May 20, 2019 4 min read

LATROBE – The Waynesburg and Freeport baseball teams both had their aces on the mound for a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal game Monday, but the cards the Yellowjackets dealt produced the winning hand.

Freeport used a swing-late single, two walks and a suicide squeeze bunt to score a run and combined it with a one-hit shutout from junior righthander Jarrett Heilman to edge Waynesburg 1-0 at Latrobe High School.

Heilman struck out 10 and took a perfect game into the sixth inning before Jesse Johnson, the No. 9 hitter in the Waynesburg lineup, laced a single to left centerfield for the Raiders’ only hit.

Freeport’s victory overshadowed a sterling performance by Waynesburg pitcher Luke Robinson, who fired a three-hitter and struck out eight in the matchup of hard-throwing pitchers.

The win sends top-seeded Freeport (14-5) to the semifinals Wednesday against Steel Valley, which advanced with a win over Beth-Center.

The season ends for Waynesburg (12-6) but not before pushing Freeport to the brink.

“We knew who we had pitching, and we expected who they were pitching, so we had idea that it was going to be a low-scoring game,” Waynesburg coach Jamie Moore said. “We were thinking a 2-1 or 1-0 game and that’s how it played out.”

Heilman retired the first 17 Waynesburg batters but Robinson was also overpowering Freeport hitters for the first three innings, allowing only a first-inning leadoff single.

In the fourth, Freeport’s Zack Allen led off with a bloop single down the right-field line. Robinson then walked both Matt Mitchell and Heilman, each on four pitches. That loaded the bases with no outs and brought Joseph Hotalski to the plate.

Freeport coach Ed Carr didn’t hesitate. He called for a gutsy suicide squeeze play.

“You hate to try it with the bases loaded but we thought, with the way our guy was throwing, one run might be enough,” Carr explained.

With Allen breaking for home plate, Hitolski dropped down a bunt in front of the pitcher’s mound. Robinson ran forward, fielded the ball and quickly shuffled it toward catcher Justin Goodman, hoping to get a forceout. The ball and Allen arrived at about the same time and Allen’s slide chopped down Goodman. The ball rolled toward the backstop as the Yellowjackets took a 1-0 lead.

“Smallball is part of our game. We work on it almost every day in practice,” Carr said. “We use it quite a bit and the guy we had the plate was the right guy. Joseph has done that a couple of times.”

Freeport still had the bases loaded with one out but Robinson worked out of the jam without further damage, getting a popout, forceout at home plate and one of his eight strikeouts.

“We knew it was going to be a matter of someone catching a break,” Moore said. “They get a bloop basehit, then a couple of walks. Luke has been solid all year and hasn’t given up many walks.”

The Raiders’ offense couldn’t muster much against Heilman, who did not hurt his cause. He did not walk a batter.

“His control is unbelievable,” Carr said. “He’s walked only four batters all year in something like 57 innings.”

So Waynesburg was going to need to hit its way to a run. In the sixth, Johnson’s two-out single gave the Raiders their first baserunner. Johnson stole second base but was stranded there when Heilman ended the inning with a strikeout.

The Raiders went down in order in the seventh inning.

“That was a game with two really good pitchers,” Carr said. “We scouted Waynesburg last week and I was impressed with (Robinson). He’s a ballplayer. I felt it was going to be important to score the first run.”