Uniontown Legion wins thriller over Monroeville
As Saturday鈥檚 game between Monroeville and Uniontown in the Junior Legion Region 6 Tournament wore on, the odds that the team who batted last would end up the winner increased.
Fortunately for Uniontown, who was the home team after winning the pregame coin toss, that prediction was accurate, as Aiden Milsom scored on Andrew Irwin鈥檚 walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth for a 10-9 victory at Hutchinson Field in Hopwood.
Both teams had played earlier in the day, with Uniontown losing to the Woo Sox, 12-2, in the first game of the tournament, and Monroeville falling to Belle Vernon, 7-3, in Game 2, which made the nightcap a must-win situation for both squads to continue in the tournament.
Monroeville鈥檚 season came to an end at 7-9. Uniontown improved to 7-8.
鈥淲e were trying to instill in these kids to just keep playing hard every inning, and they kept battling back, and four hours later, we came out with a win,鈥� Uniontown coach Pat Lion said. 鈥淭hat Woo Sox team is 11-1 and they are older than us, but that鈥檚 baseball and how it goes sometimes. We live to fight another day.
Monroeville jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Uniontown when Tyler Feeser singled, walked and came around to score on Shane Demchak鈥檚 base hit to center field. The visitors upped their advantage to 2-0 in the second when Joey Pachete scored on a wild pitch.
Uniontown scored twice in the bottom of the second when Milsom crossed home plate on an error and Nate Baker鈥檚 single to right field scored Irwin for a 2-2 game.
Monroeville regained its lead at 3-2 in the fourth when Fesser trotted home after Michael Roberts was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.
Uniontown took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth frame when starting pitcher Andrew Gallick hit an inside-the-park grand slam on a ball to right field that left Monroeville鈥檚 Micah Rawls injured on the play, but he was able to recover and continue to play.
Baker, Ramaree Morgan and Nick Crouch also scored on Gallick鈥檚 home run. Baker and Crouch walked, and Morgan singled to set the stage for Gallick.
Uniontown tied the game at 3 when Mike Smith scored on Morgan鈥檚 base hit. Gallick鈥檚 home run provided the home team with a 7-3 cushion after four innings. Smith had singled and advanced to second on a groundout before scoring.
Monroeville tied the game with four runs in the fifth. Pachete scored on a passed ball and Braden Washington on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-5. Feeser scored on a wild pitch and Ryan Deselich tied the game on Demchak鈥檚 single to right field.
Monroeville took an 8-7 lead in the sixth inning when Sid Yadav scored on Feeser鈥檚 groundout to second.
Uniontown plated two in the bottom of the frame when Gallick and Milsom scored on errors for a 9-8 advantage.
Monroeville forced extra innings when Roberts raced home on Yadav鈥檚 base hit to right field.
Morgan earned the victory on the mound after allowing one earned run on two hits over two innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Roberts and Pachete each had a double.
鈥淲e burned a lot of pitching today, so we will see where we are tomorrow,鈥� Lion said. 鈥淲e will have to sort it all out. We have played Belle Vernon this year, and it has been close, but we will see what happens with the pitching and everything.鈥�
This story will be updated following Sunday鈥檚 games.