Trinity finds its offense, beats C-M
Granted, the season was only a couple games old and the baseball team at Trinity High School was in a scoring slump.
The Hillers managed just two runs in the first two games in a 3-1 loss to Thomas Jefferson and 11-1 to Belle Vernon.
The prospects didn’t seem ready to improve against a Canon-McMillan team coming off a 13-run victory against South Fayette.
The dismal scenario never materialized as the Hillers scored five runs in the first inning and rolled to a 5-4 victory over the Big Macs in a non-section game Friday night at Consol Energy Park.
“I always tell the guys that we have to get on top of the team, which means we have to score first,” said Trinity head coach Matt McCartney. “That’s the first time I’ve seen them play with that type of passion. We were focused. We understood this was an important game. Canon-McMillan is a heck of a team. They made it a game at the end.”
One of the ways McCartney built some team unity for the Hillers was to have a long discussion to air out concerns during the Easter break, then took the team to a paintball field. That seemed to do the trick. McCartney saw the eagerness his pitchers had to finish the game.
“I have a lot of faith on whoever steps on the mound,” said McCartney. “They both wanted the ball. I told Nick (Herrnberger) if he put a guy on, I would take him out. Everyone has their backs. If someone makes an error, everyone has their backs.”
The game was not in doubt until the seventh, when the Big Macs pushed across two runs. Relief pitcher Logan DeFillippo replaced Herrnberger after the first runner got on by an error. DeFillippo struck Ian Hess for the second out and got Austin Berger to fly out to right field to end the game.
“We’re a work in progress,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Tim Bruzdewicz. “Like most teams, we putting people here and there, trying to find out who our nine are. It hurt us and it hurt us this preseason. That’s the reason why were 2-2. I will say this: I like the way we’re heading, even after a loss. This showed me that they came together as a team.”
Trinity erupted for five runs in the first inning and all the runs came with two outs.
Mish, Canon-McMillan’s starting pitcher, got the first two outs of the inning but walked Blake Rohrbacher and Tanner Hudak got on via an error. Zack Johnston walked to load the bases and Herrnberger singled to center field to score pinch-runner Jared Watson. Evan McDaniel cleared the bases with a double to left-centerfield. Mish gave up five runs but none was earned. He finished with four strikeouts and two walks.
Canon-McMillan got on the scoreboard in the second inning after walks to Hunter Behling and Brooks Rikeman. Behling came around and scored in a double steal. The Big Macs made it 5-2 in the fifth on a triple by Cam Walker and a groundout by Connor Coleman.