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McDowell Top Dog in D10 6A Baseball; Saegertown, Middlesex Advance to 1A Finals; Sharpsville, Lakeview Move on in 2A

McDowell won the D10 Class 6A baseball title on Thursday.

ERIE, Pa. – All it took was one.

Izaak Ogrodowczyk’s single in the bottom of the seventh inning brought in Connor Cross, delivering the walk-off winner in McDowell’s 1-0 win over Erie in the District 10 Class 6A championship game.

The D10 title is the fifteen a for the Trojans.

Crossed reached on an error to start the seventh, and back-to-back walks, the latter of which was intentional to Nick Hamilton. RJ Hawkins got Brady Kramer to pop out before Ogrodwczyk delivered the walk-off winner.

Hamilton was brilliant on the mound, firing a 1-hit shutout. He struck out 10, walked just one and threw 62 of his 80 pitches for strikes.

               

Carter Swanson had two of McDowell’s six hits.

Jose Quinones fired six strong innings for Erie and was lifted after the leadoff error to start the seventh. He went six innings, allowing the one unearned run on five hits, striking out five and walking two.

Dominic Fracassi had the lone hit for Erie.

CLASS 1A SEMIFINALS

(1) SAEGERTOWN 14, (4) COCHRANTON 4, 5 INNINGS

                          

MEADVILLE, Pa. – It took Henry Shaffer three pitches to announce his presence in Saegertown’s District 10 Class 1A semifinal game against Cochranton.

The third pitch was driven so far over the left field fence at Allegheny College that the right fielder playing softball could have caught it. The home run was the first of Shaffer’s four hits, a double shy of the cycle, and six RBIs as the Panthers topped the Cardinals, 14-4 in five innings to puch their ticket to the D10 title game.

“Coming into the game coach said to hunt the fastball,” Shaffer said. “I usually just sit on the other stuff. When I saw fastball I made sure to unload on it.”
See Shaffer’s full interview:

Wyatt Burchill got the inning started with a triple to right, and came home on Shaffer’s bomb.

Joe Grundy scored on a passed ball in the second to push the Panthers’ lead to 3-0.

               

Cochranton got on the board in the third thanks to a Brayden Burnette RBI single.

Saegertown answered with two more in the third. Luke Young hit a leadoff single and came home when Shaffer tripled to center. Shaffer scored on Sully Zirkle’s RBI ground out to push the lead to 5-1.

A 2-run error in the fourth kept Cochranton in it. With two on and two out, Trent Hoban reached on an error and Ben Field and Andrew Albert came home to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The Panthers came back to score three in the fourth. Jon Grundy brought in a run on a ground out. After consecutive walks to Burchill and Young, Shaffer hit an RBI single to center. Consecutive balks brought in another run and Saegertown had an 8-3 lead.

A Walker Carroll double and Jack Rynd triple brought in Cochranton’s final run.

The Panthers went two-by-two to start the bottom of the fifth. They led off with consecutive singles, then had consecutive batters reach on an error, before back-to-back walks increased the lead to 10-4.

Young was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in another run, and Shaffer followed with a 2-run single. Young scored the game-ending run when William Shaffer reached on an error.

Young and Burchill each scored three times. Joe Grundy scored twice and drove in a run.

Burchill allowed one earned run on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Joe Grundy allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits with a strikeout.

            

Rynd had two hits for Cochranton.

Carroll took the loss allowing eight runs, seven earned, on seven hits with five walks and three strikeouts.

Saegertown will take on No. 2 seed West Middlesex, a 10-3 winner over Youngsville, for the District 10 championship at 11 a.m. Monday at Slippery Rock University.

(2) WEST MIDDLESEX 10, (3) YOUNGSVILLE 3

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Julian Trott set the tone by ripping the first pitch he saw into centerfield for the first of two triples as West Middlesex defeated Youngsville, 10-3, in their District 10 Class 1A semifinal at Allegheny College.

Trott scored the first run of the game when Nate Lucks’ attempted pickoff throw went past Ian Mancuso at third.

Kyle Gilson hit a one-out double in the second and came home on Tyler Blanton’s single to double the Big Reds’ lead. Blaze Knight followed with a walk, then Trott stepped in a ripped another triple to center, this one plated a pair and gave WM a 4-0 lead.

