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Six-run fifth keys Blackhawk win over Bethel Park

By Mitchell Kendra for The 3 min read
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Blackhawk bounced back from its loss Sunday to hold off Bethel Park.

Blackhawk defeated Bethel Park, 10-7, at Hutchinson Field on Monday in the Fayette American League Region 6 Tournament action.

Blackhawk improved to 16-4 overall and 2-1 in the Region 6 tournament, as Bethel Park fell to 14-3.

John Nixon started on the mound for Blackhawk, striking out five batters, allowing five walks and giving up four runs during his five-inning outing. Zach Zuchelli came on in relief and recorded a strikeout while allowing two runs and three runs.

Blackhawk manager Bob Amalia felt his starting pitcher did well against the Bethel Park sluggers.

“John Nixon, I thought, pitched really outstanding. He was really hot against a good-hitting team and he gave us five strong innings,” Amalia said.

Justin Brucker got the start for Bethel Park, striking out four, walking seven and allowing six runs.

One of Woodward’s hits was a two-run single that was a part of a six-run fifth inning. Blackhawk capitalized on several walks and hit batters to open the game to 6-1 going into the bottom of the fifth.

Bethel Park scored one run in the fifth inning and eventually scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning but Blackhawk held on just long enough to secure a 10-7 victory.

Michael Turconi, who will continue his baseball career at Wake Forest this fall, had two hits for Blackhawk, as did his teammate Jared Woodward.

Blackhawk’s Tyler Robinson, Marco Borello and Woodward all had two RBIs, respectively.

“Woodward has been hitting the ball all year really well and he came up big when we were down 1-0 and he hit a two-RBI single and then we started packing it on,” Amalia said after Woodward’s RBI hit opened the scoring.

Bethel Park’s Derek Prichard had three hits of his own and teammates Cole Rogers and Eric Wenger each had two hits.

Bethel Park manager Zeb Jansante acknowledged the play of Rogers, Brucker and Prichard.

“Our number-three hitter, Justin Brucker, who pitched the first four innings and then went to second base, he had a couple of hits — he’s been bating over .400 all year,” Jansante said. “So he’s a solid player and he’s really shown that he can hit, he can pitch, he can play any position.”

“Derek Prichard — (who played) second base — he’s a really talented mid-fielder, we had to put him in the outfield at the end but he’s solid, he had a couple of hits today. Those two stood out.

“And the guy that stood out to me the most, was our catcher Cole Rogers. He was a workhorse, you can see he’s drenched from head to toe with perspiration. He really worked hard, he’s a quality player that’s going off to play at (California University of Pennsylvania) so (with those three) it’s a really good nucleus right there.”

Rogers also did well behind the plate, making a catch and tag that stopped a possible score late in the game.

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