Bethel Park looks to rebound from WPIAL loss in PIAA playoffs
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Lucas Lybarger, Evan Lejeune and Coby Goelz maintain stiff upper lips after accepting their silver medals for finishing runner-up to Shaler after Bethel Park’s 10-1 loss in the WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship game.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park catcher John Chalus applies the tag on Derek Leas for an out in the fifth inning. Despite the out, the frame was damaging for the Black Hawks as Shaler scored five runs on two hits and two errors on its way to a 10-1 victory in the WPIAL Class 5A final.
Elijah Muckle slips safely back to first base while Coby Goelz awaits the throw during WPIAL Class 5A championship action.
Bethel Park manager Patrick Zehnder congratulates Ray Altmeyer after he tripled and scored a run, which happened to be the only tally in a 10-1 loss to Shaler in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game.
Ray Altmeyer (9) expresses despair as he approaches his teammate Jason Nuttridge (2) after Bethel Park's loss to Shaler, 10-1, in the WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship game.
Evan Holewinski fires a fastball to the plate during Bethel Park's 10-1 loss to Shaler. Holewinski was saddle with the loss though he only surrendered one earned run in four innings.
After a 10-1 loss to Shaler on May 30 at Wild Things Park in Washington, Bethel Park still hasn’t won a WPIAL baseball championship since 1987. However, the Black Hawks still have a shot to do something that no WPIAL team has done … win three straight PIAA titles.
BP’s quest commences on June 5 when the Black Hawks face the District 3 champion in a first-round state playoff game at a site and time to be determined.
“They really wanted this and this loss stings a little bit, but we are still playing baseball in June,” said coach Patrick Zehnder after the loss to the Titans in the Class 5A final. “We still have our ultimate goal. It’s still possible to reach and I like our chances of doing it again.”
If the Black Hawks are to repeat as PIAA champions, then they must play better than they did in the WPIAL final. In the worst loss of their 17-4 season, BP committed three errors, allowed five runs in one inning, surrendered six unearned runs, hit batters and had runners picked off base.
“It was one of those games,” Zehnder sighed. “Sometimes that’s the game of baseball.
“Two things we have done well all year were pound the strike zone and make plays defensively. Both were a little bit subpar. Obviously, there were some deficits. That’s on me for not getting us mentally prepared.
“You have to give credit to Shaler,” Zehnder emphasized. “They were a complete buzzsaw. I’m not sure anyone was beating them the way they played. While we made our share of mistakes, they pushed the envelope and forced our hand. They are a really good team.”
Miguel Hugas is a really good pitcher. The Venezuela native showed why he is considered a potential MLB draft pick in July as well as a top recruit for the University of Alabama. The 6-3, 210-pound senior improved to 9-0 with 79 strikeouts in 63 innings this spring.
Hugas scattered five hits over seven innings against the Black Hawks. He walked one, struck out eight and allowed only one earned run to lower is already impressive 0.37 ERA.
“He pounds the strike zone,” Zehnder said. “That slider of his is unbelievable. He works that in so well. He throws so hard that we were unable to string anything together.”
The Black Hawks “attacked” the fastball early but BP’s leadoff hitter Ryan Petras discovered another reason for Hugas’ success. He can field. Hugas robbed Petras of a hit to start the game and the tone of the match was determined.
“Hugas seems to say, ‘if you can hit it hard, I’m just going to catch it anyway.’ He’s that good.”
The Black Hawks were held hitless until Petras singled in the top of the fourth and scoreless until Ray Altmeyer tripled and scored on wild pitch in the fifth. BP’s only other hits were an infield single by John Chalus and a followup double by Evan Holewinski in the fifth as well as a single by Lucas Lybarger in the seventh.
After scoring single runs in the first two innings, the contest turned on Shaler’s five-run third. The Titans scored three times on relief pitcher Ryan Walsh in the fifth.
Derek Leas started the third-inning uprising when he was hit by a pitch from Holewinski, who was credited with the loss even though he allowed only one earned run.
Ben Yeckel then singled and Elijah Muckle reached base on a fielder’s choice. Though BP got an out at the plate, Connor Hamrick reached base on a misplayed fly ball to right field. After a walk to Colby McGuire, Shaler scored another unearned run when Luke Jarzynka reach base on an error at shortstop. Hugas added the only other hit in the inning to drive in the fifth run in the frame.
“Once the wheels came off, it was hard to get anything going,” Zehnder said. “Sometimes you feel like things are not going your way but these guys never give up or think they are out of it. They did a nice job of continuing to battle and not giving up.”
Zehnder admitted the third inning made it difficult to came back from but the damage really was done in the first two frames.
Jarzynka singled and scored on a base hit by Leas in the first frame. In the second stanza, Muckle reached base on an error at third and advanced two bases on a single by McGuire and a sacrifice. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Hugas.
“Shaler did a great job of putting two up in the first two innings and once they put up that crooked number in the third, compounded by with our mistakes, that took the wind out of our sails.
“All credit to Shaler,” Zehnder continued. “Whether we make those errors or not, we only scored one run. Even if it’s 2-1, that’s going to be hard to come back from.”