May 25, 2021 4 min read

WEST MIFFLIN – There was no deep analysis needed for this game.

It was simply not a good day to be playing the top-seeded Hopewell High School baseball team.

Unfortunately for McGuffey, the schedule said the Highlanders had to play Hopewell Wednesday afternoon in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals at West Mifflin High School.

And McGuffey forgot to bring its stellar pitching and sure-handed defense that had dominated opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The end result was one to forget for McGuffey as Hopewell rolled to a 15-0 win in four innings.

McGuffey (14-5), which had not allowed a run in defeating South Allegheny and Derry in its first two postseason games, was hit for nine runs in the first inning by Hopewell (16-5). The Vikings smacked two home runs in the first inning, including a three-run shot by Anthony LaSala, who finished with four RBI.

“Their athletic director told me they haven’t hit the ball like that all season,” said McGuffey coach George Linck. “And it was very uncharacteristic of us. That’s not how we have been playing on defense or expect to play.”

The Highlanders committed four errors behind starting pitcher Jake Orr and reliever Jansen Durbin, and were unable to make a couple of other plays that went for hits and extended innings.

In other words, it was a clunker of a game by McGuffey, something that happens to every baseball team. The good news is it did not end the Highlanders’ season.

McGuffey will play Avonworth in the third-place game next week at W&J’s Ross Memorial Park. The date and time have not been determined. The winner will advance to the state tournament, someplace McGuffey baseball has never been.

“It’s another season,” Linck said. “Hopefully, our guys have a short memory.

“We’ve had a couple of tough games this year and we’ve learned from them and bounced back. We can use this as a teaching moment. There are things we can work on as a team and get better.”

McGuffey couldn’t have been much better in the shutout victories over South Allegheny and Derry. The first inning against Hopewell couldn’t have gone much worse.

The Highlanders were held scoreless in the top of the first, though Orr did hit an inning-ending fly ball that Hopewell left fielder Michael Buonaiuto caught with his back against the fence in left field.

“It seemed like the wind stopped blowing while that ball was in the air,” Linck said. “I thought I was yelling ‘Go!’ hard enough to get it out of here.”

Hopewell took control in the bottom of the inning. Mullins hit a two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch three batters into the first, winning pitcher Roma Gill and Ty Eberhardt had run-scoring hits, Landon Fox lofted a sacrifice fly, Joseph Asvestas made it 6-0 with an RBI single and LaSala capped the frame with his three-run homer.

“In most parks, those home runs are balls that are caught,” Linck said. “But give Hopewell credit. They hit the ball.”

Hopewell, which is one win shy of its fourth WPIAL championship, tacked on a run in the third and ended the game with five runs in the fourth.

McGuffey had three hits – all infield singles – by Logan Seibert, Orr and Austin Hall. Gill struck out six and did not walk a batter.

“McGuffey had never been in the semifinals before and next week we’ll be playing a game that we consider a state playoff game,” Linck said. “We’re going to give it everything. We’re going to work out butts off.”