Mustangs fall to Mars, 6-2
WEST MIFFLIN — Laurel Highlands had many come-from-behind victories this season, but the Mustangs couldn’t rally past Mars in a 6-2 setback on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class AAAAA playoffs at West Mifflin High School.
Laurel Highlands (16-4) trailed 4-0 in the second inning after Mitchell Schultz hit a three-run home run and Matt Fuller scored on Joe Wetherholt’s double, but fought back to cut the deficit to 4-2 with one run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Evan Voyten singled in the fifth and scored on Josh Burns’ base hit up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-1. Burns moved to second on the throw to the plate.
Travis Sankovich hit a shot that bounced up in the air and into the glove of Wetherholt, who fired to first for the out.
Both coaches agreed that the Sankovich at-bat was key.
“If that ball gets through, that is another run for us,” Laurel Highlands coach Scott DeBerry said. “But they (Mars) did what they had to do to win. We had some chances and didn’t take advantage of them, and that meant a lot. We needed to have success early.”
“Sankovich squared one up the middle and we lucked out because it hit either Frank’s (Craska) leg or the mound and popped it right to our shortstop,” Mars coach Andy Bednar said.
Mason McManus led off the sixth with a solo home run to left field for a 4-2 Mars lead. Chad Petrush singled up the middle with one out, but Craska was able to record a fly out to center and a strikeout to end the threat.
Mars added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh for a 6-2 lead.
“Them getting two runs in the seventh was a backbreaker for us because you never know when it’s two runs,” DeBerry said. “All it takes is to get a runner on and hit a ball out of here, and as you can see down the lines, it’s not the biggest park.”
The Mustangs had a promising start in the first, but a few calls had the Laurel Highlands faithful in an uproar.
Tan Erminio appeared to lead off with an infield single, but was called out, and after base hits by Burns and Sankovich, McManus, who reached on a fielder’s choice, was picked off at first, much to the dismay of the Mustang supporters that called for a balk.
“I think it was big that we weren’t able to get any runs in that first inning because when they got theirs, it kind of deflated us, and I think it would have worked the same way if we had a big inning,” DeBerry said. “The second inning really hurt us.”
Andino Vecchiolla started and took the loss after yielding four runs on six hits in two innings. He had two strikeouts and no walks.
Greg Lancaster had a strong performance in relief for the second straight week. The senior allowed one unearned run on three hits in 4.2 innings. He had three strikeouts and walked one.
“Greg came in and gave us a chance to come back,” DeBerry said. “He kept us in the game.”
Laurel Highlands finished its season at 16-4 with a section title and a playoff victory.
“I am going to miss the seniors,” DeBerry said. “That is the hardest thing because you are around these guys for four years, then you may not see them that much.
“This may sound harsh, but I won’t classify any season as a success until I win my last game. That’s the ultimate goal, and settling for anything less than that, I might as well not even be here.”
The Fighting Planets (14-5) were without ace pitcher Will Bednar, who was suffering from an illness, but Craska stepped up in Bednar’s absence. Craska surrendered two earned runs on seven hits in seven innings. He had six strikeouts and no walks.
“Will (Bednar) was suffering from a flu bug,” coach Bednar said. “We hope that we can have him available tomorrow, but we’ll have to see. I thought Frankie pitched a gem. I felt pretty good even if Will wasn’t pitching. Frankie has thrown well the last three or four starts.
“We knew coming into the game that they were scoring eight, nine and 10 runs a game, and we respected their lineup. We were well aware of their lead-off guy (Erminio), Sankovich and their fourth (McManus) and fifth (Ian Edenfield) guys.”
Mars plays the winner of Hampton (15-4) and Moon (13-4) in this afternoon’s semifinals at North Allegheny. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. The result for Talbots and Tigers wasn’t available at press time.