Upper St. Clair blanks Altoona in PIAA baseball playoffs
After losing their bid to win their first WPIAL title in 30 years, the Upper St. Clair Panthers zeroed in on their hopes for a strong and long run in the PIAA baseball playoffs.
“After we lost to Mt. Lebanon, I was shocked at how down they were,” USC manager Jeff Donati said of his players, “but they brought a lot of energy to practices the next days.
“At this time of year, as a coach you get nervous because kids’ interests are fading. There are proms and graduations. These players never lost their focus. I have never seen a group this focused.”
In between their prom June 7 and graduation June 9, the Panthers blanked Altoona, 2-0, before taking on Warwick, the District 3 champion, in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 5A tournament.
In the state playoff opener played at Mansion Park, Brandon Liokareas pitched the Panthers past the Mountain Lions. In throwing the shutout, he scattered three hits and struck out six.
“Brandon was phenomenal,” said Donati. “I know he was disappointed that he didn’t get the call for the WPIAL championship but he came back strong and did a nice job for us.”
Defensively, Charlie Eberle, Christian Wieczenski, Jack Shearer and Owen Mandler did the job for the Panthers. Eberle made a “sensational” diving catch of a line drive to left field. Wieczenski excelled at third base while Shearer and Mandler turned a double play to end the game.
“Outstanding defense supported the shutout,” Donati said. “We made some great plays, especially Christian. None was easy and several were big-league.”
The Panthers scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Hunter Schroeck tripled to center and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.
With one out, Mateo Cepullio singled then swiped second and third. He scored on the wild throw to third base.
“The kids played really well,” Donati said. “We played good defense and got enough hits to win the game.
“I’m real pleased because we could have been flat after having played for the WPIAL championship in front of 4,000 people. When you get out of the WPIAL, a district championship means nothing and you are playing very good teams. So it’s not hard to get motivated when you know there is a state title at stake.”
With the win over Altoona, USC improved to 13-10 overall. The Mountain Lions finished the year at 15-7 overall. They were the District 6 champions.