Trojans stay in first with walk-off win
California and Bentworth battled back and forth throughout their Section 4-3A baseball game on Wednesday and it was the Trojans who ended on the upswing in the end.
Eli Carpenter’s sacrifice fly brought in Weston Monticelli with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give host California a 9-8 walk-off win and keep the Trojans tied atop the standings with Fort Cherry.
Zeek Malanosky had tied the game for the Bearcats with a solo home run in the top of the seventh.
Monticelli and Kaden Weston both walked leading off the bottom of the seventh and Monticelli took third when winning pitcher Logan Hartley flew out to center field to set the stage for Carpenter, whose fly ball to right ended it.
Chase Shemansky had two hits and three RBIs and Parker Gillen added a two-run single in the first inning as the Trojans improved to 6-0 in the section and 8-2 overall under first-year coach Jason Rechichar.
Monticelli had a single and an RBI and Hartley also drove in a run.
The Trojans led 2-0 when the Bearcats (3-5, 3-6) surged in front 4-2 with a run in the third inning and three in the fourth.
California rang up five runs in the bottom of the fourth, which included a two-run single by Shemansky, to take a 7-4 lead, but Bentworth came right back with three in the top of the fifth to tie it again.
Hartley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning to put the Trojans ahead again, 8-7.
Hartley gave up two earned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in four innings of relief.
Trojans starter Ian Grodz surrendered two earned runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout in three innings.
Sam Wade singled twice and knocked in two runs and Ty Watson had two hits and an RBI for the Bearcats, who also got a double and two RBIs from Jacob Cavanaugh.
Andrew Strejcek suffered the loss for Bentworth in relief of starter Clint Havanis.
BROWNSVILLE 12, MCGUFFEY 11 – Elijah Patterson’s two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the host Falcons a Section 4-3A win over the Highlanders (2-4, 3-8).
Dominic Capan had a double, two singles and an RBI and Jonah Dillinger also had three hits and an RBI for Brownsville (3-5, 3-6), which also got a triple, single and two RBIs from Jeremiah McDonald.
CONNELLSVILLE 16, MCKEESPORT 6 – Jackson Lee drove in five runs with three hits as the Falcons exploded for 14 runs over the final three innings to storm past the Tigers (0-6, 1-10) in a Section 4-5A game.
Connellsville (2-4, 5-7) trailed 6-2 after four innings before racking up five runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and six more in the seventh.
Linkon Keller smacked a pair of triples in knocking in two runs for the Falcons, who also got a double and three RBIs from Chris Johnson.
SETON LASALLE 12, WAYNESBURG CENTRAL 5 – Josh Burkholder had a triple and three RBIs and Mike Cejrowski hit a home run as the Rebels (7-1, 8-2) knocked off the Raiders in a Section 4-3A game.
Lucas Slifko doubled and drove in three runs for Waynesburg (3-3, 3-8).
YOUGH 8, MOUNT PLEASANT 5 – The Vikings rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings but the Cougars (4-2, 7-3) pushed across three in the top of the eighth and hung on from there for a Section 3-3A victory.
Sonny Marne had three hits and Carter Unger and Jordan Grieff both had a single and two RBIs for Mount Pleasant (5-3, 7-5).