Carlynton pulls away in middle innings for 14-8 win
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
California’s Richie Stimmell laces a single to center field against Carlynton during Tuesday night’s WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game at Burkett Park. Stimmell had three hits, including a double and a triple, and three RBI, but the Trojans lost, 14-8.
California third baseman Jacob Piktel (11) and shortstop Jacob Swartz (13) move up onto the grass as the Trojans play the infield in with the bases loaded against Carlynton during Tuesday night's WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game at Burkett Park.
California pitcher Brandon Powell throws against Carlynton during Tuesday night's WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game at Burkett Park.
McKEES ROCKS — Carlynton scored a combined 10 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to pull away from California for a 14-8 victory in a WPIAL Class AA first-round baseball playoff game at Burkett Park on Tuesday night.
The Trojans (9-8) rallied from an early 3-1 deficit to take a three-run lead, but some key hits by the Cougars (13-4) and several defensive mistakes by California resulted in Carlynton’s two big innings.
“We were down 3-1, then we came back and tied it 3-3, then we went up 6-3, and in the bottom of that inning we needed to put up a zero for them,” Trojans coach Lou Pasquale said. “But we gave up four that inning. We just needed to make plays.
“We weren’t making plays on defense and it came back to bite us. That’s the bottom line.”
Richie Stimmell tried his best to keep the Trojans in the game with a 3-for-4 day at the plate that included an RBI double and a two-run triple.
Stimmell started on the mound for California and was charged with six runs in three-plus innings with six strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter. Losing pitcher Jacob Swartz allowed four runs in one-plus inning of work and Brandon Powell gave up four runs in two innings.
Powell scored three runs for the Trojans, including in the first inning when California produced a run without a hit after his lead-off walk.
Carlynton tied it in the bottom of the inning when Zack Oddi scored on a wild pitch, and grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second thanks to a double by Evan Staker and singles by Mark Phillips and Oddi.
California pulled even with two runs in the third. Powell singled and stole second with one out, then came home on Stimmell’s double. Brady Connor singled and Nate Zemany singled in Stimmell, but Connor was thrown out trying to take third on the play by left fielder Staker to end the inning.
The Trojans took the lead with a three-run fourth. Payton Conte reached on an error, took second and third on wild pitches and scored on Derrick Hammitt’s ground out. Swartz singled and Powell walked and both came around to score on Stimmell’s triple to make it 6-3.
In the bottom of the inning, doubles by Staker and Phillips and a single by Dan Schultz pulled the Cougars within 6-4 with no outs, but the game was delayed at that point for one hour by lightning.
Both coaches pulled their starting pitchers after the delay.
When play resumed, Oddi’s RBI ground out and Chauncie Mickens’ run-scoring single knotted the score, and Mickens trotted home with the go-ahead run on a misplay in the outfield.
Carlynton all but put the game away in the fifth when it sent 12 men to the plate and combined three hits, two walks, a hit batter and another outfield error into six runs off Swartz and Powell to make it 13-6.
A scary moment in the game came when Staker was hit in the head with a pitch during the inning, a hard way to earn an RBI with the bases loaded. Staker was tended to and left the game under his own power.
The key hit in the frame was a two-run single by Bobby Chapman that tipped off diving third baseman Jacob Pitkel’s glove and into short left field, an unfortunate break for the Trojans.
“The infield is up in that situation, he dives for the ball and knocks it down, it rolls away from us, they get two runs,” Pasquale said. “That play I can understand. But it’s the simple plays that hurt, the fly balls that don’t get caught or the ground balls that don’t get fielded, then we walk a couple guys, then we hit a couple guys. Then they get a hit, there’s six runs and you’re down.
“When you score eight runs in a playoff game, you’re supposed to win.”
Carlynton tacked on its final run in the bottom of the sixth when Oddi again scored on a wild pitch.
California put up two runs in its final at bat as Stimmell singled, Sheehan doubled and both came home when Zemany’s sharp grounder was misplayed for an error.
Winning pitcher Oddi gave up six runs in four innings. Nathan Bickus allowed two runs over the final three innings to earn a save.
The loss marked the final game for Trojans seniors Stimmell, Powell and Sheehan.
“They had a good run, a WPIAL championship when they were juniors, they finished second in the WPIAL when they were freshmen,” Pasquale said. “They’re pretty emotional right now, but they’ve got nothing to hang their heads about.
“I’m proud of the way the guys handled themselves. They probably knew coming in that it might be a tough year by California standards with all the starters we lost from last year.”
Pasquale has a solid core returning for 2019, however.
“I got some experience from some freshmen who played every game this year (Pitkel, Conte and Connor),” Pasquale said.
“They all stuck with it, bought in and we still made the playoffs. I’m not going to say I’m happy with the way it ended, but I thought they fought hard all season.”