By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
MaxPreps.com
WASHINGTON, Pa. – Junior Joby Lapkowicz struck out 13, hit a game tying RBI triple in the fifth and then scored the go-ahead run on a suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth to lead Carmichaels to a 4-3 win over Rochester in the WPIAL Class A baseball title game Wednesday at Consol Energy Park.
“It (winning the title) is just a great accomplishment,” Lapkowicz said. “I had a great defense behind me that made plays.”
While Lapkowicz was noticeably humble about his performance even a day after it happened, his teammate Chuck Gasti had a lot of praise for the young hurler.
“Joby throws pretty good,” Gasti said. “He had a few strikeouts yesterday. He is really good for our team, and we back him up on defense.”
Gasti said winning the WPIAL title meant a lot to him because his sister, Nikki, had won a title for the Carmichaels softball team when she was in high school.
“It meant a lot,” Gasti said. “My sister won it in 1998. She was a pitcher for the softball team. Her having two gold medals and one silver made me really want to get one myself so I could go home and say ‘hey Nikki, look what I got.’”
Gasti also said it meant a lot to carry on the tradition that has been building at Carmichaels (20-1), which has now won three WPIAL titles in the last six seasons.
“It just meant a lot watching the baseball team do it in before as well,” Gasti said. “But there is no pressure to live up to that tradition. You just go out and play baseball.”
Title number three in that span came in a close game that saw Carmichaels, which has won 18 straight games, first tie the game and then take the lead in the fifth inning.
Lapkowicz, who hit .471 during the regular season, tied the game with a triple brining up cleanup hitter Marcus Robinson, who hit .491 during the regular campaign. But instead of allowing Robinson to swing away, Carmichaels’ manager Dave Bates called for the suicide squeeze, which Robinson executed with such precision that he ended up with a bunt base hit as well as the go-ahead RBI.
The fact Robinson reached on the bunt single proved vital, as he scored what eventually turned into the winning run later in the inning on an error by Rochester making it 4-2 in favor of the Mighty Mikes.
Rochester got a run back to make it 4-3 and had the bases loaded in the seventh with two outs, but Lapkowicz struck out cleanup man Vinny Beatty to seal the win.
“It is one of those feelings you certainly never get tired off,” Bates said. “We’ve experienced them in the past, and it’s a wonderful thing. But this group of kids was a pure and pleasant surprise. We never expected to where we were at. We thought we had a group of kids that might vie for a section title. We didn’t realize we had this type of a quality ball club underneath us.”
Carmichaels now moves onto PIAA play where it will face the third-place team out of District 9 Keystone in the opening round.
District 9 Class AA Baseball: Redbank Valley Finally Claims Elusive Crown
After suffering heartbreaking losses in extra innings to Brookville in the last two District 9 Class AA title games, the Redbank Valley Bulldogs finally captured their first-ever District 9 title with a 6-2 win over Brookville in the Class AA title game Wednesday afternoon in Brockway.
Redbank Valley (18-0) was 0-4 in District 9 title games heading into Wednesday’s game and had lost the last two titles to Brookville by identical 3-2 scores including a 12-inning defeat in 2006 and a 10-inning loss last year.
“This is for everyone who has had anything to do with Redbank Valley baseball,” Redbank Valley head coach Steve Smith said. “This means a lot for the school and the community. I think it’s been a long time since Redbank Valley has won a District 9 title in any sport.”
The Bulldogs, as they have done all season, rode the arm of senior right-hander Craig Hibell to the victory. After a bit of a rocky inning in the top of the first that saw him give up three hits and two runs, Hibell settled nicely into a grove allowing just one hit and five base runners the rest of the game. He walked two batters and struck out 10 including two in a row to close out the title.
“I think the adrenaline was moving a little too much in the first inning for Craig,” Smith said. “But he settled down and pitched a great ballgame.”
Redbank Valley’s offense, meanwhile, was very opportunistic taking advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness from Brookville’s Jacob Means and shoddy Raider defense to score six runs on just eight hits. Means, who entered the game having walked just 17 batters, issued nine free passes in the game, and the Brookville defense committed four errors.
The Bulldogs turned two of those walks and two of the errors into runs while scoring single runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings and two runs in the second. Ryan Radaker was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Redbank Valley, while Kent Schick was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Kasey Haines had two RBIs and a run scored.
