Smithfield-Fairchance gallant in defeat
BEAVER FALLS — No coach or player ever wants to finish a tournament without a victory, but Smithfield-Fairchance coach Tony Watson was proud of the effort his team gave this past weekend in the Region 6 American Legion Baseball Tournament at Chippewa Park.
Smithfield-Fairchance (12-10) saw its season come to an end in an 8-7 setback to Baden Post 641 on Sunday afternoon in an elimination game, but qualifying for the tournament surpassed expectations for a squad that wasn’t able to complete the season last year.
Watson, who was hired to coach Albert Gallatin this past February, has seen steady progression among his players, and regardless of the opponent or situation, he appreciated their compete level.
“I’m proud of the showing we had,” Watson said. “To come here for the first time and show that we can compete with anybody. Kudos to Baden and Blackhawk. They are both great teams, but I am glad we were able to hang with them.”
Smithfield’s game against Baden began Saturday night, but had to be completed on Sunday due to inclement weather.
Smithfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Evan Weakland and A.J. Watson to lead off the frame. Weakland’s hit went to center field, and he scored on Watson’s ground ball to left field for the game’s first run. Kayden Perez’s base hit to center field plated Watson for the two-run advantage.
Baden cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the second inning when Eli Hartman doubled to left field, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jack Perri’s infield single. Perri stole second prior to a flyout to second base for two outs when the storms hit.
Matt Malinsky replaced Nico Edwards when action resumed Sunday morning.
Colten Wetzel, Joe Leseiko and Chance Parish hit three straight singles for a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
Smithfield tied the game at 4-4 in the third with two runs on two hits. Weakland reached first base safely on an infield single, and with one out, stole second base, where he remained when Malinsky grounded into a fielder’s choice at shortstop.
Perez walked to load the bases and Kanyon Sutton’s line drive to right field plated Weakland and Malinsky.
Baden scored its final four runs in the top of the fourth inning on three walks and two hits for an 8-4 advantage.
Perri walked to begin the frame, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout to shortstop. Wetzel and Leseiko walked to load the bases before Parish smacked a double to center field that scored Perri and Wetzel for a two-run lead.
Leseiko scored on Connor Iorfido’s flyout to left field prior to Cody Hetrick driving in Parish on a single to right field for a four-run cushion.
Smithfield narrowed the gap to 8-5 in the bottom of the frame after Kaiden Brady singled, advanced to second on Clay Smith’s sacrifice bunt, and following a walk to Mason Usher, scored on an error when Weakland hit into a fielder’s choice at shortstop.
Smithfield opened the bottom of the fifth with four straight singles to pull within one, but Baden was able to escape without any further damage.
Perez, Sutton, Ben Lilley and Brady had the four base hits. Brady’s ground ball to left field plated Perez and Sutton.
Smithfield had the tying run on third base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Wetzel recorded a strikeout to earn the save.
Brady doubled to center field with one out, but was gunned down at third base when Smith was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice. Usher hit an infield single, and Smith used heads up base running to advance to third on the throw to first in an attempt to record the final out before Wetzel closed out the game.
“You can never have enough runs, but the biggest thing is to move runners into scoring position and get timely hits, and for the most part, we did that today, but just came up a little short,” Tony Watson said.
Parish earned the win on the mound after allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits. He didn’t record a strikeout and walked three. Wetzel yielded two earned runs on seven hits over the final three frames with two strikeouts and no walks.
Smithfield had a 13-7 advantage in hits. Watson’s team had a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning during its opener against Blackhawk, but fell to the host team, 4-1.
“This gives our kids confidence going into the next high school season,” Watson said. “They are buying into the system that we are teaching, and they are hungry to win and getting better.”