Uniontown Jr. Legion finishes 2nd in region tourney
Uniontown Junior Legion fought off elimination in two games of the Region 6 Tournament on Saturday and Sunday at Hutchinson Field in Hopwood to reach the championship game, but couldn’t get anything going offensively in the early innings before the Woo Sox pulled away for an 11-1 victory for the title on Monday evening.
Uniontown (8-9) lost Saturday’s opener to the Woo Sox, 12-2, but battled back to edge Monroeville, 10-9, in eight innings later that evening before rallying for another walk-off win in the tournament, with a 5-4 triumph over Belle Vernon on Sunday.
Despite coming up short in the finals, Uniontown coach Pat Lion viewed the experience for his players as invaluable.
“The Woo Sox were the team to beat in this tournament, and they showed that this weekend,” Lion said. “We are probably 75 percent eighth graders, and the goal for us was to get more reps. We had four games this weekend and were 2-2. We were competitive, at times, and sometimes we weren’t, but that’s all part of the learning process for these guys to move on to the high school game.”
The Woo Sox, who took their name after the Boston Red Sox’s Double A affiliate, are from the 14th Ward, which consists of players from the city of Pittsburgh.
The Woo Sox benefited in the championship game from Justin Dillon’s solid pitching.
The Woo Sox didn’t have a loss heading into Monday’s contest, which meant Uniontown would have needed to win twice to earn the championship.
“I was preaching to our guys, let’s make sure we win this first game and get out of this heat,” said Woo Sox coach Brandon “Peanut” Herbert. “I was explaining to them when we leave that everybody remembers us for just how we play and not any antics. We play in two leagues at once. We play our home games in the city.”
Dillon started and earned the victory on the mound after allowing one earned run on two hits over 6 ⅓ innings. He struck out 13 and walked four before leaving the game due to exceeding the pitch-count limit of 105.
David Dillon recorded the last two outs and the Woo Sox clinched a spot in the state tournament, which begins this Saturday in Berwick.
“Jackson Fite, who started yesterday’s game against Belle Vernon, and Justin Dillon, are going to have colleges asking about them if they can get stronger because they just started hitting the gym,” Herbert said. “Jackson needs to tone his body up and get stronger, and Justin needs to gain 25 to 30 pounds, but once they do that, they will have colleges looking at them.”
The Woo Sox’s first game in the state tournament is against the host team at 4:30 p.m.
“We will be going up Friday, which is my birthday, so I will spend my birthday driving out there,” Herbert said. “We are going to enjoy the experience, but we are also going there to win.”
The Woo Sox opened the scoring against Uniotown with two runs in the top of the second inning when Aaron Concepcion walked, advanced to second on a passed ball, and third on Brayden Lindsey’s single before scoring on Marcello Fagnelli’s sacrifice flyout to left field for a 1-0 lead. Lindsey scored on Charlie Werner’s base hit.
Uniontown had an opportunity in the fifth inning with runners on second and third with one out, but Justin Dillon recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
Brody Kutchman reached on a dropped third strike and Cade Senchur walked before advancing to second and third on a wild pitch. Senchur, who singled in the third inning, had one of Uniontown’s two hits.
“One hit changes that whole inning, and we didn’t get it, but hopefully they learn from that and take their offseason seriously,” Lion said. “I want to give credit to the Woo Sox. They are a solid team that is well coached. I enjoy playing against them.”
The Woo Sox added two runs in the sixth for a 4-0 advantage.
Fagnelli led off with a base hit to center field and advanced to third as Werner also singled to center. Fagnelli scored on David Murphy’s sacrifice flyout to left field and Werner crossed home plate on Emerson Bahler’s sacrifice fly to right field.
David Dillon doubled to right field, but Uniontown relief pitcher Andrew Irwin forced a groundout to shortstop to end the inning.
Uniontown was still in the game heading into the bottom of the sixth, and the home team had runners on second and third with two outs, but Justin Dillon induced a groundout to shortstop that ended the threat.
Nick Crouch walked, stole second and third base before Mike Smith was hit-by-pitch for the home team’s second scoring threat in as many innings. Smith advanced to second on a steal attempt that wasn’t contested.
The Woo Sox put the game away with seven runs in the top of the seventh for an 11-0 lead.
Uniontown scored in the bottom of the frame when Aiden Milson walked, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Nate Baker’s single to right field.
Drew Tupta started for the home team, and although he was tagged with the loss, Tupta had a solid start in yielding two earned runs on three hits with three walks over four innings.