“You know, I see fastballs, I hit fastballs,” Trott said. “You’ve gotta attack when you have the opportunity.”

See Trott’s full interview:

Matt DeSimone cut into the lead in the third. DeSimone hit a single to center. Trott wasn’t able to handle the hop cleanly and DeSimone raced all the way home as the ball went to the wall.

Youngsville tried to keep Trott from doing any more damage by giving him an intentional walk with a runner on third in the fourth, but Nate Lucks was called for a balk before the next pitch and Gavin Rose came home to make it 5-1.

The Big Reds plated four runs in the fifth, thanks in part to three Eagles’ errors in the inning. Youngsville committed seven errors in the game.

West Middlesex scored its 10th run in the sixth thanks to a bang-bang play at first and heads-up baserunning. With the bases loaded, Gilson hit a slow chopper back to Lucks. Lucks tossed to Keegan Mesel to get the force out at the plate. Mesel tried to turn a double play at first, but Gilson beat the throw.

As Wyatt Dalrymple was walking the ball in from first, Gio Rococi took off for home. Dalrymple fired back to Mesel, but Rococi slid under the tag for the run.

See the play:

Youngsville tried to stage a 7th-inning rally. Ian Mancuso led off with a double, Aidan Mancuso was hit by a pitch, and, one out later, Ethan Senz was hit to load the bases. DeSimone hit a sac fly to center, and James Johnson followed with an RBI-single.

Senz tried to score on a passed ball, but Knight was able to throw to Rococi who applied the tag for the final out.

Trott had two hits and drove in a pair, Rococi scored twice, and Rose scored three times.

Richie Preston picked up the win allowing one unearned run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Rococi allowed two earned runs on two hits with two strikeouts in two innings.

Mesel had two hits for the Eagles. DeSimone and Johnson each had an RBI.

Lucks took the loss allowing 10 runs, five earned on nine hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.

West Middlesex will take on top-seeded Saegertown, a 14-4 winner in five innings over Cochranton, for the D10 title at 11 a.m. on Monday at Slippery Rock University.

CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS

(4) SHARPSVILLE 6, (1) GREENVILLE 3

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Braden Scravel hit a 2-run single in the top of the first inning and Sharpsville led the entire way, knocking off top-seed Greenville, 6-3.

Stephen Tarnoci tossed the first two innings, striking out five and allowing one run on two hits before giving way to Jack Leipheimr, who fired five frames, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out three, and walking one.

Noah Philson got Greenville within 2-1 on his RBI triple in the bottom half of the first, but Sharpsville responded with two more runs in the second on Carter Dejulia’s sacrifice fly and Luke Distler’s RBI triple.

That proved to be enough.

Sharpsville extended its lead to 6-1 in the fourth on Tarnoci’s RBI double and Gabe Titus’ RBI single. Distler, Tarnoci and Titus all had two hits each.

Nick Solderich had Greenville’s other RBI, while Jake Csonka and Philson had two hits each.

Philson took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in three innings, striking out two and walking five. Jack Strausser tossed four shutout innings in relief, allowing just one hit, striking out four and walking two.

With the win, Sharpsville advances to play No. 2 Lakeview in the D10 title game on Monday.

(2) LAKEVIEW 6, (3) WILMINGTON 2

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – In a remarkable feat, Lakeview scored six runs without recording a hit in its 6-2 D10 Class 2A semifinal win over Wilmington.

An error, a hit-by-pitch and Maddox Bell’s sacrifice fly accounted for a 3-run first inning for the Sailors.

Bell’s complete game effort helped lift the Sailors into the D10 title game on Monday, as he allowed just four hits, struck out 11, and walked two.

An error brought in two more runs in the fourth inning for Lakeview, and Lucas Fagley had an RBI groundout in the inning as well to make it 6-1.

The Sailors walked four times and reached six time via Greyhound miscues.

Hunter Jones took the loss, allowing six runs (two earned) in six innings, striking out four and walking four.

Rocky Serafino had two hits and Garrett Heller had an RBI for the Greyhounds.

                       

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