California wins, sets up 3rd game with Fort Cherry
McMURRAY – As the baseball players at California saw the WPIAL’s playoff brackets for Class 2A when they were released Friday, the Trojans immediately focused on two items: who their first-round opponent was and how many games it would take to get a rematch with section rival Fort Cherry.
California’s first-round opponent was a good one, defending WPIAL champion Freedom. It would be a difficult challenge for the Trojans.
And if the Trojans, who are seeded eighth, could defeat ninth-seeded Freedom, it would give the Trojans that coveted rematch with top-seeded Fort Cherry in the quarterfinals.
Because of some stellar pitching by California junior Weston Monticelli, the Trojans will get that rematch with Fort Cherry next week.
Monticelli threw a masterful four-hitter and took a shutout into the seventh inning as California defeated Freedom 3-1 on Monday at Joe Maize Field in Peterswood Park.
“He was amazing today,” California head coach Jason Rechichar said of Monticelli. “He kept the ball down. They only had one or two hard-hit ground balls against him.”
Montcelli struck out only three but he walked just one and induced nine groundball outs. The pitcher credited his success to location, location, location and a good scouting report.
“I was hitting my spots, especially the outside corner,” Montcelli said. “We had a good scouting report that said their hitters didn’t like outside pitches.”
The Freedom hitters mustered only one scoring threat in the first six innings against all those Monticelli pitches on the edge of home plate. In the fourth inning, with California leading 2-0, Freedom had leadoff singles by Mason O’Donnell and Zach Kurtz. A sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third with one out. Monticelli, however, got out of the jam with a shallow flyout to center fielder Kaden Weston and an inning-ending groundout to third baseman Chase Shemansky.
Meanwhile, California (12-6) wasn’t exactly hitting the ball all over the ballpark against Freedom pitcher Garrett Drutarosky. The Bulldogs’ righthander allowed only one hit, but the Trojans found ways to scratch across three runs.
“Good teams find ways to win when offensively they’re not getting hits,” Rechichar said. “(Drutarosky) is a good pitcher, so when we got a walk or an error we had to take advantage of them.”
Added Monticelli, “He has a good fastball. He had us fouling off a lot of fastballs.”
California got one of those breaks in the first inning. Monticelli, the Trojans’ leadoff hitter, was plunked by the first pitch Drutarosky threw and he advanced to second base on an errant pickoff throw. Consecutive groundouts by Weston and Logan Hartley gave California a 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Trojans got their only hit and it was a bit of a defensive miscue by Freedom. Designated hitter Logan Abercrombie led off with a towering fly ball that was shallow and behind shortstop. Freedom shortstop Colton Blank got turned around and couldn’t locate the ball. Center fielder Nick Fessler charged in but the ball fell in front of him for a single.
Drutarosky then issued three walks in the inning, forcing Abercrombie home with the game’s second run.
The Trojans scored a key insurance run in the sixth. Elijah Carpenter was on first base following a fielder’s choice. He stole second base and moved to third when the throw went into center field. A passed ball allowed him to score and make it 3-0.
Freedom (8-11) avoided the shutout by scoring in the top of the seventh. Drutarosky led off with a line-drive double to left field and scored following two flyouts, the second off the bat of Jonny Davis.
The win sets up the rematch with Fort Cherry. The Rangers swept California in the final week of the regular season to win the Section 1 title, but in the second game California led before giving up a two-run homer in the seventh inning and losing in extra innings.
“We wanted this game (against Fort Cherry) badly,” Monticelli said.
Rechichar knows what California needs to do to beat Fort Cherry.
“We have to play flawless,” he said firmly. “We had a close one the last time we played them, so they know we can beat them. … We just can’t make errors, can’t make mistakes because they’re a really good baseball team.”