Errors doom C-M in section loss to Bethel Park
Canon-McMillan’s Brandon Kline hits a second- inning single against Bethel Park Monday at Wild Things Park.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Bethel Park’s Adam Malecki slides safely into second base under the tag of Canon-McMillan’s Cam Walker during Monday’s Section 3-6A game at Wild Things Park.
Bethel Park’s Justin Meis gets the out at second against Canon-McMillan’s Brandon Kline
Canon-McMillan’s Greydon Piechnick makes the out at the fence against Bethel Park
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Bethel Park catcher Korey Patterson catches a pop-up behind home plate during a Section 3-6A game against Canon-McMillan Monday at Wild Things Park.
The late innings of Monday’s baseball game between Bethel Park and Canon-McMillan were an emotional roller coaster for Black Hawks shortstop Justin Meis.
After five and a half innings against Section 3-6A foe Canon-McMillan, the senior shortstop was 2-for-2 with a double, scored the game-tying run in the fifth and hit a sacrifice fly to extend the Black Hawks’ lead to 4-2 in the sixth. Meis was also playing error-free defense until the bottom of the sixth.
With the bases loaded and Bethel Park leading 4-2, pitcher Corey Fischer forced Canon-Mac’s Brandon Rea to hit a ground ball to Meis, who booted it to extended the inning allow Ian Hess to score.
Bethel Park head coach Tony Fisher then made a risky decision. He pulled Fischer, who had kept the Big Macs off balance all game, to put in Meis.
Fisher said he didn’t hesitate at all to put in Meis, who struck out the next batter and threw a scoreless seventh to earn the save and give Bethel Park a 6-3 win at Wild Things Park.
“I have all the confidence in the world in Justin,” Fisher said. “I need to check him for a heartbeat sometimes. He’s so cool, calm and collected. He doesn’t get worked up at all.”
Meis said the way Fischer pitched the previous 5 2/3 innings motivated him to get out of the bases-loaded jam and preserve the lead.
“I couldn’t let Corey Fischer down,” Meis said. “That kid pitched a heck of a game, and I was glad to get out of it. Obviously, I wanted to (make that play) for Corey, but I’m glad I was able to get that last out.”
With how cold it was – 40 degrees with frigid gusts of wind – it didn’t alter how either team hit. Seven of the 15 hits went for extra bases.
It also didn’t take long for the hard hitting to commence as Canon-McMillan’s Ian Hess went deep for a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to give the Big Macs (3-2, 6-3) a 2-0 lead.
Bethel Park (4-1, 4-3) got a run back in the second inning when Korey Patterson doubled home Adam Malecki, who reached base on an error, off C-M starter Zach Rohaley.
Despite the first-inning hiccup, Fischer shut down the Big Macs over the next four innings, allowing only two batters to reach base and held them scoreless. He struck out five and allowed one walk and five hits.
“A kid like that, who did a great job throwing curveballs, we probably would have hammered him last year,” said C-M head coach Tim Bruzdewicz. “Everybody’s trying to yank the ball down the line. That kid throws a nice, slow curveball, and that’s what everybody is doing to us in the section. They’re not throwing their best guys against (us).”
Sean McGowan tripled home Meis, who started the inning with a double, as the Black Hawks tied the game, 2-2, in the fifth inning.
Still tied in the sixth, Bethel Park took advantage of two errors by the Big Macs by scoring a pair of unearned runs to take a 4-2 lead.
The three errors didn’t reflect the strong performance on the mound for Rohaley, who struck out eight and allowed four runs (one earned), seven hits and one walk in six innings.
“Rohaley is a great pitcher, and he was throwing pretty hard today,” Meis said. “We wanted to jump on the fastball early and were able to put a couple barrels on it.”
The Black Hawks scored two insurance runs in the seventh off C-M reliever Brandon Kline when Kevin Kogler hit a two-run double to score McGowan, who singled to lead off the inning, and Ben Barnot, who reached base on a botched bunt coverage.
Meis got into trouble in the seventh, as Greydon Piechnick led off the inning with a single and Serafino walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Meis settled down, though, retiring the heart of the C-M lineup in order.
Bruzdewicz said he his team needs to “go back to the drawing board” as the Big Macs prepare for the rest of section play.
“At the beginning of the season, we saw the rankings and I think, quite frankly, we didn’t think we needed to work hard enough,” he said. “We thought our talent would do it. Now, they’re starting to realize that the teams in this conference are very good.”