WINGATE — Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this was certainly a desperate time at Doc Etters Memorial Field for the Richland baseball team.
Defending PIAA Class AA champion Bald Eagle Area was leading the Rams by three in the fourth inning of their District 6 Class AA semifinal game and the Eagles had Toby Quick on second base.
So Rams’ coach John Sidor decided to issue intentional two-out walks to leadoff hitter John Schall and Justin Koleno to load the bases, hoping for an out at any base.
“We were trying to coax a groundball,” Sidor said. “We’d be heroes if it worked, goats if it didn’t. We went with the percentages. That’s baseball. They had the meat of their order coming up and if it worked, hats off to us. But we had to try something.”
The gamble blew up in the Rams’ faces as Joe Pillot’s bad-hop single past third base drove in Quick and Schall, and A.J. Robinson singled home Koleno.
A walk to Derek Noll loaded the bases and Tyler Womer unloaded them with a homer to right-center for the final runs in an 11-1, five-inning win for the Eagles.
“We came here prepared to win but we weren’t prepared to end that inning,” Sidor said. “It just snowballed. Hats off to them. They hit the pitches they wanted to hit.”
The Eagles raked starter Bob Carbaugh for 10 of their 11 hits and all of their runs as they advanced to the District 6 title game for the third straight year. Schall, Pillot, Robinson and Miles Etters had two hits apiece in the Bald Eagle assault.
“We’re starting to hit here at the end of the season,” Womer said. “I hope we keep it up. Sometimes it takes us an inning or two to get on a pitcher but once we get a hit or two it doesn’t stop.”
The offensive display was exactly what coach Jim Gardner had been hoping to see from his predominantly underclass team.
“After our last game (an 11-2 win over Laurel Valley), I told them we had to get aggressive,” he said. “We have to hit from one through nine. Whatever I’ve asked these kids to do they’ve done. That was a decent pitcher (Thursday) and we were aggressive. The kids had a lot of fun out there. This is a young ballclub and they’re not near their potential yet, the way they hit the ball. We saw that. Their pitcher was around the plate and that allowed us to get ready to hit.”
Each team had a threat in the first inning but Robinson struck out the side around an error, a walk and an infield hit that loaded the bases. At the same time, Bald Eagle left Schall stranded at third thanks to an inning-ending double play.
Richland stranded another runner at third in the second before breaking through with a run in the third thanks to James Novotny’s RBI single that drove in Russ Gray. But with two on and two out, Robinson got Austin Urban to fly out to center to end the inning.
A single by Tyler Lucas, a sacrifice by Quick and a single by Schall in the bottom of the third tied the score before the fourth-inning eruption – which began with singles by Robinson and Noll, an error on a double-play ball, a single by Etters and a bloop double to center by Quick, which led Sidor to make his ill-fated move.
“We thought we could get to Blair County (Ballpark) but now we’ll have to wait until next year,” Sidor said.
Robinson, who was one of three returning starters from a year ago, allowed only three hits and struck out 10 to get the win.
He struck out five of the last six batters he faced, including all three in the fifth.
“Our hitting bulks up our confidence and right now our confidence level is pretty high,” he said.
High School Sports
Rams’ gamble fails, season ends
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Richland's Lumley settles for pair of silver medals
Paige Lumley was on an emotional roller coaster and seeing silver on Saturday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.
The Richland senior had state record jumps twice during the triple jump competition, but ended up with a silver–medal leap of 40 feet,
1¾ inches.
Defending state champion, second-seeded junior Lanae Newsome of Brookville, won with a jump of 40-3½. -
Ridge’s Dull takes second with school-record time
Matt Dull finished his athletic career with his best on Saturday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.
The Chestnut Ridge senior ran a career-best time of 38.12 to finish second in the 300 hurdles final, also setting another school record. -
Young takes silver in state triple jump
Chestnut Ridge senior Michael Young capped six years of triple jumping with a silver medal Friday on the first day of the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University.
Young had a career-best leap of 45-9¼ just behind Jared Horne of Schuylkill Valley whose winning jump was 46-9. -
Forest Hills’ Smay places fifth in Class AA long jump
Brooke Smay is moving on up.
The Forest Hills junior earned a fifth-place position in the Class AA long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 3 ½ inches Friday on the first day of the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University. -
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Bishop McCort truly won the District 6 Class A baseball championship as a team on Friday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
There were more than a few huge plays. Of course a number of individuals stepped up to secure a 3-1 victory over LHAC rival Bishop Guilfoyle. -
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Hollidaysburg pitcher Dom Viduya and his Golden Tigers teammates beat defending champion Somerset 3-1 in Thursday’s District 6 Class AAA championship game at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
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Pitcher's 'bad day' results in no-hitter
Bridgit Yothers struggled on the mound on Thursday.
But the Chestnut Ridge right-hander was able to persevere through her issues, throwing a no-hitter against Bedford in their District 5 Class AA semifinal and helping the Lions to a 5-0 victory. -
Local athletes look to shine at PIAA track and field meet
Each of the nearly 50 area athletes who will be competing at this weekend’s PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University, will be looking for his or her best performance of the season, but only the top eight finishers in each event for both boys and girls will stand on the podium in front of the crowd at Seth Grove Stadium.
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Westmont, Somerset represented at PIAA Class AA tennis tourney
The PIAA Class AA tennis tournament showcases the top players in the state, which includes three area athletes, when it begins today at the Hershey Racquet Club.
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Corridini’s hit propels Shade
Tasha Corridini had been having a tough time at the plate on Wednesday.
The Shade leftfielder had struck out twice in her prior two at-bats against Shanksville-Stonycreek pitcher Kayla Stockenus.
But in the bottom of the seventh of a scoreless game with Kaily Karl on first, Corridini clubbed a triple out to the fence, scoring Karl and giving the Panthers a walk-off 1-0 win over the Vikings in a District 5 Class A softball quarterfinal. - More High School Sports Headlines
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