The score could have been a lot worse, but Means, a senior, was able to strand 11 Redbank Valley base runners including six in scoring position. He limited the damage despite allowing the Bulldogs to load the bases in innings two, three and four.
Redbank Valley will now take on Burrell, the third-place team out of the WPIAL in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs Monday.
WPIAL Class AAAA Baseball: Peters Township Repeats
Peters Township went from nearly not making the WPIAL playoffs to squeaking in as the No. 8 seed to winning its second straight WPIAL Class AAAA baseball title with a 10-4 win over No. 2 seed Plum Wednesday night at Consol Energy Park in Washington.
“The first one was special. How can it not be?” Peters Township manager Joe Maize told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is crazy. But to be in battle after battle down the stretch with these kids was pretty darn special too.”
The Indians (18-6) started the season just 7-5 and didn’t secure the WPIAL playoff berth until the final day of the regular season. But they entered the playoffs having won eight of nine and have now won 11 of their past 12 games.
The young and the old led the way on offense Wednesday night for Peters Township.
Freshman Austin Hancock had a pair of hits, a sacrifice fly and three RBIs, while senior Pat Gallagher was 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
That was more than enough for ace Jordan Jankowski who allowed four hits and four runs while striking out 13. Jankowski had one rough inning allowing three runs and three hits to Plum in the third but was otherwise dominate.
The three-run third cut a 5-1 Peters Township lead to 5-4, but the Indians answered with three runs in the fifth to take an 8-4 lead and never looked back.
Division 9 Class AAA Baseball: Defending State Champion Punxsutawney Claims Fifth-Straight
When it comes to District 9 Class AAA baseball, it’s a lot like the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray as a fictional Pittsburgh newsman who ends up experiencing the same Punxsutawney Groundhog Day over and over again.
Thanks to solid pitching from Christian Muth and Austin Fuhrman and timely hitting, defending PIAA Class AAA champion Punxsutawney won its fifth-straight District 9 Class AAA title with a 7-1 win over St. Marys Wednesday at Brockway.
“I told the guys after the game, ‘Don’t every take these for granted. They don’t pass these out for nothing,’” Punxsutawney manager Paul Hetrick told the Punxsutawney Spirit. “They earned it, and they earn it every year. So I told them to be proud of it.
“Sometimes, I just think they kind of assume they’re going to win it. But that was a great accomplishment against a nice team out there today.”
Punxsutawney (13-6) scored all seven of its runs in the first three innings scoring two in the first, one in the second and four in the third.
Tommy Bush led the offense going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Jacob Stumpf added a 1-for-2 performance with a run scored and two RBIs.
That was more than enough for Muth and Furman.
Muth, who struggled a bit with control walking five, allowed no runs in five innings giving up just two hits while striking out three to earn the win. Furman came into the game in the sixth and went the final two innings allowing a two-out run in the seventh while letting up three hits and two walks.
Division 9 Class A Baseball: Cameron County Demolishes Curwensville for Title
Cameron County won its second District 9 Class A baseball title in three years with a 13-1, five-inning smashing of Curwensville Thursday afternoon at St. Marys’ Berwind Park.
The Red Raiders broke the game open early scoring four times in the first, three in the second and two in the third driving Curwensville starter Ben McGary, who was coming off a shutout of Ridgway in the quarterfinals, from the mound.
McGary last just 2 1/3 innings and allowing nine runs, seven of them earned, one walk and two strikeouts. Wes McGarry relieved and allowed five runs, three unearned, on two hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings of work.
Cameron County got production throughout the lineup with eight of the nine men in the lineup getting hits and eight different players scoring runs.
Sean McManigle was 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs scored and four RBIs, while Abram Zoschg was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Dave Lyon added a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI and a run scored, Garrett Hornung was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored and Corey Reed was 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
Cameron Clingan picked up the win going five innings and allowing one earned run, that on a Jed Greslick home run, on three hits and two walks while striking out five.
Cameron County was the District 9 runner-up last year and was making its sixth appearance in the last 10 years in the D9 Class A title game. The Red Raiders advanced to the PIAA semifinals a year ago before losing to district rival Johnsonburg.
Both teams now move into the state playoffs.
