Bethel Park sweeps Upper St. Clair in baseball
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Evan Holewinski receives a hero’s welcome at home plate after smacking a two-run home run in Bethel Park’s 3-0 win against Upper St. Clair. The Black Hawks started section action with a sweep of the Panthers. They followed up the shutout win with a 3-2 victory to run their record to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in Section 2 in Class 5A.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park senior Evan Holewinski brought the heat against Upper St. Clair. The Kent State recruit struck out nine and scattered four hits on 91 pitches while shutting out the Panthers, 3-0.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jason Nuttridge (2) of Bethel Park is called for interference as Upper St. Clair first baseman Ty Lagoni attempts to catch the fly ball. Bethel Park defeated USC, 3-0, and then went on to win the second game, 3-2, in a home-and-away series in Section 2/5A high school baseball action.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park shortstop Ray Petras applies the tag on Eli Mandler as he attempts to steal second base.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Owen Mandler (21) of Upper St. Clair brings the heat to the plate against Bethel Park in Section 2 action.
With a sweep of rival Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park is off to a 2-0 start in Section 2 high school baseball.
The Black Hawks, who are the defending PIAA Class 5A champions, blanked the Panthers, 3-0, in the section opener played April 3 at Boyce-Mayview Park.
Kent State recruit Evan Holewinski hurled the 4-hit shutout. He struck out nine while tossing 91 pitches in the seven-inning affair.
Holewinski also powered the offense. He smacked a two-run homer in the top of the first inning.
Coby Goelz and Nathan Vargo each had two base hits. Goelz had the other RBI, when he drove in Vargo, who had reached base on an error, during BP’s 3-run first.
Ray Altmeyer and Gianni Magnotti also had base hits in the win.
In the followup game, played April 4 at Purkey Field, the Black Hawks scored the walk-off win, 3-2, on a bases-loaded wild pitch.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ray Petras led off with a double down the left-field line. He moved to third on a single to short right field by John Chalus. After Holewinski was intentionally walked, Altmeyer swung at the wild pitch that bounced off home plate and away from the USC catcher, enabling Petras to score the decisive tally.
The game-winning result was a reversal of an identical situation that occurred in the first inning.
On singles by Chalus and Holenwinski as well as a walk by Altmeyer, BP loaded the bases. Though USC’s Peter Janoski unloaded a pitch that hit off the padding behind home plate, the ball bounced back to catcher Ty Lagoni. He tossed the ball back to Janoski, covering on the play, to get the runner out at home.
After three more scoreless frames, BP took a 2-0 lead on Goelz’s home run. The roundtripper also scored Jason Nuttridge, who had singled.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, USC scored twice to knot the contest, 2-2. Tim Speer singled home Owen Mandler and Christian Wieczenski scored on an error in the outfield.
Evan LeJeune (four scoreless innings), Jack Edner (1 2/3 innings) and Sebastian Schein (1 1/3 hitless) combined for the win on the mound for the Black Hawks.
SF-PT split decisions
In other Section 2 action, South Fayette and Peters Township split their two-game, home-and-away series.
On April 3 at South Fayette, the Indians won a slugfest, 15-11.
Jack Natili and Jack Lutte smacked two home runs each, driving in nine of PT’s 15 runs. Natili tagged a two-run homer in the first and in an eight-run fourth. Lutte cranked out a grand slam in the fourth and a three-run shot in the top of the seventh.
The Lions tagged two homers. Chase Krewson smacked a two-run shot in the first frame and Christian Brandi socked a roundtripper in the third as SF opened up a 5-2 lead.
On April 4, the Lions avenged the loss, beating the Indians, 7-4, at Peterswood Park.
Krewson and Tyler Skeen combined for the win on the mound. Each struck out six batters while limiting the PT offense to six hits. Offensively both tagged two hits with Skeen smacking a home run and driving in three runs.
Brandi also picked up two hits. Michael Dimartini walked twice, had a hit and drove in a run. Anthony Diodata had a run-scoring single. Tyler Pitzer, Shawn Miller and Jake Betz also had base hits for the Lions.
For the Indians, Natili tagged two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. Lutte had a run-scoring single. Steven Laurence, Joey Bedillion and Carter Shanafelt had PT’s other hits.
South Fayette (3-1, 1-1) will host Bethel Park (4-3, 2-0) at 4 p.m. April 11. The teams will square off again at 4 p.m. April 12 at Purkey Field.
In other baseball action, Mt. Lebanon slipper to 0-6 overall when the Blue Devils dropped their opening Section 2/6A games with Canon-McMillan, 9-4 and 5-2.