks and three strikeouts.
“I thought he was throwing a nice game and just wasn’t getting some calls, and then he just ran out of gas a little bit,” Musko said. “Zach Stashick was saying he was getting a lot of pitches in there but wasn’t getting the call.”
The Red Raiders didn’t get much of a break from the umpiring crew on the bases either as three close calls all went against them.
“I’m not blaming the loss on the umpires by any means, but you just ask for consistency,” Musko said. “At this level of a game, you expect that.”
Blackhawk added eight more runs in the fifth off Uniontown relievers Stashick and Tyler Frazee.
Parente pitched all five innings, allowing one run on three hits with four walks, one hit batsman and three strikeouts.
The Red Raiders threatened every inning against the right-hander. Uniontown left seven runners on base. Dan Sparrow reached base twice, with an error and a walk.
Musko thinks the program is heading in the right direction.
“I think it was a wake-up call for the area,” Musko said. “They’ve had some good ballplayers come out of Uniontown, like Ryan Robowski and Nate Fike, who were both drafted, but the program still doesn’t get too much credit.
“We don’t have a cage to hit in, we don’t have the facilities, but we’re working towards it. For what we had, these kids did a great job. These guys were hard workers from day one of conditioning.”
Now that they’ve had a taste of the postseason, don’t be surprised if the Red Raiders are back for seconds a year from now.