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Peters Township ousted from WPIAL playoffs

By Jonathan Guth staff Writer jguth@observer-Reporter.Com 5 min read
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Joey Bedillion

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township’s Joey Bedillion gets caught in a rundown play by Penn-Trafford’s Carmen Metcalfe after getting caught off first base in the fourth inning of WPIAL Class 5A baseball playoff action. The Indians lost to Penn-Trafford, 4-2.

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Joey Bedillion lays down a bunt during Peters Township’s 4-2 loss to Penn-Trafford in the WPIAL Class 5A baseball playoffs. Bedillion singled twice in three plate appearances for the Indians.

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

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Peters Township's Zack Miner fires a strike to the plate during WPIAL Class 5A baseball playoff action. The Indians lost to Penn-Trafford, 4-2.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

On a bang-bang play at first base, Steve Laurence (3) indicates that he is safe but Penn-Trafford’s Carmen Metcalfe (25) already had the ball in his mitt to register the out. The Warriors defeated Peters Township, 4-2, in the WPIAL Class 5A baseball playoffs.

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Jack Lutte reacts to striking out in the fifth inning of Peters Township's 4-2 loss to Penn-Trafford. A few pitches previously, Lutte tagged what appeared to be a two-run homer to right field, but the umpires ruled the ball was foul.

WEST MIFFLIN – Coaches and players will always say that one call doesn’t make the difference between a win and a loss in a baseball game, but Monday’s call that went against Peters Township loomed large after it was made in the fifth inning at West Mifflin High School.

With the Indians trailing Penn-Trafford, 3-1, and batting in the top of the inning with Steven Laurence on second base, Jack Lutte smashed an offering from Nolan Marasti over the fence in right field and the Peters Township bench erupted in jubilation and started to race onto the field to congratulate Lutte at home plate.

However, as quickly as the players moved onto the turf from the third-base dugout, the umpire called the ball foul, much to the dismay of the Peters Township coaches and players.

“Maybe things would have been a bit different had that gone our way, but as I told my kids, ‘You know what? We can’t do anything to change that,'” Peters Township coach Rocky Plassio said. “We don’t want to leave games in the hands of the officials, and we got to do our best to overcome that so that becomes a moot point.”

The Indians’ coaching staff asked for an appeal, but all three umpires agreed the ball was foul. Marasti was able to get Lutte to strike out for the second out of the inning and the Warriors went on for a 4-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

“I can’t comment on that is because I didn’t see it,” Penn-Trafford coach Lou Cortazzo said.

What made the call even tougher for Peters Township was that Jack Natili followed with an RBI double to right field that scored Laurence and cut the deficit to 3-2. Laurence reached base on an error.

“If I would have to do it all over again, I would have walked Natili his last at-bat,” Cortazzo said. “Natili and Lutte are both phenomenal hitters.”

Natili, a Rutgers recruit, was 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI in his final high school game.

“Jack (Natili) is an unbelievable player, and it is a sad moment with this being his last high school game,” Plassio said. “I was hoping somehow he would come to the plate in the seventh inning with one or two runners on, but as I told the kids, they have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Penn-Trafford (15-5) advances to this evening’s semifinals against Bethel Park (16-4) with the first pitch scheduled for 7 at Ross Memorial Park. Regardless of the outcome, the Warriors have at least two more games remaining this season as the loser will play for the third and final spot in the PIAA playoffs. The winner heads to Wild Things Park and the championship game.

The Indians (14-7) defeated Penn-Trafford, 6-5, in the quarterfinals a year ago at West Mifflin, and Marasti was on the mound for the Warriors.

“Peters knocked us out last year, so to win this game today was sweet redemption,” Cortazzo said. “Nolan is a bulldog. I’ve said it all year long. The kid had a chip on his shoulder because he was in this position last year. We knew we were going to have a fight on our hands because Peters will play the whole seven innings. They are not going to back down.”

Marasti yielded two runs (one earned) on seven hits in over six innings. He had seven strikeouts but was pulled after the sixth because he had thrown 102 pitches.

Evan Del Signore pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to earn the save.

“Nolan could have gone one more guy, but we did that to him last year, and we weren’t going to let that happen this year,” Cortazzo said. “Our pitching was phenomenal today, and Evan came in and closed the door on them in the seventh. These guys all make me feel smart. I show up and they do the work. It’s a hardworking group of kids.”

The Warriors opened the scoring in the first when Brody Hoffmann’s double to left scored Dylan Grabowski with two outs for a 1-0 lead. Grabowski was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Hoffmann.

Peters Township tied the score in the third when Luke Scott raced home on Lutte’s sacrifice fly to center. Scott singled up the middle, advanced to second on a balk and third on Laurence’s sacrifice bunt.

Penn-Trafford regained the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the third on Grabowski’s sacrifice fly to center. It stretched the advantage to 3-1 in the fourth on Peyton Bigler’s base hit to center.

Following the controversial top of the fifth, the Warriors added another run on Carmen Metcalfe’s sacrifice fly.

PT starter Zach Miner allowed three runs on four hits over four innings. He struck out one and walked three.

The Indians’ Joey Bedillion had two base hits.

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