Burgettstown’s run ends in quarterfinals

NEW WILMINGTON – Burgettstown’s stellar baseball season came unraveled in one messy inning Thursday in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals.
Sharpsville scored five times on five hits, an error, a ball that bounced over an outfielder for a double, a wild pitch and two passed balls in the fifth inning and went on to a 10-3 victory at Westminster College.
Sharpsville (17-7) scored the game’s final 10 runs as Burgettstown (16-5) had forged a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Sharpsville answered with a run in the bottom of the third and trailed 3-1 heading into the pivotal fifth.
Sharpsville, which like Burgettstown has the nickname Blue Devils, tacked on four runs in the sixth.
Burgettstown took its lead by scoring three times with two outs in the third. A single by Eric Kovach scored Carson Tkalcevic, who had singled. Andrew Bredel followed with a two-run triple, scoring Kovach and Maddox Gratchen, who had walked.
Burgettstown was held to three hits, each coming in the third inning.
In the fifth, Sharpsville closed to within 3-2 on a single, then a bunt single that was misplayed, allowing the lead runner to advance to third, and a sacrifice fly.
Sharpsville’s Luke Distler followed with a double that bounced over the head of an Burgettstown outfielder, tying the score at 3-3. An error on a ground ball allowed the go-ahead run to score. The passed balls then allowed two runs to score.
Jack Leipheimer was the winning pitcher with three scoreless innings of relief. He struck out four.
Brodie Kuzior was the losing pitcher, allowing eight hits and six runs (only three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.