NORTH FRANKLIN TWP. — Bryan Cornell didn’t have the most glowing assessment of his West Allegheny team’s performance Wednesday. In the WPIAL 5A consolation playoff game against Hampton, the Indians did not play their best game in really any regard, in Cornell’s mind.
Still, they came out with the desired result. In an up and down game, West Allegheny came out on top 6-5, the winning run coming off a wild pitch in the 5th inning. With the win, West Allegheny advances to the PIAA tournament.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t like much. I didn’t like much about the entire game. The positive thing is we came out with a victory. We did what we needed to do to win the baseball game,” Cornell said.
"It’s a major letdown whenever you’re playing in the consolation game. It’s hard to get these guys motivated. We didn’t play our best baseball, but we found a way to win.”
The game, in some ways, was on brand for this Indians’ squad, as it required West Allegheny to stay strong through some hardships.
The game got off to a strong start for the Indians, as they struck first in the second inning when Evan Ferretti blasted a two-run homer. But Hampton would answer in the third with two RBI singles, one by Trent Aguiar and the other by Burke Camper. The Indians, though reclaimed their lead in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Shea Downing.
“He’s done that all year,” Cornell said of Downing. “He’s been that guy. He’s been probably our most productive guy with guys in scoring position. He always seems to come up with the clutch hit.”
After Indians’ starter Seth Rosen was chased from the game, Hampton would take its first lead in the fifth inning, as West Allegheny reliever Conner Bartley walked two runs in and gave up another on a bloop single by Camper.
West Allegheny, though, stayed resilient. Downing, again, came up clutch, hitting a bloop single to score two runs which chased Hampton starter Trey Bischke.
“The reason he got the bloop single is because he crushed the double into the gap, and the right fielder and center fielder were playing deep, and you’ll have those. That’s baseball,” Cornell said
Similar to West Allegheny, Hampton’s relievers ran into trouble. Mike Schuetz walked two batters to load the bases and was pulled out of the game for Phil Conti, who threw a wild pitch that allowed West Allegheny to score and take the lead, 6-5, through five innings. Ryan Dorste and Austin Hendrick closed the door in the next two innings, and West Allegheny, through the ebbs and flows, got the win.
They will play Monday in the PIAA tournament.
“That’s been the word I’ve used all season, is how resilient these guys are. They just keep plugging away,” Cornell said. “It seems like you’ll score a couple runs in the first couple of innings, and then you kind of coast through a few innings and then find a way to win at the end. And that’s kind of been our season. They’re never too high and never too low, they’re just even keel all the time.”