South Fayette wins WPIAL baseball title
The South Fayette High School baseball team has leaned on youth all season.
Maybe never more than when Lions coach Ken Morgan gave the ball to junior starting pitcher Richie Dell.
Dell shrugged off a sluggish start on the mound, including hitting a batter with the opening pitch of the game, to shut out No. 4-seed Ringgold over the final six innings, leading third-seeded South Fayette to a 4-1 victory in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game May 29 at Wild Things Park.
It is the first WPIAL baseball title for South Fayette since 1999.
“We were down 4-0 against West Mifflin (in the quarterfinals), it was no sweat,” Morgan said. “A tight game against Hopewell and we just find a way. Then coming in here and getting off to a rocky start, it was like, so what? In the times I’ve been playing or coaching, I’ve never been around a team like this.”
Dell went 6 innings, struck out 10 and limited a powerful Ringgold lineup to five hits and one run. It was only the second time this season the Rams have failed to score at least two runs. They scored their lone run of the game in the first inning.
“The first inning was a little shaky because I had a lot of adrenaline going. I was pumped,” said Dell, one of seven underclassmen in the South Fayette starting lineup.
“I wanted the ball in this game. My fastball location helped because I was able to work the curveball off of that, which kept (Ringgold) off balance. I had full confidence in what I was able to do.”
South Fayette (17-5) took the lead in the bottom of the third inning with a pair of unearned runs after a throwing error. Mitch Dunay singled to left field, scoring Joey Alcorn from second base. Christian Gabriel, the Lions’ cleanup hitter, followed with a line-drive, run-scoring single over Ringgold third baseman Chase Angotti to give South Fayette a 2-1 advantage.
“We have a lot of confidence in our ability to work our way back into games,” Dell said. “It was evident tonight. We fell behind early but were able to battle through, keep competing and kept the energy level up in the dugout. This was a lot of fun.”
Dell helped his own cause in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff triple. He scored on a single from Tyler Bedillion to left field, making it 3-1. Bedillion, who advanced to second on his hit, was driven home by a Matt Primm line drive that gave the Lions a 4-1 lead.
Ringgold (16-4) opened the scoring in the first when Luke Winterbottom singled to drive in Chase Angotti, who was hit by the first pitch of the game. Dell, however, was able to strand Ringgold runners at first and third. The Rams stranded seven baserunners in the game.
“Normally, we get those runs in, especially late in games,” said Ringgold coach Don Roberts. “We have to get hits with guys in scoring position. We just didn’t get them today.”
South Fayette ran itself out of a scoring chance in the top of the first inning. A runner was thrown out trying for third base on a ground ball back to Ringgold starting pitcher Ryan Varley. Later in the inning, Varley picked off another baserunner in scoring position for the second out.
“You are going to go through ups and downs,” Morgan said. “We work a lot with keeping our composure, staying even and not riding that emotional roller coaster that high school baseball can be. Our kids epitomize (composure).”
Dell was able to escape several scoring opportunities for Ringgold. The Lions turned a double play to end the the top of the sixth inning. In the first five innings, the Rams stranded five runners, three in scoring position.
“We got off to a good start, but (Dell) pitched a heck of a game,” Roberts said. “When there were guys on base, he beared down and made some really great pitches. They played better than us today.”