Mt. Lebanon clinches section title
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac Sports
Jack Smith brought the heat during Mt. Lebanon’s 7-0 shutout against Upper St. Clair. The Harvard recruit fanned nine batters and scattered three hits and three walks during five frames of pitching. At the plate, he singled, swiped a base and scored a run.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jack Smith slips into second base safely as the throw sails past shortstop Owen Mandler during Mt. Lebanon’s 7-0 win against Upper St. Clair.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Upper St. Clair first baseman Hunter Schroeck tags out A.J. Stettler on a sacrifice bunt play during Mt. Lebanon’s 7-0 win.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eddie Albert fires a pitch to the plate during Upper St. Clair’s 7-0 loss to Mt. Lebanon.
Jack Smith and David Shields combined for a shutout as Mt. Lebanon defeated Upper St. Clair, 7-0, and clinched a section title in boys baseball for the first time since 2015.
“While winning our section is by no means our objective for the year, it’s a nice honor for the kids to have because it’s a challenging accomplishment,” said Lebo manager Patt McCloskey.
“Our section has always been so balanced, and everyone is always so evenly matched that you need to catch a lot of breaks to come out on top. This year we played pretty well and had a lot of things break our way.”
After a shaky start, pitches fell into place for Smith. He stranded two runners by striking out the final two batters in the first inning. The Harvard recruit went on to fan nine batters. In five innings of work, Smith walked three and scattered three hits on 91 pitches, 30 of them coming in the first frame.
“Jack was extremely mentally tough,” McCloskey said. “Getting out of the first inning was the key to victory for sure. That took the pressure off us.”
The Blue Devils came out hitting in the second stanza. They scored four runs on four hits.
Tyler Smith stroked a run-scoring double and Paul Connolly drove in two with a single. Tanner Donati singled to right to drive in the other tally.
Lebo added two runs in the third.
Jack Smith singled, swiped second and scored on a fielding error. Tyler Smith walked and eventually scored on a passed ball.
Shields, who singled in the third, closed out the contest by pitching the final two frames. He struck out four batters.
“Our plan from the outset was to bring in David in short relief if it was a close game,” said McCloskey. “Rather than have Jack pitch to a batter or two, we thought it was better in such a high pressure environment for David to get a clean start to an inning.”
Eddie Albert had one clean pitching inning. A Dartmouth recruit, who earlier this season tossed a no-hitter, struck out the first two batters and assisted on a tapper to the mound to start the game.
“Eddie is an exceptional pitcher,” McCloskey said. “The way he came out in the first inning, he was clearly as advertised.
“We had spent the week trying to get geared up for a good fastball, and our kids did a pretty good job getting on it. It’s one of those things where it was just our day. I wouldn’t want to face that kid in the first round of the playoffs.”
Lebo completed the sweep of USC and finished 9-1 in the section.
In the 2-0 victory on May 3 at Clint Seymour Field, Donati and Jack Smith singled to start the bottom of the first frame. Delvaux cored on an RBI groundout by Tyler Smith and Shields drove in Jack Smith with a single.
Shields pitched 6 1/3 frames while Evan Rossi retired the final two batters. Shields struck out nine, scattered two hits and walked one.
After closing out the regular season with a non-section match against Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon embarks on its WPIAL title quest when the playoffs commence May 16.
The baseball championships are set for May 31 and June 1 at Wild Things Park in Washington.
In addition to Lebo, USC clinched a playoff spot in Class 6A.
Peters Township and Bethel Park will compete in the Class 5A tournament along with South Fayette. The Hawks are the defending state champions. They were district runners-up in 2021.
After suffering back-to-back losses to the Indians, the Hawks have rebounded to win four games, including a 10-9 come-from-behind thriller against Lebo.
In a 10-0 blanking of Thomas Jefferson on May 2, Evan Holewinski posted the win on the mound. He fired five frames, striking out five and surrendering only one hit.
Cody Geddes socked two hits, including a homer. He drove in two runs.
Dylan Schmude tagged a triple and a double while David Kessler and Jason Nuttridge singled and doubled.
Ben Hudson smashed a round tripper and drove in two runs.