Holewinski pitches Bethel Park into PIAA semifinals
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park players mob Evan Holewinski after he tossed a three-hit shutout against West Allegheny, 7-0, in a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal playoff game.
Nathan Vargo (right_ and Bo Conrad (left) celebrate after scoring runs in second inning of Bethel Park’s 7-0 victory against West Allegheny in the PIAA playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Evan Holewinski fires a pitch to the plate during Bethel Park’s 7-0 victory against West Allegheny in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Gianni Magnotti gets a hero’s welcome after scoring Bethel Park’s seventh run in a victory, 7-0, agaisnt West Allegheny in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ryan Petras makes contact.The freshman pounded out four hits, including a triple, to lead Bethel Park to victory, 7-0, against West Allegheny in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park first baseman Nathan Vargo snags the baseball but the West Allegheny base runner slips back to the back during PIAA Class 5A playoff action. Bethel Park defeated the Indians, 7-0, to advance to the semifinals.
Bethel Park pitcher Evan Holewinski has an appetite for winning. Not strikeouts.
“He can throw everything for a strike but he’s also not strikeout hungry,” said BP manager Patrick Zehnder. “He knows he has a great defense behind him so he’s willing to let them work. He’s okay with his teammates getting the outs for him.”
In a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal game played June 9 at Washington & Jefferson College’s Ross Memorial Park, Holewinski shut out West Allegheny, 7-0. He threw fewer than 70 pitches, struck out only three and scattered four hits.
In the triumph, only four balls were hit to the outfield while all the other outs were either ground balls or pop ups. Shortstop David Kessler anchored the infield, recording three putouts and three assists. Holewinski also fielded three ground balls before tossing them to Nathan Vargo for the outs at first base.
“They have a good line-up over there,” Holewinski said. “We were trying to attack them and see if they could get themselves out. Pitch at them and let our defense make the plays.
“We pride ourselves on defense,” he continued. “We think we have a very good one. The recipe was to let them make the plays and it worked.”
While Holewinski and the BP defense silenced the Indians, Ryan Petras led the offensive onslaught. The freshman smacked four hits in four at bats, including a triple.
Petras ignited BP’s two-run uprising in the first frame. After his base hit, Cody Geddes and Ray Altmeyer produced RBI singles.
Petras drove in a run in an error-riddled second inning. Bo Conrad led off with a single before John Chalus was hit by a pitch. Vargo laid down the perfect bunt. On the fielder’s choice, the throw to third ended up in the outfield and BP scored two runs before Petras drove in Vargo with his single.
Of his hitting performance Petras said, “I just did what I always did. It’s the same approach as always. I just hit the ball. It was a great day for me.
“There’s no pressure,” he added of being a freshman. “I just do what I do and getting the early lead was a big momentum builder. It helped us get going.”
Chalus kept things going offensively for the Black Hawks. In the fourth frame, he singled then yielded to pinch-runner Jason Nuttridge, who promptly swiped second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Vargo’s sacrifice fly to right. Chalus also singled in the fifth.
BP produced its final run in the fifth when Altmeyer singled. Pinch runner Gianni Magnotti swiped second and scored on Bo Conrad’s sacrifice fly to center.
“I was so happy we were able to get ahead early and that we continued pressing,” said Zehnder. “We continued to put pressure on a great defense and such a well-coach, talented group and found a way to put runs on the board. That was very big.”
Holewinski’s pitching though was bigger. A Kent State recruit, he improved to 9-0 on the season and 15-1 in his two-year career.
“He’s amazing,” Petras said. “He’s an amazing pitcher and an amazing person all around.”
Holewinski also possesses a baseball mind.
“His baseball IQ is off the charts,” Zehnder said. “He’s so mature and so selfless. He’s OK with his team getting the outs for him.”
BP improved to 19-4 overall while West-A ended its WPIAL championship season at 20-5.
The Black Hawks will play Donegal, a 5-4 winner over Ephrata, in the PIAA semifinals set for 4:30 p.m. June 13 at Mt. Aloysius College. The winner advances to the PIAA championship game set for 4:30 p.m. June 17 at Medlar Field on the Penn State University campus.
BP, which lost to West Allegheny, 3-0, in this year’s WPIAL semifinals, is the defending PIAA Class 5A champion.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Zehnder said. “We would have loved to win a WPIAL championship but we seem to be in a good place right now. In the WPIAL playoffs, we couldn’t find a way to bring our A-game but we’ve finally put across what we believe is one of our A-games. If we can continue to do that moving forward, I think we have something special brewing here.”
Upper St. Clair lost a heartbreaker to Warwick, 5-3, in an extra-inning PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal playoff game on June 9 at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson.
Joe Altvater kept the Warwick bats at bay before he had to exit the game with one out in the eighth inning as he had exhausted the allowable pitch count per game.
Altvater struck out seven and allowed three runs during his pitching stint.
Warwick tagged two hits after Altvater’s exit to produce the runs it needed for victory.
A lead-off single in the bottom of the eighth by Jack Shearer gave the Panthers hope but they could not overcome the two-run deficit.
USC took a 3-1 lead in the third inning. Charlie Eberle provided the big blow with a triple to the right centerfield gap.
Warwick cut the margin to 3-2 in the fifth and tied the contest in the seventh by taking advantage of a wild pitch and a throwing error.
Despite the defeat, Mateo Cepullio played well on defense, making several outstanding plays in centerfield to hold off potential Warwick runs and rallies.
With the loss, USC wrapped up its season at 13-10 overall.