Brownsville’s Marucci gets walk-off winner
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville second baseman Rocco Frisco (10) watches as Seton-LaSalle’s Chris Panza (10) steals second standing up in the top of the fourth inning Wednesday during their Section 3-AAA match-up at Redstone Field.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville second baseman Rocco Frisco (10) pulls in an infield pop-up, ending the second inning for Seton-LaSalle during Section 3-AAA action Wednesday at Redstone Field.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville pitcher Dylan Brosky (23) works against a Seton-LaSalle batter, helping the Falcons to defeat Seton-LaSalle 4-3 during their Section 3-AAA contest Wednesday at Redstone Field.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Seton-LaSalle first baseman Dom Popa (3) is backed-up by pitcher Justice Musyznski (4) as he grabs a fly ball for an out against Brownsville in the fourth inning of their Section 3-AAA match-up Wednesday at Redstone Field.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Seton-LaSalle first baseman Dom Popa (3) stretches to take the throw from the shortstop and makes the out against Brownsville’s Josh Davison (20) in the third inning of their Section 3-AAA game Wednesday.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville shortstop Trevor Stewart (9) makes an unassisted force out at second and fires the ball to first, completing a double play and ending the fifth inning for Seton-LaSalle during their Section 3-AAA game Wednesday at Redstone Field.
REDSTONE — Brownsville scored all of its runs in the final two innings, as Ricky Marucci tallied a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Falcons a dramatic 4-3 victory over Seton-LaSalle on Wednesday afternoon at Redstone Park.
“Seton-La Salle’s starter did a great job and was constantly getting ahead with his fastball,” Brownsville coach Skooter Roebuck said. “With the new pitch count rule, everyone thinks that teams should take more pitches. We don’t believe that, and we wanted to attack the ball at the plate. It really paid off for us late in the game.”
With the win, the Falcons (5-0, 4-0) remain unbeaten and sit atop of Section 3-AAA with two critical games against Waynesburg Central and Charleroi next week.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Marucci worked a 2-2 count and slapped a shallow shot to leftfield for the game-winning hit.
Josh Davison started the inning with a double and scored on an RBI double by Brody Bagwell. Five of Brownsville’s eight hits were doubles.
“With the way this team is made up, we are never out of a game,” Roebuck said. “These kids are always poised and they never get rattled. This is baseball, you got to love these tight games. It doesn’t get any better than a game like this one. We got a little pop in our line-up and we can hit the gaps.”
The contest started out as a pitcher’s duel, as Brownsville’s Dylan Brosky and Seton-La Salle’s Justice Musyznski threw stellar games, but neither received a decision.
Brosky lasted six plus innings and only allowed one hit and was charged with two unearned runs. He fanned six batters, but issued five walks.
“Dylan is only a junior and he has pitched lights out for us this season,” Roebuck said. “Sometimes he loses his composure and elevates his pitches. He was able to work through some things and I was really impressed with the way he battled out there.”
Musyznski pitched 6.2 innings and couldn’t get the final out in the bottom of the seventh when the Falcons mounted their comeback. The southpaw gave up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and four walks, three of which came in his final inning.
Both teams were held scoreless through five innings before the Rebels (1-4, 0-4) struck with two runs in the top of the sixth.
Dom Popa laid down a bunt and was safe at first base on an infield error. After Popa was called safe on a fielder’s choice at second and moved to third on a fly out to leftfield, he scored the first run of the game on a passed ball.
SLS made it 2-0 after Nick Krugh blasted an RBI double.
After going 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Brownsville rebounded in the seventh with big at-bats from the bottom of its lineup.
With the bases loaded, No. 9 hitter Trevor Stewart laced a two-run single to knot things up at 2-2.
“Trevor is a great kid,” Roebuck said. “He has struggled at the plate this year, but he is entrenched as our shortstop this season. He plays awesome defense for us. He could hit .100 for the season and I still wouldn’t care. He was able to square up a ball and that hit is a big confidence booster for him.”
The Rebels responded in the top of the eighth and took a 3-2 lead after Krugh blooped a RBI single that scored Nick Veni.
Davison earned the win for the Falcons after the come-from-behind effort in the bottom of the eighth. He threw two innings and allowed a run on two hits with three strikeouts.
Popa was issued the loss for the Rebels and didn’t record an out in the eighth.
Brownsville travels to Chartiers-Houston for a non-section game today.