When Sports Were Played: PT pulled off repeat feat in 2008
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township High School’s Pat Gallagher taps the ball for a bunt single, one of four hits, during Peters Township’s 10-4 win over Plum in the 2008 WPIAL Class AAAA baseball championship game. It was Peters Township’s second straight title.
STAN DIAMOND
Peters Township’s Jordan Jankowski is ready to deliver his pitch during the WPIAL Class AAAA baseball championship game against Plum on May 28, 2008.
Winning one WPIAL baseball championship is difficult enough. One bad day and your season is over. Peters Township, however, pulled off winning back titles in 2007 and 2008. Today, we go back to the latter, a May 28, 2008 victory over a Plum team that was coached by Waynesburg native Carl Vollmer.
Hard to fault the Plum Mustangs for not giving feared slugger Jordan Jankowski much of a chance at the plate. After all, that’s the surest way to beat the Peters Township baseball team.
Then again, every strategy has its flaws.
Against Peters Township, limiting Jankowski’s damage offers opportunities for others and the Indians more than enough talent to beat the best in the WPIAL.
That’s why, for the second-straight year, Peters Township is the WPIAL’s best.
Pat Gallagher and Pete Ross – two players Indians coach Joe Maize credits for a late-season surge – along with freshman Austin Hancock provided the offensive spark as Peters Township won the WPIAL Class AAAA championship for the second-straight year following a 10-4 win over Plum Wednesday night at Consol Energy Park.
“When people think of Peters Township baseball, the first two names that come to people’s minds are Jordan Jankowski and Jimmy Rider,” Maize said. “But Pete Ross is as good a high school baseball player as there is in this area. People just don’t realize it. And Pat Gallagher is the same way.”
Gallagher, a senior right fielder, went 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored off three different pitchers. His RBI single to right scored Ross for the game’s first run in the top of the first inning.
Gallagher added a run-scoring double in the third, a bunt single in the fifth and a RBI single in the sixth.
“This feels amazing. There’s nothing better than being two-time champs,” said Gallagher. “Sometimes, the ball seems like a beach ball and that’s what it was like. We all were hitting.”
Ross, a three-year starter at second base, crushed two doubles, scored twice and drove in one.
Hancock showed no signs of nervousness in his first championship appearance. The first baseman, who made just one error this year and bats seventh, went 2-for-3 with RBI singles, in the third and sixth innings, in addition to a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Their contributions were huge for Peters Township (18-6), the bracket’s eighth seed, which plays Monday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. Without them, a two-peat might not be possible.
Gallagher, Ross and Hancock combined for eight of the Indians’ 12 hits and seven of the nine RBI.
Without them, the Indians may have never rebounded from a 3-5 start in Section 3 to qualify for the postseason during the final week of the regular season.
“Give them credit, they swing the bats very well top to bottom,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer said. “You can throw the seeding out the window. That team was one of the best in the WPIAL all season.”
That’s because of talent like Jankowski, who reached base in four of five plate appearance. Second-seeded Plum (19-4) walked him three times, including one intentional pass.
Jankowski’s best work came on the mound, where he struck out 13 and pitched his second complete game of the postseason to improve to 6-0.
Plum did not score after putting up three runs in the bottom of the third, which drew the Mustangs to within 5-4.
“I knew we would get some more runs. Our offense never stops,” Jankowski said.
Peters Township got Jankowski five more runs. None of them were needed as the senior finished with four scoreless innings. Plum failed to get a hit off Jankowski after the third inning.
“I just found my command. I struggled throwing my fastball early,” he said. “After that, I settled down.”
And Peters Township, which has scored 22 runs in its two WPIAL championship game appearance, forced another powerhouse program to settle for silver.
“I don’t think people realize how difficult it is. Anything can go against you,” Maize said of repeating. “Those guys battled through things all year. The thing is they wanted to be here. They wanted to get back here since they won here last year.”