close

Uniontown Legion routs Elizabeth-Forward, 14-2

By Stephen Flinn for The 4 min read
1 / 5

Holly Tonini

Uniontown’s Luke Paull slides safely into third base as Elizabeth-Forward’s Zachary Fodor takes the throw high during Sunday’s Region 6 American Legion Tournament game at Shaler. Uniontown won, 14-2, to set up a showdown with rival Connellsville today. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m.

2 / 5

Uniontown's Luke Paull gets the out on Elizabeth Forward's Luke Padezan (37) at first

3 / 5

Uniontown's Zach Uhazie scores one of several earned runs in the third as Elizabeth Forward's catcher Daniel Howard fails to make the out

4 / 5

Uniontown's Zach Uhazie bunts for the advance in a regional playoff game against Elizabeth Forward

5 / 5

Holly Tonini

Uniontown’s Luke Wallace pitched a complete game for the win against Elizabeth-Forward during Sunday’s Region 6 American Legion Tournament at Shaler.

SHALER — Uniontown suffered a disappointing loss to Shaler on Saturday in the American Legion Region 6 Tournament after letting a 7-2 lead slip away in the bottom of the ninth. The team made sure that did not happen on Sunday. Uniontown led 6-1 going into the seventh and ran away with a 14-2 win over Elizabeth-Forward at Matulevic Field at Shaler High School.

“We scored eight runs in the last three innings. After the way we lost the game yesterday, an any run lead to me was a concern,” Uniontown manager Brad Yohman said. “Give our kids a lot of credit for bouncing back and putting this game away late with our bats.”

Uniontown (30-3) struck first and sent 11 men to the plate and scored six runs in the top of the third to take a 6-0 lead. Luke Wallace led off with a single, Travis Sankovich and Ted Sova each bunted a single to load the bases, and Try Kifer drew a walk to crack the scoreboard.

Zach Uhazie singled home Sankovich and Sova, Luke Paull doubled home Kifer and Uhazie, and Novak doubled home Paull. Elizabeth scored a run in the fourth on an error and Uniontown held the 6-1 lead entering the seventh inning.

“Fortunately, we were able to tack on a lot of runs late after we had that big stretch early, then kinda came up empty,” Yohman said. “(Elizabeth-Forward) was a great team. We had the confidence to beat them and survive to Monday.”

Uniointown broke out and scored three runs in the seventh to take a 9-1 lead, chasing Elizabeth Forward (13-4) starter Luke Padezan.

In the seventh, Paul singled, Schiano was hit by a pitch, Novak walked, Kody Thomas singled home Paull, Wallace was hit by a pitch, Schiano scored on a wild pitch, and Sankovich hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Novak.

In the ninth inning, Uniontown sent ten players to the plate and scored five runs to put the game away. Thomas was hit by a pitch, Wallace walked, Sankovich bunted for a single, Sova singled home Thomas, Kifer tripled with the bases loaded, scoring Wallace, Sankovich, and Sova. Schiano singled home Kifer.

“I had a hunch last night and I shuffled the (batting lineup) today to drop my normal three and four hitters down toward the lower middle and they produced,” Yohman said. “Hudson Novak missed a home run by a few feet.”

Kifer led Uniontown with four RBIs. Uhazie and Paull had two RBIs each.

Uniontown starting pitcher Luke Wallace pitched eight innings. He gave up one run in the fourth and one run in the eighth to record the win. Yohman felt Wallace’s effort was a key to the win.

“Luke Wallace has been around five years. He’s been a steady solid player every year. In a bounce-back game with the way we lost last night and come back to win this morning, he was determined,” Yohman said. “He told me he wanted the ball. I had the utmost faith in him and he responded by doing a fantastic job. There’s no other way to describe it.”

Uniontown will continue in the tournament by advancing in the losers’ bracket to face Connellsville at 10 AM today at Shaler.

“We talked about the heartbreak of Saturday. You got two choices, pack it in and go home or climb the mountain. It’s a bigger mountain moving through the losers’ bracket, but our advice was take each day with heart, desire, and determination,” Yohman said. “We taking one game at a time, and we can get through it. We need to take care of business each day and it started today.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today