May 19, 2021 4 min read

McMURRAY – You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.

You don’t spit in the wind.

You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger, and, if you’re West Greene baseball, you don’t win playoff games … until now.

The Pioneers, known for their dominance in softball, haven’t had nearly the same amount of success in “America’s Pastime.” West Greene had a chance to either repeat history or rewrite it Wednesday at Peterswood Park, and much to coach Lenny Lohr’s delight, his boys did the latter, scoring seven runs in their last two at-bats to pull away for a 12-7 win over Sewickley Academy in the first round of the WPIAL Class A baseball playoffs.

Afterward, the Pioneers (10-7) celebrated like they had won a state championship, mobbing each other and even taking a team picture. Who could blame them?

“It’s been a long time coming,” Lohr, in his first full season as head coach, said.

“It feels good to be the first team to do it,” Corey Wise, who went 4-for-4 with a double, run and two RBI, said. “It’s special. I’ll always cherish it.”

It looked like the bottom of the first inning would be a simple one for Sewickley starting pitcher Jordan Smith. He retired the first two Pioneers. Then, his opposite, Caleb Rice, singled, and Wise poked a single to center field for his first of four hits. West Greene was threatening. Brayden Mooney had an opportunity to cash in, and he didn’t waste it, singling home Rice for the game’s first run.

The Sewickley Academy (7-6) offense came to life with three runs in its half of the third on singles by No. 9 hitter Spencer Bennett, leadoff hitter James Long and shortstop Adin Zorn.

The Pioneers cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third when Chase Blake scored Wise with a single, but Sewickley got the run back in the top of the fourth on Smith’s RBI groundout. West Greene continued to fight, however. The Pioneers answered with two runs in their half of the fourth, scoring on an RBI double by Hunter Hamilton, and then tying the game at 4-4 on a two-out single by Rice.

Wise’s third hit – this one a double – scored Rice to put the Pioneers in front, 5-4.

Sewickley Academy continued the back-and-forth trajectory the game was taking by tying it in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Sajen Schuchert, making it 5-5. The Panthers took the lead when Nick Straka – who struck out swinging in his first two at-bats – ripped a double to score Zorn.

In the bottom half, the Pioneers seemed undeterred, loading the bases against reliever Zorn with no outs. But after two outs and no runs coming across, it looked like Zorn may pull a Houdini.

He almost did. Instead, Lucy hit a fly ball to right field that was misplayed. Three runs scored to give the Pioneers an 8-6 lead. Wise’s fourth and final hit made it 9-6, and West Greene scored three more runs in the sixth to pull away.

On the mound, Rice gave up seven runs but almost lasted seven innings, throwing 6 1/3 for the win before being pulled in favor of Lucy.

Now, the Pioneers move on to the quarterfinals. For Lohr, making school history is nice, but West Greene came to the playoffs to win more than just one game

“We’d like to make some more noise,” he said. “We don’t just want to come here, we want to pick up a win.”

For now, however, West Greene will appreciate what the day meant. For Wise, this game tops all others.

“This is probably No. 1,” he said. “For sure.”