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Canon-McMillan baseball

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WEXFORD – It started with a dropped third strike.

Canon-McMillan starting pitcher Austyn Winkleblech had been fantastic all game.

Through six innings, he’d allowed one run on four hits and struck out eight.

The game was tied at 1-1, and if Winkleblech could get through the seventh unscathed – a feat he accomplished with relative ease in five of the first six innings – the Big Macs would have a chance to walk it off in the bottom half.

Winkleblech got off to an optimal start and fanned Max Schnur.

Or so it looked like.

The ball got past Canon-Mac catcher Ben Peterson, and Schnur reached on the dropped third strike.

That started everything for Butler.

The next two guys reached, and James Desmond brought two home with a single that gave Butler a 3-1 lead it wouldn’t lose.

Now, Butler’s (13-8) moving to the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals, and Canon-Mac’s (15-6) season is over.

“Our guys fought,” Canon-Mac coach Brandon Steele said. “I mean, we couldn’t ask for anything more.

“A few things didn’t go our way. Credit to Butler. (Starting pitcher Madden) Clement was on, He pitched one heck of a game. He is what everybody thought he was. There’s a reason why he’s going to Virginia Tech.”

Clement got the win for Butler. The senior and Virginia Tech commit struggled at times, walking six, but struck out eight and only allowed one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Madden’s father, of course, is former major league pitcher Matt Clement.

The elder Clement is Butler’s head basketball coach and baseball pitching coach.

He was a happy man Monday night.

“I’m really proud of him,” Matt Clement said.

Madden Clement’s story is even more impressive considering, in January, he had surgery from an injury suffered during basketball season.

“You talk about what he did,” Matt Clement said, “and he had surgery January 20. So it’s a little bit more of a proud moment for us as a staff, for me as a dad and for him just showing that mental adversity.”

Desmond saved the game for Clement and preserved a win he helped create with his go-ahead single.

The two seniors have been playing together for quite some time.

“That’s just the way he is, man,” Desmond said. “Ever since I’ve seen him. I’ve been playing with him since I was seven years old. He;s always been that way. He’s always battled for us.”

The teams each scored their first runs on sacrifice flies, with Canon-Mac scoring first in the bottom of the third and Butler the top of the sixth.

The magic happened in the seventh.

With Butler ahead 3-1, Canon-Mac loaded the bases.

Clement was out of the game, and Desmond was on the mound.

Shortstop Lance Slater forced out a runner at third base for the second out on a grounder that scored a run.

The next ball was hit to Slater, and Canon-Mac’s Sam Meredith took a wide turn and ended up being tagged out by Butler’s Schnur to end it.

Despite the tough loss, Canon-Mac coach Steele will remember this season fondly.

“I hope everybody out there in the WPIAL and the Cannon-McMillan community sees this as a successful season… I feel like we put Cannon-Mac baseball on the map, and I hope that the underclassmen are hungry to see where we were here and go into next year and work that much harder so there’s a different outcome.”

Butler will play Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals Tuesday night.

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