Pence leads Blackhawk Legion to 7-2 win over Upper St. Clair
Jon Pence pitched five innings of no-hit ball and Blackhawk Legion downed Upper St. Clair, 7-2, on Saturday in the American Legion Region 6 Tournament at Hutchinson Field.
Pence gave up two runs in the sixth, but was nearly flawless in seven innings of work to pick up the win for manager Bob Amalia. Pence allowed two hits while striking out 11 and walking three.
“Jon Pence pitched an outstanding game,” Amalia said. “He didn’t give up a hit until the sixth, and was throwing his fastball and curveball for strikes. He was pretty dominating. They got the two runs in the sixth.
“He kind of got tired after throwing 107 pitches. He gave up a bunt hit and had a hit batsman but Michael Turconi struck out the side in the eighth.”
Wake Forest recruit Michael Turconi, who just finished his junior season of high school, struck out the side in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Johnny Nixon pitched a scoreless ninth to send Blackhawk into the next round of the winner’s bracket.
The defending Region 6 Tournament champions play host Uniontown (28-3) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Upper St. Clair (17-2) looks to rebound when it plays Robinson-Montour this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. in the loser’s bracket.
Blackhawk cracked the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the first before adding two in the fourth for a 3-0 advantage.
Amalia’s squad pushed its lead to 4-0 with a run in the top of the sixth before Upper St. Clair got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Blackhawk got the two runs back plus one in the eighth for a 7-2 lead.
Tyler Robinson (four) and Jared Woodward (three) had seven of Blackhawk’s nine hits. Robinson doubled, recorded three singles and two RBIs. Woodward had a double and two singles.
“Tyler Robinson obviously had an outstanding game, we fielded the ball pretty well, which you have to do, and our pitchers did an outstanding job,” Amalia said. “You have to be able to do the little things and the fundamentals.”
Nixon added a base hit and RBI, as did teammate John Malagsie.
TJ Dailey took the loss on the mound after allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings. He had four strikeouts and walked three.