close

Walkoff walk sends Ringgold to first WPIAL semifinal since 1999

5 min read
article image -

A walk isn’t as good as a hit.

Smacking a base hit, especially one with authority, is more likely to lead to runs, and it’s simply more fun than drawing a walk.

But in a tie game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, a walk is good as a hit.

Ringgold’s Bobby Boyer knew this Monday, as the junior held the bat on his shoulder for four straight pitches and a bases-loaded walk to give the No. 4-seeded Rams a 5-4 win over No. 5-seeded New Castle in the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals. The walkoff win sends Ringgold to its first WPIAL semifinal since 1999. The Rams will play No. 8-seeded Greensburg Salem today at Burkett Park at 7 p.m.

“I really wasn’t thinking about walking the run in,” Boyer said. “I was just waiting for my pitch to try to put the ball in play. I went up 2-0, and that’s when I switched from waiting for my pitch to just letting it go.”

New Castle (12-10) intentionally walked Jacob Mayer to load the bases with one out to get to Boyer, who hit a solo homer in the fourth inning.

“He’s had a great year. He’s a helluva ballplayer,” said Ringgold head coach Don Roberts. “This is his first year starting, and despite that, he’s been one of our best players. He had a great approach all game. He just did great that last at bat. He didn’t chase, and made the pitcher beat him.”

New Castle drew first blood at Ross Memorial Park as Nick DeRosa doubled to score Brayden Cartwright, who reached on a passed ball following a strikeout, and Nick Rubis, who walked.

Ringgold (15-3) struck back with three runs in the third as Koby Bubash, Luke Winterbottom and Anthony Vavasori each hit RBI singles. The Canes made two errors in the inning, leading to all three runs being unearned for DeRosa, New Castle’s starting pitcher.

Ringgold starting pitcher Ryan Varley shut down the Canes until he hit his pitch limit in the seventh inning. Varley allowed two runs (one earned) in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits, struck out 12 and walked five.

“He was locating the fastball and the slider,” Roberts said. “We told him to just attack the hitters, and we wanted to keep him deep in the game, and that’s what he did. He went right at them. He was beating up the strike zone all day.”

After Varley left, New Castle rallied to tie the score in the top of the seventh, as the Canes benefitted from two Ringgold errors. Boyer said the team’s ability to fight back in the bottom of the seventh after blowing the lead in the top of the frame is a testament to the team’s toughness.

“Honestly, that just shows our team’s character,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs during the season. Every single time we’ve been able to come back and put our heads to the grindstone. We don’t really let anything bother us.”

Shenango, 15-7

Carmichaels wasn’t able to prevent Shenango from rallying in the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 15-7 Class AA quarterfinal win over the Mikes in the nigthtcap of a tripleheader.

After Mikes starter Matthew Barrish retired the first two batters of the sixth inning, the junior lefty couldn’t find the last out of the inning. The next seven Wildcats reached base on five hits, a walk and a hit by pitch to score five runs as Shenango took a 9-2 lead.

“We didn’t pitch well enough tonight,” said Carmichaels head coach Richard Krause. “Matt gave us a very solid start. (Through) five innings, we were really happy with what he did. … The sixth was the killer because we had two outs and nobody on and then we walk a guy and it leads to a monster inning for them.”

The big inning in the sixth mattered because No. 4-seeded Carmichaels (11-6) matched the Wildcats with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

No. 5-seeded Shenango (14-7) then put the game out of reach in the seventh, scoring six runs on three hits and three free bases. The Mikes walked four and hit four in the loss.

“We’ve had some issues with our bullpen in the last two weeks of the season,” Krause said. “But we fought back, so then it’s 9-7. If we can clamp them down there, we have a chance.”

Jacob Merkel led the Wildcats offense, knocking in four runs on a single and a double. Shane Cato and Ryan Perretti, who was the winning pitcher, each smacked three hits.

Gavin Pratt, the Mikes’ leadoff hitter, led Carmichaels with a 3-for-4, two-RBI game.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today