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St. Pius X
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 My Site News: Pius falls in gut-wrenching fashion in 15th inning |
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Tuesday, June 13
Pius falls in gut-wrenching fashion in 15th inning
Dennis Weller, Special to The Mercury 06/13/2006
PINE GROVE - The St. Pius X baseball team kept battling as it had all season Monday afternoon and into the night. This time, a spot in the PIAA-AA championship game was on the line. And this time the Winged Lions fought, not just for the usual seven innings -- or even for 10, as they had in their previous outing -- but for 15 gut-wrenching frames.
In the end, after more than 3½ hours, Pius fell one step short of a chance to play for the state title, losing to Montoursville 4-2 in 15 innings in the semifinal contest at Walter Stump Stadium.
Marc Schoch and Ryan Miller hit back-to-back homers to lead off the top of the 15th for the Warriors, the first time either team had scored since Tommy DeAngelis lead off the SPX sixth with a home run. The Winged Lions (15-9) picked up two singles in the bottom of the inning, but Montoursville turned its third double play of the game in between, and finished the day up with the 17th strikeout by its pitching staff.
"We just couldn’t seem to get that run across," said St. Pius coach Jeff Pinder, whose team failed to take the lead after loading the bases with none out in the sixth following the homer by DeAngelis and then went down eight more times when a single run would have ended the game. "Fifteen innings. What more can you say? What these kids laid out on the ball field today ... not only here, but all year ... just shows you what kind of a team they are."
The Lions certainly showed what kind of team they were in the ninth when third baseman Steve Cimino ran full-tilt into the front edge of the roof over the below-ground Pius dugout and snared a popup before falling to the ground in pain.
Then after DeAngelis, who relieved starting pitcher Joe Kieba in the eighth, struck out the next batter, right fielder Kenny Brock ran into the fence while catching a foul fly.
"What a battle," said Pinder. "What else can you say to them? It’s heart-breaking for them. It’s heart-breaking for me to see them lose. We played our guts out today."
"We battled the whole game," said Cimino. "We just kept fighting. It came down to that inning, and we couldn’t get anything going. Hopefully, we can battle like this again next year. We definitely want to get back here again. It’s a good feeling."
Montoursville (24-3) loaded the bases with one out in the second and took the lead on a single by Brian Johnson. But DeAngelis, in center field at the time, gunned down the second runner trying to score on a close play.
The Warriors, who won their 12th in a row, added one in the second when eventual winning pitcher Chad Jacobson singled, moved up on a bunt and came home on a hit by starting pitcher Ryan Miller.
Pius managed to pick up only a single and a walk through the first three innings and struck out six times against Miller (12-1). But Matt Lesinski popped a double down the line in left to start the fourth, ran toward third on a one-out grounder to short, and continued home when a throw from the first baseman to third was wild.
Jacobson relieved Miller to start the sixth and DeAngelis lined his second pitch over the fence in right. Then Matt Martin ripped a double off the fence in right-center and Miller, who had switched places with Jacobson at second base, came back to the mound. He intentionally walked the next two batters with a wild pitch in between, then grabbed a grounder back to the mound and threw home for the first out. Then next batter bounced one to third baseman Ryan Welker, who stepped on the bag and threw to first for a double play.
Martin doubled to lead off the Winged Lion seventh and moved up to third on a bunt by Matt Lesinski. But Warrior first baseman Brian Johnson, playing in along with the rest of the infield, made a diving grab of a shot by Hartsell, and the next batter grounded out. St. Pius’ best chance after that came in the 13th when DeAngelis led off with a single and moved to second on a one-out hit by Lesinski, but a forceout at third and another grounder to Welker ended the threat.
"We had our opportunities," said Pinder. "We just couldn’t do it."
NOTES
DeAngelis and Martin each went 3-for-7, but the rest of the team had only four hits combined. ... Miller pitched the PIAA one-day maximum of nine innings. ... The Warriors will play for the championship Friday at 11 a.m. at Blair County Stadium in Altoona.
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