SLIPPERY ROCK – Lakeview found out just how difficult it is to beat a good team three times in a single season.
After losing to the Sailors 9-2 and 9-7 in Region 1 play this spring, Sharpsville won the game that truly mattered, upsetting Lakeview 4-1 Monday afternoon in the District 10 Class 2A Finals at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
“It was tough seeing those games (end up as losses), because we felt like we should’ve won those games but when it counted, we won the games that mattered the most,” said Sharpsville coach Ryan Morris. “We had a little bit of a revenge tour this year. We lost to Greenville twice and came back and gave them revenge. Now, it was Lakeview’s turn. That was exactly what we wanted and exactly what we got!”
The District 10 championship is the third in five contested seasons and ninth overall for the Blue Devils (15-7).
“This is big-time for our kids and our program,” Morris said. “This is how we carry ourselves and hopefully, we can continue this tradition in the future.”
With the win, the Blue Devils – the fourth-seeded team entering the D10 tournament – advance to next week’s PIAA tournament and will face the WPIAL runner-up – either Serra Catholic or Seton LaSalle – on June 5 at a site and time to be determined. The WPIAL will contest its championship game at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park in Washington, Pa.
“Our job’s not over yet,” Morris said. “Hopefully, we can continue this and make a little run this year. We’re going to get some rest and hopefully get our heads back in line.”
Monday at ‘The Jack,’ Sharpsville struck first in the top of the second with Braden Scarvel sending a 1-out liner into the right-field corner and rumbling in for a triple before scoring on a Jake Tonty sacrifice fly.
The Blue Devils made it 2-0 an inning later when Jack Leipheimer singled and scored on a Lakeview throwing error.
The Sailors cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth with Chase Hostetler and Grady Harbaugh posting back-to-back singles before Maddox Bell’s sacrifice fly plated Hostetler, but Sharpsville was able to post a pair of insurance runs on Stephen Tarnoci’s two-run single off Bell in their next at bats.
“(Tarnoci) is one of our leaders,” Morris said. “We asked for big things from him today and he answered.”
The Sailors had their chances against the Blue Devils, leaving runners in scoring position in the second through fifth innings before being retired in order by Leipheimer in the sixth and seventh innings. For the game, Lakeview stranded seven runners with five left standing on either second or third base.
“I thought our youth showed a little bit today,” Lakeview coach Bill Beith said. “We had a couple of situations where if we could’ve come up with a big hit we could’ve turned the tide and possibly take the lead. Giving up four runs, you’d hope you’d have a chance to win the game, but we just couldn’t get the big hit at the right time.”
With the loss, Lakeview (17-5) is forced to say good-bye to its lone senior – Hostetler.
“It’s hard to say good-bye (to Hostetler),” Lakeview coach Bill Beith said. “He was our DH this year and that’s what he did. He did a commendable job. He was a freshman during the COVID year and we lost a lot of people as a result of that, but he stuck with it, so I give him a lot of credit for that. His bat will definitely be missed next year.”
NOTES: The 17 wins are tied for the most in program history, Beith reported. … The Sailors dropped to 0-3 in their district final appearances. … Lakeview beat Sharpsville 9-7 and 9-2 in the regular season. … Luke Distler and Tarnoci singled and doubled and Scarvel tripled and singled for the Blue Devils. … Tarnoci, Kaden Wygant and Leipheimer combined forces to scatter seven hits, strikeout six and issue just two walks. … Evan Reiser and Bell yielded nine hits, struckout three and walked two for Lakeview. … Hostetler and Owen Dye each singled twice for the Sailors. … Lakeview had a pair of errors, while Sharpsville played a clean defensive game in the field
