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South Fayette advances to WPIAL championship game

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Tyler Bedillion threw a three-hit shutout, Nolan Lutz doubled home Richie Dell in the second inning and South Fayette blanked Hopewell 1-0 in a WPIAL Class 4A baseball semifinal game May 22 at the Burkett Complex.

The win advanced South Fayette (16-5), which has won nine of its last 10 games, to the championship. The Lions were scheduled to play Ringgold for the Quad-A title May 29 at Wild Things Park near Washington.

Hopewell (13-10), which stunned top-seeded Blackhawk, 1-0, in nine innings in a May 21 quarterfinal game, was trying to pull off its second shocker in less than 24 hours. The Vikings beat Blackhawk despite generating only two hits. They didn’t do much better with the bats against South Fayette as Bedillion limited them to a double, two singles and one walk.

South Fayette scored the only run it would need in the second inning. Christian Gabriel drew a leadoff walk against losing pitcher Jake McGovern but was erased when Dell hit into a fielder’s choice. Lutz, the No. 6 hitter in the Lions’ lineup, then doubled to center field and Dell raced around the bases to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.

Bedillion, who struck out five, protected the lead, though Hopewell threatened in the sixth and seventh innings. The Vikings broke up Bedillion’s no-hit bid in the sixth when Alex Kunzmann and Mark Phillippi hit consecutive singles to begin the frame. However, Kunzmann was caught stealing, and a groundout and strikeout ended the threat. In the seventh, Hopewell’s Joey Rock hit a one-out double but Bedillion ended the game by getting a strikeout and a groundout.

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