Rockets hold off Sewickley Academy to reach semifinals
Holly Tonini
Holly Tonini Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Gage Clark prepares to deliver a pitch against Sewickley Academy during a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at Peterswood Park in Peters Township on May 22. Clark pitched into the seventh inning to earn the win in the Rockets鈥� 7-6 victory. Clark is the 缅北禁地 Class A Player of the Year.
Holly Tonini
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Eli Rafail (2) scores the Rockets鈥� second run in the first inning as Sewickley Academy catcher Derrick Littlefield chases down an errant throw Monday during their WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at Peterswood Park. Rafail had two hits, a run and a sacrifice fly in the Rockets鈥� 7-6 victory.
Holly Tonini
Jefferson-Morgan center fielder Joseph Headlee (24) makes the catch for the second out of the third inning against Sewickley Academy during Monday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at Peterswood Park in Peters Township.
PETERS TWP. 鈥� Gage Clark wasn鈥檛 sure what to expect from his Jefferson-Morgan team when it had to wait 12 days after its regular-season finale to play its WPIAL Class A baseball playoff opener.
鈥淭he past week I was feeling a little concerned because we hadn鈥檛 faced anyone,鈥� the Rockets鈥� left-handed ace said. 鈥淲hat are we going to do? How are we going to execute the plays?鈥�
There was little if any rust on J-M.
The fourth-seeded Rockets batted around in a four-run first inning and added two more in the second in jumping out to an early lead, then hung on for a 7-6 victory over fifth-seeded Sewickley Academy in their quarterfinal game at Peterswood Park on Monday.
Eli Rafail had two hits and a sacrifice fly and Jacob Broadwater had a two-run single to lead J-M鈥檚 offense. Broadwater also got the final three outs to save the game for Clark, who pitched into the seventh inning to earn the win.
The result wiped out all of Clark鈥檚 concerns.
鈥淲e came out here and played really good,鈥� Clark said.
The Rockets were to face a familiar foe in Wednesday鈥檚 semifinals in Greensburg Central Catholic, which upset No.1 Vincentian Academy, 1-0. J-M closed the regular season with wins over the Centurions on consecutive days to clinch sole possession of the Section 2-A title.
Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis was thrilled to see his team reach the final four.
鈥淚t feels awesome,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy for my team and my seniors. The seniors were never in the playoffs before (J-M last played in the postseason in 2013). This is our first playoff win since 鈥�01 when we beat Bishop Canevin here, 9-4.鈥�
The Rockets (12-5) looked like they might have a similar lopsided contest early on against the Black Panthers (11-6).
Clark allowed two-out singles to Joseph Straka, Dimitri Gary and Ian Diehle in coughing up a first-inning run, but J-M jumped on Sewickley starting and losing pitcher Straka in the bottom of the inning.
Clark and Rafail opened the frame with singles and Isaac Dean was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Joe Headlee drew an RBI walk and one out later and Broadwater hit a fielder鈥檚-choice grounder that resulted in a throwing error, allowing Rafail to score. Brennan Kozich was hit by a pitch for force in the third run and Devin Stoneking hit into an RBI force out to make it 4-1.
The Rockets struck for two more runs in the second when Dean singled, Headlee doubled and Broadwater smacked a two-out, two-run single for a 6-1 advantage.
Curtis did a little scouting which may have helped his team touch up Straka.
鈥淚 saw this pitcher up at Seneca Valley when they played Springdale,鈥� said Curtis of the Panthers鈥� 12-2 win in the first round. 鈥淚 compared him to a couple of kids we faced. I felt confident we would score some runs.鈥�
Jefferson-Morgan scored what proved to be the winning run in the third when Stoneking walked, went to second on Justin Maddish鈥檚 sacrifice bunt, took third on a wild pitch and came home on Rafail鈥檚 sacrifice fly.
Clark got into a groove on the mound after the first inning, retiring 13-of-14 batters.
All seemed fine for the Rockets until the sixth when they seemed to momentarily lose focus. Sewickley parlayed four hits, including a lead-off double by Derrick Littlefield, three J-M errors, two stolen bases and a passed ball into three runs to pull within 7-4.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done that in a couple games,鈥� Curtis said when asked if his team lost its concentration with the big lead, but he also commended the Panthers. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a hard-hitting team.鈥�
Clark agreed.
鈥淪ewickley Academy is a pretty good team,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淭heir top four hitters were tough to get around, especially the No. 2 hitter (Littlefield).鈥�
Clark hit the 100-pitch limit while giving up a lead-off single to John DelVecchio in the seventh and was relieved by Broadwater, who allowed a run-scoring single by Littlefield.
Broadwater made a tough play on a bouncer to the left of the mound to throw out Straka for the first out, then got Gary on an RBI grounder to second baseman Zack Gamble and Diehle on a grounder to shortstop Rafail to end it.
鈥淲e came back and held the lead,鈥� said Clark, who is one of five J-M seniors along with Rafail, Dean, Headlee and Kozich. 鈥淥ur seniors, we鈥檙e all leaders.鈥�
Curtis joked about his team鈥檚 troubles in the final two innings.
鈥淭he gas tank was going towards empty as the game progressed,鈥� Curtis said with a smile.
鈥淏ut when it ended, we had one more run than they did.鈥