Breaking through
Falcons fight off Penn-Trafford, advance to quarterfinals
IRWIN 鈥� Connellsville鈥檚 baseball team has been a frequent playoff participant in recent years under coach Rob Orndorff but getting past the first round was an obstacle the Falcons hadn鈥檛 been able to hurdle.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like the old cliche about the Houston Oilers, they would always beat on the door to try to get past Pittsburgh in the playoffs,鈥� Orndorff said.
Connellsville kicked that door down Thursday by shutting the door on Penn-Trafford in a nail-biting seventh inning in earning a 2-1 victory in their WPIAL Class 5A first-round game.
Winning pitcher Ethan Porreca pitched five scoreless innings in relief of Mason Miller who allowed one run in two innings on Wednesday before the game was suspended due to weather conditions and resumed Thursday at Norwin High School鈥檚 Alumni Field.
The victory propelled the Falcons into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. Conellsville defeated McKeesport in a preliminary round game, 6-0, in 2022 to advance to the first round.
Next up for the Falcons will be No. 3 Shaler (14-6), 7 p.m. Monday at Plum High School.
鈥淕iven the rich history of the program, it鈥檚 good to see us to be able to kind of get back to that progressively over the years,鈥� Orndorff said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 taken some steps to get there. It鈥檚 the hard work of the kids and the commitment the kids have to the program.鈥�
The 11th-seeded Falcons had to earn it against the No. 6 Warriors (14-7), especially in the bottom of the seventh inning while clinging to a one-run lead.
Two walks sandwiched around a single by Nico Casciato loaded the bases with one out against Porreca, prompting Orndorff to make a mound visit, presumably to settle down his senior lefthander.
That wasn鈥檛 the case, though, according to Orndorff.
鈥淭hat was nothing to Porreca, that was all here鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing defensively,鈥� Orndorff said. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 how we鈥檙e playing, here鈥檚 how we鈥檙e positioning, you get the groundball coming back to you, you鈥檙e going home with it. We didn鈥檛 talk pitching at all.鈥�
Porreca got the second out when No. 4 hitter Ethan Septak hit a bouncer to first baseman Keegan Lott who fielded the ball cleanly and threw home to catcher Matthew Firestone for a force out.
鈥淭hat was the most clutch play in that inning right there,鈥� Porreca said. 鈥淲ithout getting that runner out going to home, we wouldn鈥檛 be where we are right now.鈥�
That left it up to Porreca and lefthanded hitter Aiden Drotos. Porreca got ahead in the count then got Drotos to strike out swinging to end the game and the Falcons celebrated.
鈥淭here was only one thought and that was to strike the batter out,鈥� Porreca said. 鈥淚 knew if he was going to get it down it was going to be a hard-hit ball in play because this is a very good-hitting team. I got two strikes on him and I knew they weren鈥檛 touching the sweeper all day. I just threw it outside, off the plate.鈥�
Porreca and Firestone then rushed to each other and hugged with the rest of the team soon joining in.
鈥淚t felt amazing,鈥� Porreca said of the final strikeout. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the best feeling I鈥檝e had in my sports career, for sure.鈥�
It was the sixth win in a row for Connellsville (14-5) which entered the game with the confidence of knowing it already owned one win over the Warriors this season, 3-2 at Penn-Trafford on March 29.
The Falcons were limited to five hits, including a double by Chase Sankovich, but one of those was a key single by Noah Zawislan in the first inning against losing pitcher Zach Feldman on Wednesday when Connellsville scored the only two runs it would need.
Sankovich and Firestone drew two-out walks to start the rally and Porreca was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Zawislan followed with a single to center that brought Sankovich and Firestone home.
Besides Zawislan鈥檚 clutch hit and Sankovich鈥檚 double, the only other hits for Connellsville were singles by Grayden Gillott, Firestone and Lott.
Miller pitched a scoreless first but gave up an unearned run in the second when Jon Lovre reached on a one-out error, went to third on a single by Hunter Brown and scored on a single by Jason Malamisuro.
Miller allowed two hits and one walk in two innings. When the game resumed Thursday, Porreca took the mound and went the rest of the way, surrendering two hits but six walks with six strikeouts in preserving the lead.
鈥淲e鈥檝e talked with the kids before about offense winning games but pitching and defense winning championships,鈥� Orndorff said, 鈥渁nd a combination of Mason Miller and Porreca in the course of 24 hours was the performance that provided us the edge we needed to win the game, backed up by some strong defense.
鈥淭wo completely different types of pitchers, pitching personalities, the way they pitch, but they both end up getting the job done. Porreca increases our heartbeat, sometimes our blood pressure a little more. If you look at some of the contact stuff, there鈥檚 not a whole lot there, it just takes him a little longer to get there.鈥�
Both pitchers got a big boost from center fielder Linkon Keller who made spectacular diving catches to rob the Warriors of extra-base hits in the first and third innings.
鈥淭hose were huge for us,鈥� Orndorff said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 three of those this year. He did the very same thing when we played up in Indiana. He is a very intense guy, a very aggressive guy, a hard-nosed player and that鈥檚 why he covers that area.鈥�
Orndorff commended his seniors for the Falcons鈥� success this season.
鈥淲e have a great group of seniors and Gillott and Firestone have been key leaders,鈥� Orndorff said. 鈥淪everal years ago I quit doing captains because it becomes a popularity contest. These two gradually through the course of the season have taken over the team.鈥�
Lovre did his best to give Penn-Trafford a chance to win, pitching five scoreless innings with two walks and six strikeouts on Thursday in relief of Feldman, who allowed the two runs on one hit, two walks and two hit batters with four strikeouts in two innings on Wednesday.
Until the seventh inning, the Warriors didn鈥檛 advance a runner to third base against Porreca, coming closest in the fifth inning when Firestone threw out Jordon White trying to steal third with third baseman Zawislan making the tag.