May 17, 2016 4 min read

WEST MIFFLIN – As Fox Chapel pitcher Jacob Pilarski walked slowly off the mound and toward the dugout each time he ended an inning, Eric Riotto was jogging quickly to grab the baseball.

The Peters Township junior pitcher was excited, anxious even, to match Pilarski’s stellar performance. His delivery sped up, leading to two balks called against him; but Riotto was calm, cool and collected when it mattered most.

Riotto struck out Fox Chapel catcher Zachary Burkhart to clinch ninth-seeded Peters Township’s 1-0 win over the eighth-seeded Foxes Tuesday afternoon in a WPIAL Class AAAA first-round playoff game at West Mifflin High School.

The Indians (13-7) advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face top-seeded Plum at a site and date to be determined.

On a day in which Peters Township’s offense scuffled against Pilarski, who allowed only four hits and struck out seven, Riotto ensured the Indians’ stay in the postseason wouldn’t be cut short.

He allowed six hits, struck out two and got plenty of help from his defense. The Foxes (14-6) stranded nine runners on base, including one on third base in the bottom of the seventh when Riotto struck out Burkhart with a 3-2 count.

“I just knew I had to dig deep and like (senior shortstop Alex Mundy) said, ‘be a bulldog,'” Riotto said. “I knew I had to dig deep and not let them cross that plate. I knew I had to keep going. I like to work quick, too, so I just wanted to get out there and go, keep going.”

His excitable nature might have been a factor in his biggest mistake of the day – not laying down a bunt. Senior first baseman Matt Waigand – following the advice of assistant coach Jim Rider – waited for an outside fastball and laced it to left field to lead off the top of the seventh inning.

Riotto failed to move him over on two bunt attempts, but with head coach Joe Maize’s hands on his head in disbelief, Riotto singled to center field.

Pilarski got a fly out to left field and was ahead 0-2 against junior third baseman Blake Smith, but an outside pitch one foot off the plate went past Burkhart and caromed off the backstop, allowing pinch-runner Boomer Kemp to score the go-ahead run from third.

“Their kid threw a heck of a game and we knew he was going to,” Maize said of Pilarski. “We knew what type of pitcher he is. We knew we had our hands full there. We were trying to play small ball when we got a guy on base and we were very, very fortunate we got the run on the wild pitch, especially with the catcher they have.”

Riotto got a ground out to start the bottom of the seventh, but Fox Chapel first baseman Patrick Monteverde then doubled down the left-field line. Riotto induced a popup to second base, but a balk moved Monteverde to third.

“I knew I had to slow down, but I wanted to keep going, keep going and keep going,” Riotto said. “I was telling myself before I even got on the mound what I was going to do – my counts, my hold over. I was counting in my head and everything. I was impatient, I guess.”

It didn’t matter.

Riotto calmly delivered a breaking ball that made Burkart swing and miss, sending his teammates and the crowd into a frenzy.

Fox Chapel head coach Michael Frank wasn’t disappointed in his players’ inability to hit Riotto. Instead, he marveled at the Indians’ defense that made spectacular plays, leading to the Foxes stranding at least one runner on base each inning.

Freshman second baseman Dax Plaskina made a leaping grab to snag a line drive in the bottom of the third to save at least one run. He also made a sliding stop to end the fifth inning, and senior first baseman Jake Pisarcik dove to his left to save a run in the sixth inning.

“They made probably three or four plays with two outs that saved one, two, three or four runs,” Frank said. “I don’t know; credit to them. Their pitcher battled and they put him position, and they made the plays behind him. They did the right things.”

Maize agreed.

“Unbelievable defense,” Maize marveled. “Eric threw a heck of a game and you could see the excitement he had. He wanted the baseball and he wanted to go out there and match their kid.”