Canon-Mac’s title hopes go on Fritz
On Monday, Canon-McMillan ripped Seneca Valley 16-1 in the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A baseball playoffs. It was a dominant display of offense that might have given the Big Macs momentum heading into Wednesday’s semifinal tilt against North Allegheny at Ross Memorial Park.
But the old adage of momentum is it’s often only as good as the next game’s starting pitcher. Unfortunately for the Big Macs, the Tigers had an answer on the mound.
Jake Fritz took the ball for North Allegheny and stifled the Big Macs for six innings en route to a 4-3 win, putting the Tigers in championship game next week against Butler, a winner over Norwin in the other semifinal contest.
Canon-McMillan’s season comes to an end as 13 seniors will have their high school careers come to an end after a strong season.
Fritz struck out 10 and walked two while allowing three runs on only four hits.
The Big Macs did make it interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning when they scored three runs in a frantic push to tie it late. Troy Stimpson was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a throwing error off a batted ball to third base by Dom Patragas. Sebastian Shulsky, a University of Cincinnati recruit, rapped a single to move the runner over to third. Alex Eslep came off the bench to bring in two runs via a single, but Fritz was able to close the door with a strikeout to end the game.
Canon-McMillan (16-6) was averaging nearly eight runs per game and boasted a team batting average of .381. But Fritz kept their bats as chilly as the weather for most of the evening until the bottom of the seventh.
North Allegheny scored first in the top of the second. With one out, Ryan Evanish got on with an infield single to third base. Evanish then stole second and scored on an RBI single by Christian Simons. Ben Kern made it 2-0 when he smacked an RBI triple to right field, driving in Simons.
Canon-McMillan did threaten in the bottom of the third when Westfall drew a walk and Massimo Falconi was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with two outs. But Fritz got out of the jam when he struck out Martin Maruschak looking to end the threat and leave the Tigers’ lead at 2-0.
Shulsky settled down nicely after a rough second inning as he set the next nine Tigers batters down in order. But he ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth when Nate Fritz led off with a double down the third-base line. Shulsky then hit Dom Williamson with a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. Stimpson was then charged with an error when his pickoff throw to second was off line, allowing each baserunner to advance 90 feet.
Grant Huskey gave North Allegheny a 3-0 lead with a deep sacrifice fly to score Fritz.
Shulsky was able to finish the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, but he would leave the mound after the inning because of pitch count. He finished with 10 strikeouts and one walk. He allowed five hits and three runs.
North Allegheny got what turned out to be an important insurance run in the top of the seventh when Jake Fritz made it 4-0 with a fly ball that was misplayed into a RBI double, scoring Christian Simons who got on via an error.
Fritz cruised through much of the contest, only allowing two hits through six innings. Those two hits were wiped out by double plays as the Tigers made all the defensive plays when they counted the most.