WASHINGTON, Pa. – Moon pitcher Phil Bondi said he dreamed of being on the mound of a championship game with the bases loaded, two outs and a full count on the batter and getting that batter out.
And Bondi lived that dream Friday in the WPIAL Class AAA title game at Washington & Jefferson College’s Ross Memorial Park in Washington, getting Chartiers Valley’s Mike Perhosky to groundout to second baseman Scott Liller to give the Tigers their first WPIAL baseball title with a 3-2 win.
“Everyone dreams about being in that position,” Bondi told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “When you’re in Little League, you think about pitching with a 3-2 count in a championship game. You think about what you would do.
“I knew I threw a strike. Then I just said. ‘C’mon Scottie, get to it.’ Oh, I was so nervous (before the pitch).”
Moon (18-4) took the 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on an infield single by Liller with two outs that scored pinch runner Steve Karaffa. Karaffa was pinch running for Brad Schnelle, who led off the inning by reaching on an error. A walk and a ground out, that was nearly a double play, then put runners on first and third with two outs before Liller’s hit was stopped by shortstop Luke Horew, who had no throw on the play.
The Tigers, who actually have two PIAA titles, scored their first two runs in the opening two innings to take a 2-0 lead. Chartiers Valley answered with a run in the fifth and another in the sixth off Schnelle to tie the game at two.
“It’s a shame anyone had to lose,” Moon manager Dom Santeufemio told the Post-Gazette.
WPIAL Baseball: Serra, Shady Side Academy, North Allegheny also win titles
Moon wasn’t the only WPIAL baseball team to take home championship hardware last week. Serra Catholic (Class A), Shady Side Academy (Class AA) and North Allegheny (Class AAAA) also won championships.
Serra beat Carmichaels 7-1 thanks to the play of brothers Oliver and Alain Girman. Oliver was the winning pitcher tossing a complete game while also hitting a home run and driving in four runs, while Alain was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
The Girman’s performance helped the Eagles beat one of the top pitchers in the WPIAL in Carmichael’s Joby Lapkowicz, who entered the game with a 7-0 record and 0.35 ERA and added 14 strikeouts in the game. Lapkowicz suffered his first loss since a PONY League game and prevented Carmichaels from taking its fourth WPIAL crown since 2003.
In Class AA Thursday, Shady Side Academy beat North Catholic 3-2 on a two-out single to right by Brian Nickel that scored courtesy runner Scott Majesky, who was running for Bo Stewart, in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 2-2 game.
“I was sitting on first-pitch fastball,” Nickel told the Post-Gazette.
Tim Giel got the win going seven innings and allowing two runs on six hits while striking out 12.
Also Thursday, North Allegheny claimed the Class AAAA title with a 6-3 win over Pine-Richland. It was the Tigers sixth WPIAL championship in the last 20 years.
Like Serra Catholic, North Allegheny went the sibling route to get the victory, as Ryan Oglesby went six innings and allowed three runs on five hits while striking out two to improve to 8-0 on the year. Meanwhile, his brother Sean had a pair of hits and two RBIs.
WPIAL Softball: Vincentian, Riverside, Franklin Regional, Hempfield claim titles
In WPIAL softball action late last week, Vincentian Academy (Class A), Riverside (Class AA), Franklin Regional (Class AAA) and Hempfield (Class AAAA) all took home championships.
Vincentian won its second straight title in its fourth straight title game appearance with a 3-1 win over Avonworth thanks to a pair of early runs on a first inning double by Ashley Darby that proved to enough for pitcher Nina Melvin, who allowed one run on eight hits and four walks while striking out nine. Melvin added an insurance run for the Royals with a home run in the third.
Riverside got a near perfect game from Kari Falk in an 8-0 win over Sto-Rox to win its second straight WPIAL crown. Falk faced the minimum number of hitters, 21, allowing just one hit, and that base runner was erased on a double play. Riverside, meanwhile scored seven of its eight runs in the fourth inning when it sent 11 ladies to the plate. Falk had a two-run double in the inning, while Madison LeBon also drove in a pair of runs during the rally.
In Class AAA, Franklin Regional took home the crown with a 2-0 win over Trinity in a title game that pitted a pair of teams with perfect 20-0 records going into the game.
Franklin Regional scored the game’s only two runs in the first inning on a two-out, bases loaded single by Kate Dodsworth.
Ally Vrcek made sure that lead stood up. Vrcek tossed the shutout to give her team the title.
Meanwhile, in Class AAAA it took Hempfield two days to capture its first title in over a decade (1998) with a 3-2 win over Shaler.
The game started Thursday but was suspended in the second inning because of rain.
Hempfield grabbed a 2-0 lead before the rain came on a two-run home run by Alyssa Bates. But a day later, Shaler got a run back in the third to cut the deficit to 2-1 before Hempfield tacked on a run in the firfth to make it 3-1. Shaler then closed back within a run with a point in the seventh and had the tying run at third with no outs for Jess Vannucci. Vannucci laid a bunt down the third base line that was fielded by pitcher T’nia Falno, who faked a throw to first and then picked off Brittney DeFazio trying to get back to third for the game’s final out.
Baseball: Districts 9, 10 crown champions
Champions were also crowned in Districts 9 and 10 last week.
In District 9 baseball, Coudersport captured the Class A title with a 9-4 win over Clarion, Redbank Valley took home its second straight Class AA championship with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Moniteau when Nolan Sovik doubled in two runs in the bottom of the seventh and Punxsutawney continued its reign in Class AAA with a 9-5 win over Clearfield.
District 9 softball saw Curwensville take the Class A title, Karns City win the Class AA championship and Punxsutawney grab the Class AAA crown.
In District baseball 10, Villa Maria won the Class A title, Franklin was the Class AA champion and Grove City took home the Class AAA crown, while in D10 softball Union City won the Class A title, Northwestern the Class AA team and Corry the Class AAA crown.
In District 6/9/10 sub regional softball, DuBois knocked off Erie McDowell to advance to the state playoffs.
