Not all losses are created equal
By John Sacco
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
Some defeats can’t be erased from memory
Sometimes, teams that have no right to win do, in the most unlikely ways, and possibly in controversial fashion. While fans celebrate championships for years, stinging losses are what stick with players and coaches for decades. This is part II of a series that documents some of those unlikely losses for local athletes and coaches.
One look at his record and list of achievements as baseball coach at Peters Township High School one might think Joe Maize’s time there was one long joyride of success.
While there were many more days of fun and endless victories, Maize endured some tough, heartbreaking defeats.
In 35 years as Indians’ coach, before retiring after the 2019 season, he and his program compiled a record of 422-241, a .637 winning percentage.
Maize led the Indians to the WPIAL Class 4A championships in 2007 and 2008, two silver medals in the PIAA in 2004 and 2005, eight section titles, 17 WPIAL playoff appearances and five PIAA playoff appearances.
All that, however, cannot remove two horrible losses from his mind.
The first came in the 2008 PIAA playoffs.
“We were playing Hampton and we’re 19-0,” Maize said. “We were down 5-0 going to the seventh inning with the bottom part of our order due up. We scored four runs and end up loading the bases with no outs and our Nos. 3, 4 and 5 batters coming up. I figured a fly ball ties the game and a base hit wins the game.
“Those (middle of the order guys) struck out in succession. Season over.”
“The second one came against Canon-McMillan. We played them three times and we beat them by a combined score of 33 to 4 or 5. We warned our kids how hard it is to keep beating the same team and we would get their best.
“We didn’t heed that warning,” he continued. “Canon-Mac wins the game and goes on to win the state championship. I took those losses hard.”
The following is a compilation of some athletes and coaches and their unforgettable defeats that they can’t erase from memory:
Terry Kushner, former football coach, Peters Township – It was the third week of the regular season when highly rated Peters Township played at Wash High Stadium. Both teams were undefeated.
With the score 0-0 in the third quarter, Wash High was driving, a running back fumbled near the goal line. A Little Prexie recovered the ball near the goal line.
“As I remember the details, the referee ruled dual possession — Wash High ball,” Kushner recalled. “Our kids went crazy, saying ‘there’s no way that we didn’t recover the fumble.’ The ball was dead and the play was over. Somehow, at the bottom of the pile, the Wash High player stole the ball long after the play was dead. We end up losing 6-2.”
George Messich, football coach, Mapletown – The winningest football coach in Greene County history has had some heartbreakers but none like the following two contests:
“We lost to Bentworth twice in (2005) by one point each game – the first game of the season and then in the playoffs, which was in overtime. They were the two toughest losses of my career — same team and same year, both by one point.
“The first game was at Bentworth. We scored and took the lead with about a minute left in the game. They ran the kickoff back to the one-yard line. We missed two or three tackles. They scored with less than a minute to go to beat us by one, 28-27.
“The playoff game was at Mapletown. We scored first in overtime but we didn’t have a kicker that year and had to attempt a two-point try and didn’t convert. Bentworth made their extra point in overtime to beat us by one point.”
Annie Malkowiak, basketball player Cal U, coach Mt. Pleasant – “My senior year of college, we were playing Edinboro and needed to win to make the national tournament.
“We’re playing at Hamer Hall and we have a two-point lead with less than 10 seconds left. Edinboro comes down and a girl came down off a screen. We didn’t get through it and she hits a bank shot at the buzzer and we lose by one. My playing career was over.
“It has stuck with me forever and I remember I couldn’t get up off floor, devastated because all I had known for my whole life was done. That sick feeling in my stomach sat with me for weeks.”
Luke Mollis, coach, Charleroi baseball and former Cougars football coach – “Surprisingly, mine is probably when I was coaching football at Charleroi. Our staff was in its third year and we had started from the bottom and had begun to turn the program.
“Our first two years we had won five games and had basically worked with these kids from the time they were freshmen. They really bought into our weight program and it felt like the ball was really starting to get rolling.
“That year we started out 5-1 and had beaten Jeannette at their place. I believe it was their first home loss in decades. We ended up dropping a game or two and were 5-3 going into our final-regular season game against Wash High. Both teams, I believe, were tied in the standings and this game would decide a playoff spot.
“Our feature back, Quentin Briggs, was grinding all game. I think he had about 200 yards. Late in the game we were leading with the ball. We had less than two minutes left in the game, and were just across the 50. We had a big decision to make on 4th-and-2. We chose to go for it. We ran a play that was there the entire game with Briggs. As we were calling in the play, we had coaches screaming to ‘take care of the ball.’ So, we run the play, a gaping hole opens, and Briggs has the first down easily.
“As Briggs was getting tackled, he spun out of it and when his back hit the ground, the ball shot up in the air. The refs never called him down by contact, and (Washington) scooped and scored. It was one of the worst calls that I had seen at the most pivotal moment of our coaching tenure.
“All these years later, when the guys I coached with get together, this still comes up often. We had put a lot of work in, and it had all built up to that one moment. We had really turned it around and should have been in the playoffs.”
Dave Cook, former wrestler and coach – “I really have two – one as a coach, the other as a participant.
“I had a match against Trinity when I was the coach at Chartiers-Houston. The match was going back and forth and one of my wrestlers got called for an illegal hold by referee Fred Ambrose. The Trinity wrestler never returned. Our wrestler was disqualified and I completely lost it.
“After I settled down a few matches later, a Trinity wrestler got called for an illegal hold. I decided to hold my wrestler out. After the match was over and I had a chance to reflect, I felt it was the worst possible thing I could have done.
“My job was to coach kids and show them the right thing to do. I made a mistake and for the rest of my coaching career I never made that same mistake.
“Secondly, I lost a referee’s decision in the state finals. It made me a better coach. I used it as motivation when I needed to make my kids go harder.”
John Sacco writes a column about local sports history.