Monessen loses extra-inning heartbreaker to Union
McKEES ROCKS – Standing several feet behind third base, Union baseball coach Bill Sanders signaled commands to his pinch runner at first base, Caleb Lombardo, to steal while Monessen’s pitcher simultaneously took signs from his catcher.
Taking the place of Nick Jacobs, who drew a four-pitch walk, Lombardo took second base uncontested without a look, throw or thought from Monessen to represent the game-winning run.
Following a sacrifice fly to centerfield from Union’s Braydon Porter to score the tying run from third base, Lombardo couldn’t rely on his third-base coach when he was stuck between second and third.
After getting the better of a quick rundown – ending up on third – Lombardo finished the final part of his journey around the base paths as Monessen bobbled a swinging bunt to fall to Union, 3-2, in the 10th-inning of a WPIAL Class A first-round game at Burkett Park Wednesday evening.
Union (9-6) advances to the quarterfinals to face Rochester, who earned a first-round bye.
“That was crazy,” Sanders said. “A lot of times you want to keep that game-winning run not only off the bases but out of scoring position. We did it the first time earlier in the game. I decided to call it again to see how (Monessen) reacted. They didn’t.”
Not reacting to the sacrificial lamb in Lombardo, who could have easily been taken off the base paths if paid more attention to, was the intention of Monessen (7-10) who strictly focused on the tying run standing next to the signaling Sanders at third.
“We were worried about trying to get the tying runner rather than doing a play in that situation,” Monessen coach William Matush said after he watched the Greyhounds break a 1-1 tie in the top of the 10th inning on a RBI single by Nick Baker to score Leo Iacovangelo.
“We just didn’t make a couple of plays here and there. That made the difference.”
The final play, which was the most costly for Monessen, was the bobble and high throw that lifted first baseman Antonio Rhome off the bag with two outs to end the game.
“I wasn’t sure if the runner even touched first base,” Matush said as he questioned first-base umpire Len Leiper while many of his Greyhounds were laying on the field in tears. “I’m still not sure.”
The low-scoring affair extended into extra innings after a pitching duel between Monessen’s Cory Fleming and Union’s Matt Costello, who recently returned after two months from a wrist injury.
Fleming struck out six and allowed only three hits in his 7 1/3 innings before being pulled after exceeding the maximum pitch limit.
“He’s my ace,” Matush said proudly. “He did an unbelievable job today.”
Costello lasted seven innings for the Scotties, striking out eight and limited Monessen to three hits.
The most clutch pitching performance might have come from Baker, who kept Union from scoring in the eighth inning after loading the bases with only one out.
Monessen was led by Rhome as he reach based safely in four of five at-bats, which included a double and three intentional walks.
“We’ve grown so much over this past year,” Matush said. “A little more clutch hitting it would have been a different result. This is hard but I can’t say anything negative about what happened, other than the outcome.”
Despite giving up the go-ahead Monessen run in the tenth inning, Sean Louis earned the win for the young Scotties who had five freshmen in their starting lineup.
“We knew coming in that Monessen had a really great pitcher and he held us in check for quite a while,” Sanders said. “It was 1-1 for most of the game and we continued telling our guys to battle. Our freshmen are here to battle. We learn every day. We get better every day. We got a couple of runners on later in the game, Evan Pinkerton just did what I wanted him to do by putting the ball in play because we rely on our speed and can make anything difficult. He was able to beat it out.”
Ellwood City 6, Charleroi 2:
Ellwood City starting pitcher Tyler Good was simply as good as advertised.
The Youngstown State University recruit struck out four and assisted on seven other outs throughout his 6 2/3 innings as Ellwood City defeated Charleroi, 6-2, in a first-round WPIAL Class 3A game Wednesday night.
“I thought we ran ourselves out of a couple of innings,” Charleroi Luke Mollis said. “I thought we had some dumb baserunning. The couple times we did hit the ball hard, we didn’t get a break.”
After giving up a hit to Charleroi’s leadoff hitter Errict Tedrow in the top of the first inning, Good didn’t allow another hit until the top of the seventh.
“I got so much confidence in my defense,” Good said with happy tears in his eyes as Ellwood City moves on face Steel Valley in the quarterfinals. “It feels great. To be able to start out on a good note. We’re not stopping. I can tell you that right now.”
Josiah Fisher suffered the loss for Cherleroi (11-7) despite striking out nine.