Gillott key in Connellsville Legion victory over Belle Vernon
CONNELLSVILLE — The weather was hot, but Grayden Gillott’s bat was hotter.
The Connellsville shortstop had a trifecta of threes in a 12-2 victory over Belle Vernon Monday night at Thomas E. Sankovich Field in Fayette American Legion Baseball action.
The game ended with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule. Connellsville improved to 8-0 while Belle Vernon dropped to 5-2.
Gillott, who was named to the high school All-State second team in Class 5A last Thursday, was 3 for 4 with a double and two singles. He had three RBIs and scored three runs. The recent graduate of Connellsville Area High School will continue his baseball career at Garrett College in McHenry, Md.
“Grayden jump starts our team, and has been one of my favorite players for a long time,” Connellsville coach Brian Sankovich said. “We only had nine kids here today, and three of our starters were out, but the kids that were here came to play.”
Belle Vernon opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning following RBI singles from Cam Matusik and Cy Herchelroath.
Landon Jackson added a base hit for the visitors, but Connellsville ended the inning with a pick-off at third base.
Connellsville starting pitcher Mason Miller settled down after the first inning. He earned the win after yielding two earned runs on four hits over five innings with four strikeouts and three walks.
“Mason went out after the first inning and only allowed one hit,” Sankovich said. “The conditions were tough with the heat and everything, but both teams had to play in it.”
Connellsville scored four runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 4-2 lead.
Gillott doubled to center field to lead off the inning before scoring on Alex VanSickle’s base hit to center field. Matt Firestone doubled to right field and scored on Kace Shearer’s single to center field. VanSickle touched home plate on the play for a 3-2 advantage. VanSickle had three hits.
Noah Zawislan drove in Shearer on a sacrifice fly for a two-run lead.
Chase Sankovich walked and scored on Zawislan’s sacrifice fly to left field in the third inning and a 5-2 advantage.
The home team increased its lead to 8-2 in the fourth inning, as Hunter Konieczny scored on Gillott’s base hit to right field, Alex Zeigler crossed home plate on Sankovich’s sacrifice fly to center field. Gillott scored on Shearer’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Connellsville closed the game out in the fifth inning with four runs on four walks and three singles.
Konieczny and Miller scored on Gillott’s base hit, VanSickle’s base hit to left field drove in Zeigler and Firestone walked with the bases loaded to force in Gillott.
Belle Vernon has three league games remaining, but will host the Region 6 tournament July 18-23 at John DiVirgilio Sports Complex in Rostraver Township. Belle Vernon won the regional tournament last season.
“When you can only get nine kids to come, it’s tough,” Belle Vernon coach Tom Jackson said. “We had 11 kids and two bailed on us at the last minute. Kids were playing travel ball all weekend long and they had showcases with kids getting ready to go to college, but when we have all 18 kids rolling, we like our chances.”
Connellsville has a make-up game remaining with Uniontown, but is in the driver’s seat to be the No. 1 team out of the league when the playoffs begin.
“We are not sure what is going to happen,” said Sankovich in regards to the schedule due to the possibility of teams not having enough players to take the field. “We will see if we can schedule some non-league games.”