Mt. Lebanon zeroed in on PIAA run
When the umpire cries “Play ball!”, the Mt. Lebanon High School baseball team gets serious. Even in June.
With 11 seniors about to graduate, the Blue Devils zeroed in and defeated Manheim, 4-1, on June 5 at Boyce-Mayview Park in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament.
Though only an eight-minute bus ride away from the park, Lebo manager Patt McCloskey thought it would be a good idea to arrive early. The team took batting practice at 11 a.m. before its 2 p.m. start. By 4:15, the Blue Devils were back on the bus, riding home with the victory.
A social studies teacher, McCloskey said pregame was like teaching in eighth period on a Friday afternoon. “The players were running around like children, but that’s what you want. You want them to have kid energy, but when it’s go time, they focus.
“Fortunately, the energy level of this group is something I never have to worry about. They were bouncing off the walls at batting practice and as soon as I saw that I said that we are going to be OK. I didn’t know if we were going to win but we were at least going to bring energy.
“That’s says something about this group because it is really hard to be a senior and still be all about high school baseball.”
After winning a WPIAL title on May 31, the seniors did not have another full day of school, although some had final exams. They graduated on June 6, the day after beating the Blue Streaks.
“It’s a different environment than a championship game but this group has definitely embraced the thought of a state championship. Of all the times that we have gone to the state playoffs, I would say it’s the most focused we have been.”
The Blue Devils honed in on the offensive strategy proposed by assistant coach Brandon Whitfield. They took advantage of mental lapses by the Blue Steaks, who had a 4 1/2-hour bus trip to Upper St. Clair, and scored all their runs in the first inning.
With one out, Tyler Smith and Matt Delvaux reached base on errors. Nolan Smith walked before losing pitcher Gavin Glass struck out the second of his six batters in the game. Brock Stacy then reached base after being hit and Lebo scored twice on Dan Clevenger’s misplayed ground ball to third base. Stacy then scored on a passed ball.
“Our whole offense comes from Coach Whitfield talking about trying to put pressure on them. We wanted to hit the ball but it was like hitting in August where the ground is so hard. If you hit it on the ground, then you make someone field the ball. It’s been what we’ve been working to and we had some effect.”
Good thing, too, because after the first inning, Glass was all but untouchable. After having thrown 35 pitches in the inning, he finished with 84 for the game. Glass, who will play at the United State Military Academy, surrendered just two hits: singles to Delvaux and Nolan Smith. He walked and hit another batter after the first inning.
“We were able to do a few things early and thank goodness because their pitcher was nothing but short of outstanding,” McCloskey said. “We knew he had 79 strikeouts on the season. He was as advertised. He had a great game.”
After a two-week layoff, Delvaux had a strong showing on the mound for the Blue Devils. In tossing his fifth straight complete game of the season, Delvaux struck out three and scattered five hits, including a double by Ryan Brader. Three singles by Trey Eckman, Ty Jenkins and Nick Tomlinson produced a run for the Blue Steaks in the top of the fifth.
“My curveball was definitely working but my fastball was lost a little until later in the game. That’s when I got my confidence back,” said Delvaux.
The four-run cushion coupled with some stellar defensive gems by Stacy in left field, Nate Girod at shortstop, David Shields in center, Tyler Smith at first base and Brett Hamel at second reinforced Delvaux’s belief.
“It’s nice having runs behind you. That helped a lot and gave me a confidence boost,” Delvaux said. “Plus, that was the best defense that I ever had while pitching. Even our coaches said it was the best in Mt. Lebanon history.”
McCloskey agreed.
“We felt good about having Matt out there. He was really on. We look to our senior leadership for making plays and pitching well.”
With the win, the Blue Devils moved on to the PIAA quarterfinals to face Spring-Ford (21-3) on June 8. Spring-Ford, the District 1 runner-up, defeated Central, 3-1, in its first-round game.