Home Team downs Away Team in Fayette County American Legion All-Star Game
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Belle Vernon’s Tyler Seliga singles home Ian Edenfield in the bottom of the second inning of Sunday’s Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Uniontown's Andino Vecchiolla winds up before he delivers a pitch in the top of the first inning of Sunday's Fayette American Legion League Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Farmington's Alan VanSickle strides to the plate to deliver a pitch in the bottom of the third inning of Sunday's Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Colonial 3's Alec McLay leads off first base during Sunday's Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Uniontown’s Travis Sankovich readies to make contact with a pitch for an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning of the 2018 Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field. The 2018 Laurel Highlands graduate will play at Marshall University next year.
Farmington's Jeremy Saliba checks his swing as Uniontown catcher Chad Petrush short hops the ball during Sunday's Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field. The play was appealed and Saliba was ruled out after swinging through the third strike.
Farmington pitcher Jeremy Saliba follows through on a pitch during Sunday's Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Uniontown shortstop Travis Sankovich reaches to apply the tag on Colonial 3’s Jaryn Addis after Addis was caught in a rundown in the top of the second inning of Sunday’s Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Jefferson-Morgan pitcher Gage Clark releases the ball during last year’s Fayette American Legion Baseball League All-Star game at Hutchinson Field. Clark helped lead coach John Curtis’s Rockets to a section title and the WPIAL semifinals two years ago on a team that had a solid pitching staff. (Photo by Jim Downey)
Uniontown Legion teamed up with players from Belle Vernon, Smithfield-Fairchance and Jefferson-Morgan for a 6-3 victory on Sunday in the Fayette County American Legion Baseball League All-Star Game at Hutchinson Field.
Uniontown head coach Brad Yohman, who also serves as league president, was glad to see that every player on both teams got into the game and stayed injury free despite playing in excessive heat.
“We had a good turnout from players and coaches,” Yohman said. “I think only one player that was selected didn’t show up. We had a really good crowd and it was nice to see. It sounded like everybody had fun.
“In All-Star games you just want to make sure that everyone has fun and stays injury-free. We divided our guys in half in regards to playing time because of the heat. I have to give a shout out to Tommy Sankovich and Chris Edenfield for picking up water coolers for each dugout.”
Yohman’s team was designated as the Home Team, while Connellsville head coach Joe Bonadio directed the Away Team. Connellsville teamed up with players from Carmichaels, Colonial 3, Farmington and Waynesburg.
The Home Team built up a 5-0 after four innings before the Away Team got on the scoreboard with one run in the top of the fifth. Yohman’s squad added a run in the bottom of the inning before Bonadio’s team scored two in the sixth.
The Home Team took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ian Edenfield (Uniontown) lead off with a double and scored on Tyler Seliga’s (Belle Vernon) RBI single with two outs.
The Home Team extended its lead to 4-0 in the third.
Dylan Rush (Smithfield-Fairchance) and Jake Rathway (Belle Vernon) had back-to-back singles with one out, and Rush scored on Travis Sankovich’s (Uniontown) RBI single.
Rathway scored on Edenfield’s RBI groundout and Sankovich raced home on Chad Petrush’s (Uniontown) double.
The Home Team scored one in the fourth when Willie Palmer (Smithfield-Fairchance) doubled, moved to third on a shallow single by Nate Zimcosky (Uniontown), Tan Erminio (Uniontown) walked and Palmer scored when Josh Burns (Uniontown) reached on an error.
The Away Team cracked the scoreboard in the fifth when Jaryn Addis (Colonial 3) singled and Alan VanSickle (Farmington) reached on an error to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Brody Bonadio (Connellsville) walked to load the bases and Addis scored when Cade Warrick (Connellsville) walked to cut the deficit to 5-1.
The Home Team got the run right back in the bottom of the inning when Palmer reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on Zimcosky’s doubled off the left-centerfield wall for a 6-1 advantage. Mike Coll (Smithfield-Fairchance) singled to lead off the frame, but was out on a fielder’s choice.
The visitors cut the deficit to 6-3 in the sixth when Austin Petraglia (Connellsville) singled, Jesse Johnson (Waynesburg) was hit by a pitch with one out, and Petraglia scored when a ball hit by VanSickle was misplayed. Johnson scored on Nolan Porterfield’s (Connellsville) single.
Zimcosky had two hits and one steal, and Palmer had two hits and scored twice.
Addis had two singles and scored one run, and Jake Ansell (Connellsville) had two base hits.
The pitching was spread around, but Andino Vecchiolla (Uniontown) got the win for the Home Team. The lefty didn’t allow a run on two hits in two innings. He had two strikeouts and no walks.
Yohman will be counting on Vecchiolla when the playoffs start next Sunday, and was glad his hurler was able to get some work in and stay healthy.
“It was good to get Andino (Vecchiolla) on the mound,” Yohman said. “He did his usual thing. The timing worked out because he hadn’t pitched in about a week. We wanted to keep an eye on pitch count and make sure that nobody got hurt.”
Palmer allowed one hit in pitching the seventh to earn the save. Gage Clark (Jefferson-Morgan), Anthony Dellapenna (Jefferson-Morgan), Cory Fleming (Belle Vernon) and Jake Rathway (Belle Vernon) also pitched.
Jeremy Saliba (Farmington) took the loss after yielding one run on two hits in two innings. He didn’t have a strikeout or walk. VanSickle, Bonadio and Matt Barrish (Carmichaels) also pitched.
Yohman and the other coaches discussed starting the league playoffs this Sunday instead of Saturday with regular-season play ending Friday.
“We talked about it and decided to move things up one day to give everybody a rest,” Yohman said. “We will have to determine the times once everything is finalized. We can play through July 17 before we submit teams for the Region 6 Tournament.”