Complete performance nets California’s 6th WPIAL title
Holly Tonini
California celebrates a 9-6 win over Union in the WPIAL Class A baseball championship game Tuesday at Wild Things Park.
Holly Tonini
California celebrates a 9-6 win over Union.
Holly Tonini
California celebrates a 9-6 win over Union.
Holly Tonini
California’s Nate Zemany flashes the “W” sign to the crowd after the team’s win against Union in the WPIAL A Baseball Championships.
Holly Tonini
California’s Jordan Kearns makes the out in center field against Union.
Holly Tonini
California’s Jacob Piktel reacts to an out at third base against Union’s Nate Meeks.
Holly Tonini
California’s Nate Zemany pitches against Union in the WPIAL Class A baseball championship game against Union. Zemany pitched six innings in the Trojans’ 9-6 victory.
Holly Tonini
California’s Jordan Kearns (7) celebrates with Nate Zemany after scoring a run in the WPIAL Class A baseball championship game Tuesday at Wild Things Park.
Holly Tonini
California shortstop Payton Conte makes the out against Union.
Top-seeded California had made the WPIAL baseball postseason much more stressful than it had to be.
The Trojans escaped their quarterfinal game with a four-run sixth inning to avoid upset-minded Eden Christian. They then strung together two hits, neither leaving the infield, for a comeback victory over Quigley Catholic in the semifinals.
“I told the guys, ‘Look, we can’t be digging holes every game and expect to win,'” California coach Lou Pasquale said.
The Trojans took that to heart and now will be trying to find a hole – one in their trophy case to store yet another championship trophy.
Taking an early lead with three runs in the first inning, California piled on and held off a late rally from third-seeded Union to win the Class A championship, 9-6, at Wild Things Park Tuesday evening for the program’s sixth district title.
It was the third WPIAL title since 2014 for the Trojans, who have made a habit of playing in championship games. Tuesday marked the fifth time they’ve played for a district title since 2010.
“We knew what it takes to get here and we knew what it was going to take to win it,” said Trojans pitcher Nate Zemany. “We got it done.”
What got it done for California (18-1), which hasn’t lost since March 28, was a calculated move by Pasquale to start Zemany on the mound and the Trojans’ contagious hitting that echoed their coach’s thinking.
Having a deeper lineup with Zemany pitching, California scored three runs before the senior retook the mound in the second inning. Brody Conner opened the scoring with an RBI single to right field. Connor Vig drove in another run two batters later by sending a full-count pitch over Union’s second baseman. A sacrifice fly by Jordan Kearns made it 3-0.
“To get on top, it made me relax a little bit,” Pasquale said. “(Nate) had the hot arm. Jacob Swartz (the Trojans’ other pitching option) is our best catcher. I thought in a game like this we had to have our best lineup out there. I talked with both of those guys and my assistants, and that’s what we agreed to do.”
The plan to pitch Zemany worked.
Having allowed only one earned run over his last four appearances, which equaled 16 innings, Zemany matched the Trojans’ hot bats. He didn’t allow a run until the fifth inning and stranded four baserunners, keeping his pitch count down in the process. He needed only 50 pitches to get through the first four innings and didn’t throw six pitches to a single batter in his six innings.
Zemany broke his hand prior to the 2017 season – when California won its last WPIAL championship – and didn’t return until one week before the playoffs. In that title game, he was used as a pinch-runner. Tuesday, he went six innings and allowed six runs (five earned) for the win.
“I just thought about what I’ve done in past games and tried building upon that,” Zemany said. “I started out good but in the end started to peter out. It was nice to have a lead the whole game.”
The Trojans’ lead grew to its largest in the fourth inning when Colton Lusk’s squeeze bunt scored a run. Fred Conard then broke to steal home when the Union catcher threw the baseball back to the pitcher. Conard didn’t beat the tag but the catcher dropped the ball, extending the lead to 5-0.
“You never want to fall behind like that,” said Union coach Bill Sanders. “We want to be the one that punches first. They came out and punched us in our mouth and really put pressure on us to have to execute. The scored on our errors and capitalized on our mistakes, which is what good teams do.”
The Trojans had every answer to a possible Union (15-4) comeback. They scored another insurance run on an error in the fifth inning and three more in the seventh, including two on a double to the right-centerfield gap by Conner.
Conner went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI.
“The last two games we’ve come back from a deficit,” Conner said. “This game we just jumped out early and kept battling, adding on the whole way through.”
The Scotties scored three runs in the seventh, all charged to Zemany, before Swartz got the final three outs with a fielder’s choice and a double play.
“We emphasize jumping on other teams early and getting a crooked number from the start,” Zemany said. “We just couldn’t seem to get that done the last couple of games. Today, we threw it all together.”