Bound for Blackhawk
Smithfield-Fairchance tops Uniontown, qualifies for Region 6 tourney
MASONTOWN — Tony Watson didn’t have a full offseason to work with his players upon taking the job as head baseball coach at Albert Gallatin High School.
Watson, who was hired to lead the Colonials in February, was eager to coach again, but has been around the sport long enough to know change doesn’t occur overnight.
Albert Gallatin had a tough high school season, but Watson’s players never stopped working, which continued following the conclusion of high school, as the majority of his high school team competes for him on the Smithfield-Fairchance American Legion Baseball squad.
Smithfield-Fairchance had to drop out of the Fayette County American Legion Baseball League several games into the season last year, but this season has been quite the turnaround for the team, which was evident on Saturday evening, as Smithfield-Fairchance defeated Uniontown, 10-2, to win the best-of-three series, 2-1, in the Fayette County American Legion Baseball League playoffs at German-Masontown Park.
Smithfield-Fairchance not only clinched a spot in the league finals with Belle Vernon, but will also represent Fayette County in the Region 6 tournament that is scheduled to begin on July 18 at Chippewa Park in Beaver Falls. The tournament will be hosted by Blackhawk.
Smithfield-Fairchance will visit John DiVirgilio Sports Complex tonight at 7 p.m. in Game 1 of a best-of-three league championships series.
The top two teams in each league (Beaver and Fayette) make up the bracket for the Region 6 Championship.
“I am so proud of the way our team has come together,” Watson said. “They are a young group, and getting to play in the summer will only help them for next season in high school. Regardless of what happens in the Region 6 tournament, our kids will get a few more opportunities to play this season. Uniontown is a great team that is well coached.”
Uniontown’s season ended Saturday with a record of 13-8, but Rich Franks was pleased with his team’s effort. Uniontown has been a mainstay at the regional tournament the past two decades.
Uniontown earned a 7-2 victory over Smithfield-Fairchance in Game 2 Friday night at Hutchinson Field in Hopwood to force a winner-take-all contest.
Smithfield-Fairchance won the opener, 3-1, on Thursday at German-Masontown Park.
“It has been a long time since a Uniontown team didn’t qualify for the Region 6 tournament, but they changed things up a little bit this year in only taking two teams from each group,” Franks said. “It’s tough for our kids, but all good things have to come to an end.”
Smithfield-Fairchance had 11 hits on Saturday after being limited to four on Friday. Watson’s team took advantage of Uniontown’s miscues in Game 3.
“We finally got some timely hits,” Watson said. “We also got more hits from the bottom of the lineup.”
A.J. Watson did a little bit of everything for Smithfield-Fairchance (12-6) in Game 3, as he earned the victory on the mound and was 3 for 4 with a triple, two singles and an RBI. Watson yielded two earned runs on two hits over five innings. He had eight strikeouts and walked five.
Clay Smith threw two scoreless innings for the home team in Game 3. The right-hander allowed one hit, struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.
“A.J. and Clay did a nice job for us today,” Tony Watson said. “We played a little bit better in the field today than we did in Game 2.”
Smithfield-Fairchance, who lost the season series to Uniontown, has won five of its last six games.
Ben Lilley had an RBI double and Maddox Reynolds singled home a run for the home team to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning in Game 3.
Eahn Stevenson’s two-run single to center field tied the game in the top of the third frame. Jack Johns walked and Lane Smiley smacked a double to right field and scored on Stevenson’s hit.
An error led to a 4-2 advantage for Smithfield-Fairchance in the fourth prior to a four-run fifth and two-run sixth to put the game away.
Evan Weakland and A.J. Watson scored on errors for a 6-2 lead before Kayden Perez and Ben Lilley crossed home plate on Kanyon Sutton’s double to right field.
“We fought all the way through to that fifth inning, but one mistake led to another, and they had a couple of bloop hits that dropped in, but kudos to their kids,” Franks said. “They battled with two strikes, put the ball in play and that’s what you need to do. Our bats weren’t there today. We picked a bad time to do that.”
A.J. Watson’s triple drove in Weakland, who had reached first base safely on an error, for a seven-run cushion. Watson scored the game’s final run on Matt Malinsky’s base hit to right field.
Uniontown’s Nick Crouch had an infield single in the top of the seventh inning.
Smithfield-Fairchance took a 1-0 lead in Game 2 when Watson singled to center field, stole second, advanced to third on defensive indifference and scored on Malinsky’s groundout to second base in the top of the first inning, but the home tied the game in the bottom of the first frame on Sevi Vecchiolla’s double down the left-field line on an 0-2 count. Stevenson, who had singled with two outs after the visitors turned a double play, scored on Vecchiolla’s hit.
Franks stressed the value of his team’s response after Smithfield-Fairchance took an early advantage.
“It was big to get that run back in the bottom of the first inning,” Franks said.” Not just in terms of momentum, but Parker (Hoff) had a line drive that was caught by their third baseman, who doubled our guy off, but there was no way he could get back safely on that play. It was hit too hard.
“I think that killed our momentum a little bit, but give credit to the kids for not getting too down. Eahn and Sevi hit the ball hard, and we were able to get that run back.”
Vecchiolla’s double was the final hit in his Legion Baseball career, as the recent Laurel Highlands graduate will not meet the age requirement to play next season. Vecchiolla, who played baseball, basketball and golf for the Mustangs, will continue his academic and baseball careers at Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC).
“Sevi has had a great career for us,” Franks said. “He is going to play in college, which is great, but we will miss him. We will also lose Jack Johns, Nick Fleszar, Parker Hoff and Connor Hebda because they will be too old to play. You can’t replace those guys, but we will have some new faces on the team next year.”
Vecchiolla scored Uniontown’s second run in the bottom of the fourth inning when he reached first base safely on an error, advanced to third base on Mike Smith’s line drive to center field and crossed home plate on Noah Zawislan’s base hit to right field for a 2-1 edge.
The home team added three runs in the fifth frame to extend its lead to 5-1. Smiley was hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning, and with one out, raced to second on Aiden Milsom’s single to left field.
Shane Kelly walked to load the bases and Smiley scored for a 3-1 advantage on Hoff’s sacrifice flyout to center field in what would be the game-winning run. Milsom and Kelly scored when Stevenson was safe at first base on an error.
“We made the tough plays and didn’t make the easy ones today,” said Tony Watson following Friday evening’s game. “We left some runners on base, but we have to clean it up for tomorrow.”
Uniontown added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 7-1 cushion.
Zawislan and Fleszar drew back-to-back walks with one out before Zawislan crossed home plate on Brayden Hinzy’s singled to right field. Jamesen Carter, who entered the game as a courtesy runner for Fleszar, scored on Crouch’s sacrifice flyout to center field.
Fleszar earned the win on the mound in Game 2. He allowed two earned runs on four hits over six innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Stevenson closed the game out with a scoreless inning. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter in the hitless frame.
Malinsky scored for the visitors in the top of the seventh inning when he singled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder’s choice.