Apr 23, 2025 4 min read

By Joe Smeltzer

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

McDONALD – It was over before it started.

By the end of the first inning Wednesday, Fort Cherry’s baseball team led Chartiers Houston, 17-0.

Al Michaels believes in miracles.

So do I.

Char-Houston almost pulled off a minor miracle in Tuesday’s loss to Fort Cherry, going from down 7-0 to falling just short in an 8-7 loss.

But to come back from 17-0 would have been about as likely as prime Mike Tyson being knocked out by Verne Troyer.

Fort Cherry won via technical knockout with the game not even making it out of the third inning.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that 15 of those 17 first-inning runs came in with two outs.

Maybe the second most amazing thing is that Fort Cherry’s leadoff man, Ryan Huey, batted three times in the inning, and three other players joined him.

When the game started, it was 4 p.m.

By the end of the first inning, it was 4:51 p.m.

Char-Houston scored three runs in the top of the second but it didn’t matter.|

The Rangers won, 19-3, in a Class 2A Section 1 game.

Fort Cherry coach Bob Sawhill has been coaching since 1986.

Char-Houston boss Andy Manion has been coaching since 2005.

Sawhill hasn’t seen a lot of 17-run innings.

“Not too many,” he said. “Not too many at all.”

Manion took it one step further.

“I’ve never in my life seen an inning like the first inning,” he said.

Here’s how it happened:

Landon Trnavsky reached on an error by C-H, then advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt by pitcher Dominic Comer. With Trnavsky on second, one out and first base open, Char-Houston (3-5, 6-5) decided to pitch to FC’s best hitter, Colton Temple. Temple made them pay, doubling home the game’s first run.

One batter later, Ben Demascal drove home Temple to make it 2-0.

Dylan Lucek added to the lead by driving home Demascal with a single, then advancing on the throw. Two more runs came in when a Shane Cornali grounder turned into a throwing error by CH third baseman Cale Bitz. Huey then helped his cause with an RBI single. A seventh run came in on a balk.

A home run by Tyler Wolfe in the bottom of the second made it 18-3.

So by the end of it, Fort Cherry (6-1, 8-4) had sent 23 men to the plate, aided by five Char-Houston errors.

“Unless you have Paul Skenes out there,” Manion said, “that’s not going to play in the high school game.”

While Fort Cherry as a whole was esthetic, Huey was a little conflicted.

Of course, the sophomore starting pitcher was thrilled to see his team spot him 17 runs – Huey drove in three of them – but he was also impatient.

After all, that’s a long time to go without taking the mound again, and eventually, Huey started throwing warmup pitches.

The effects of the layoff showed in the top of the second when Huey allowed three runs.

I was like ‘There’s no way I’m going be able to go out there and do what I did the first inning after waiting a full hour,'” he said. “So, it was tough, and I struggled a little bit.”

But Huey got the win, and Fort Cherry stayed hot.

What’s even more impressive is that Fort Cherry did all of this without one of its best players.

Shortstop Matt Sieg – who is arguably the best football player in Pennsylvania and is committed to play for Penn State – is out with a hamstring injury.

Sawhill hopes to have him back next week.

“He makes a big difference,” Sawhill said. “He’s once-in-a-lifetime for a coach, and if he’s here, we’re a completely different team.”

It can’t get worse for Char-Houston tomorrow. It takes on Avella.

“Clint Hurdle used to say, you have to shower this stuff off,” Manion said. “Despite what just happened, we can still battle and make the playoffs, which is the goal. You always want to make the playoffs. That’s the trick is going to be to shower that off, go back and when we take the field the next time for varsity game, you go out there and give it your best effort.”

It certainly was a tale of two afternoons for Char-Houston and Fort Cherry.

One game went down to the wire.

The other went down right away.

“How the heck can you go from 8-7 to 18-3?” Sawhill asked.

It’s a great question.