Brownsville rides big 6th over Uniontown
Lori C. Padilla
Brownsville second baseman Cory Lent grabs the ball while Uniontown’s Kaine Frye stretches to make it to the base during a game on Saturday morning.
Uniontown outfielder Kaine Frye beats the throw to first as Brownsville first baseman Travis Bevard awaits the ball.
Brownsville's Corey Lent slides into second base behind Uniontown's Eric Idrovo during first inning action of their game on Saturday morning.
On a chilly Saturday afternoon, the Brownsville baseball team took its first lead of the game with four runs in the sixth and never looked back in a 7-5 non-section victory over Uniontown at Hutchinson Park.
After starter Greg Stiner tossed the first three innings for the Falcons (2-3), Brownsville got a superb relief outing from Dylan Brosky. The sophomore righty managed his pitches and limited the damage in his four innings on the rubber for the win.
Brosky scattered three hits and allowed two runs with a strikeout and three walks.
“Dylan was solid on the mound today and we are counting on him this season for those types of quality outings,” Brownsville coach Skooter Roebuck said. “He is only a sophomore and we are going to ask a lot from him. He throws strikes and he was able to work his curveball. His fastball was able to bust their hitters on the inside, too.”
Uniontown’s Allen VanSickle was tagged with the loss in relief, going 1.1 innings with four runs on three hits and a strikeout and two walks. The Red Raiders (1-3) also used Colton Bittner and Nick Gibson in relief, while Jeremy Saliba was the starter.
“In high school baseball, you can’t have that one blow-out inning,” Uniontown coach Ken Musko said. “We couldn’t get out of the sixth inning and Brownsville took full advantage of our miscues. I like some of what I saw today, but overall we just need to execute in all phases of the game.”
After a scoreless first inning, Uniontown took a 2-0 lead in the second when Trent Uphold stroked a two-out, two-run single to right field.
The Red Raiders increased their lead to 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Carter Waligura in the third, before the Falcons responded with two runs in the fourth via a two-run double by Jaryn Addis.
Brownsville knotted the contest at 3-3 when Travis Bevard drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fifth, but Uniontown countered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning with a RBI single by Christian Forsythe.
In the sixth inning, the Falcons tallied the decisive four runs, courtesy of a RBI groundout by Mason Kelly, a run-producing hit by Tyler Herman and a two-run double by Lent.
“We had to be more aggressive in our at-bats and I think we finally did that in the sixth,” Roebuck said. “We were looking for a fastball earlier in the count and we were centering it up. We didn’t get behind in counts and we were the aggressor late in the game.”
The Red Raiders loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and cut the lead down to two with a RBI groundout by Mark Fike, but Brosky was able to induce another groundout to get out of the jam and the preserve the win.
“Our pitching has carried us early on and I think that is going to be our calling card this season,” Roebuck said. “Our offense has gotten better the last two games and we just want more consistency at the plate. We have to swing the bats and get those early runs.”
Both squads will open up their respective sections on Monday, as Brownsville hosts Waynesburg Central in Section 2-AA and Uniontown welcomes Belle Vernon in Section 4-AAA.
“We have a lot of depth and I like where we are so far,” Musko said. “We have to throw strikes and make plays behind our pitchers. I really like how our defense has played this season. We just need to get production from our line-up more consistently.”