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Burgettstown headed to state playoffs against familiar foe

By Chris Dugan 4 min read
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Burgettstown’s baseball team turned in a complete performance Tuesday in the WPIAL’s Class 2A third-place game. As a result, the Blue Devils are headed to the PIAA playoffs for the third consecutive year and will play a familiar opponent.

Left-handed starting pitcher Brodie Kuzior fired a complete game five-hitter and the Blue Devils’ offense had production from almost every spot in the batting order. It all added up to an 8-2 win for fourth-seeded Burgettstown over second-seeded Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Ross Memorial Park.

The win sends the Blue Devils (13-4-1) to the state tournament, where they will play Redbank Valley, the District 9 champion, in the first round Monday at a site and time to be determined. Redbank Valley defeated Moniteau 2-1 in nine innings in the district final.

It will be a rematch of last year’s first round when Burgettstown defeated Redbank Valley, 6-1. The Blue Devils also eliminated Redbank Valley in the 2022 quarterfinals, 6-4.

OLSH’s season ends with an 18-5 record.

Kuzior was in control from the start, striking out 11 and allowing only one earned run. By the seventh inning, the only mystery remaining was would Kuzior be able to finish what he started. He began the seventh with 96 pitches, and with two outs Burgettstown coach Doug Tunno took a walk toward the mound and momentarily took the baseball from Kuzior.

Tunno said he just wanted to make sure of the official pitch count, and when told Kuzior had two more pitches remaining before reaching the pitch limit, he gave the ball back to Kuzior, who ended the game by inducing a groundout.

“It was important that I get the complete game,” Kuzior said. “I knew we had Eric Kovach behind me to pitch, but I wanted to go the distance.”

Tunno hinted that this was the kind of game that his pitcher might not have been able to finish a year ago, which shows his development.

“Last year, he always had an inning where, maybe he’d lose his concentration and lose the strike zone,” Tunno said. “You don’t see that now.”

“I’m throwing harder this year,” Kuzior said, “and my command is much better. My strike rate last year was 60 or 61 percent. This year, it’s 67 or 68. I had three walks today, but they were in different innings and only one scored.”

Burgettstown scored in the top of the first inning. Matthew Bredel led off with a line-drive single through the left side of the infield against OLSH starter Iseia Field-Schulz. Two batters later, Kuzior walked and Wyatt Stevenson blooped a two-out RBI single into center field.

In Burgettstown’s three-run third, Bredel drew a one-out walk, one of his three free passes.

“As a leadoff hitter, working the pitcher, he’s the best I’ve ever had,” Tunno said of Bredel.

Kovach followed with a walk and Kuzior stroked a two-run double that went to the fence in left field. A balk sent Kuzior to third base. Sam Elich followed with a grounder to shortstop and OLSH tried to catch Kuzior venturing too far off third base but the Burgettstown senior scrambled back safely, putting runners on the corners.

Riley Kennedy drove in both runners with a double and Burgettstown had a 5-0 lead.

OLSH closed to within 5-2 in the fourth. One run scored on an RBI single by Vann Kavals and the second crossed on a wild pitch.

Burgettstown went up 6-2 in the fifth when Stevenson scored as Carson Tkalcevic grounded out. The Blue Devils tacked on two more runs in the sixth, one on an RBI double by Kuzior, who also had a three-RBI day.

“Hitting, for sure,” Kuzior said when asked what will be the key to the Blue Devils winning in the PIAA playoffs. “We had nine hits today. We had everybody getting on base and got their best pitcher out of the game in four innings.”

“We have good enough pitching,” Tunno added. “The key for us is going to be swinging the bats.”

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