Canon-Mac stays unbeaten with win over Trinity
CANONSBURG – Canon-McMillan coach Bredan Steele likes to break up the high school baseball season into three segments.
The nonsection season, section play and the postseason.
So far, the nonsection part has gone pretty well for a team that has aspirations of winning a WPIAL Class 6A title.
Canon-McMillan improved to 4-0 with an 11-6 win against Trinity at McDowell Lane Field.
“We have a motto this year that we want to be 1-0 after every game this year and not look too far ahead,” Steele said. “We have one more (nonsection) game (Thursday) against Montour and then we’ll wipe the slate clean and get ready for conference play starting with Woodland Hills next week.”
The big blow for the Big Macs came off the bat of Brayden Radue in the third inning.
With the bases loaded, Radue blasted a pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam. That gave the Big Macs a 7-3 lead and was part of a six-run frame.
“That was huge,” Steele said. “We’ve been working with him and we know what Braden can do. No time better than when the bases are loaded. He hit a grand slam last year too. He welcomes the moment. It’s never too big for him.”
Prior to the grand slam, M.J. Maruschak walked, Troy Stimpson was hit by a pitch and Nico Patragas walked to load the bases.
Wednesday’s game was sandwiched between two section games for Trinty against Chartiers Valley, so the Hillers gave the ball to some of their younger pitchers. Layne Gerba, a junior, took the loss. He allowed seven runs over two-plus innings. Sophomores Luke Poland and Garrett Stoy pitched in relief.
“They’re going to be arms that we will need throughout this season,” Hillers coach Jon Stack said. “You can’t give up nine walks and two hit batsmen. That’s 11 free bases today and that’s not a winning recipe.”
Trinity got two runs in the top of the first off Canon-Mac starter Sebastian Shulsky.
Derek Falvo drove a ball to right field that sent Troy Stimpson back toward the wall and the ball bounced off Stimpson’s glove and his body before falling on the grass.
Falvo ended up at second and Owen Samogala, who led off the inning with a single, scored.
Jonah Williamson drew a one-out walk prior to Falvo’s at-bat and scored on a wild pitch.
“I thought our approach at the plate was really good,” Stack said. “Seb is one of the best pitchers we’ll face all year and he’s one of the best in the WPIAL. We just wanted to be aggressive. It worked out early, got a little cold in the middle, but we kept the fight and got a few more across at the end.”
Canon-McMillan responded with three runs in the bottom half. The big hit was an RBI double by Maruschak to center field, which came after Massimo Falconi led off with a walk. Maruschak later scored on a wild pitch.
Troy Stimpson drew a walk, stole second base and later scored on an RBI groundout by Nico Patragas to make it 3-2.
Landon Conn was hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI groundout by Ayvari Chandler to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the second.
After the second, Shulsky, a Cincinnati recruit, settled in. He retired seven in a row in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Williamson hit a three-run homer off Shulsky to right field in the seventh, which brought an end to his day. Shulsky allowed six runs, four earned, on four hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.
“Today was all about our hitting,” Shulsky said. “Our pitching and defense has been good this season, but I have to give all the credit to the hitters today. They had my back when I didn’t have my best.”
Reed Wilharm, in his Canon-McMillan debut, came on to get the final two outs of the game.
Samogala had three hits for Trinity, including a double.
Trinity 210 000 3 – 6 5 1
Canon-McMillan 306 110 x – 11 7 1
W-Shulsky (4 walks, 8 strikeouts). L-Gerba (4 walks, 1 strikeout). 2B-Trinity, Samogala. C-M, Patragas, Westfall, Maruschak. HR-Trinity, Williamson. C-M, Radue.