May 22, 2023 4 min read

UPPER ST. CLAIR – Though he didn’t know it at the time, when Burgettstown left-handed pitcher Andrew Bredel made one small adjustment in the second inning Monday afternoon, he drained the drama out of the Blue Devils’ WPIAL Class 2A baseball quarterfinal game against South Side Beaver.

Then, when Bredel struck out the Rams in order in the fifth inning, he said that he knew the Blue Devils were going to win and advance to the semifinals.

The only mystery remaining in Burgettstown’s 6-1 victory was would Bredel get to finish what he started and throw a complete game.

That proved to be a confusing situation in the seventh inning. Bredel was one out away from the complete game when Burgettstown coach Doug Tunno walked to the mound, apparently to remove Bredel. The Blue Devils had been counting Bredel’s pitches and had him at 105, the limit for a pitcher in a WPIAL playoff game.

However, the official pitch counter, who was sitting in the pressbox at Boyce-Mayview Park, had Bredel at 104. That meant he could stay in the game and pitch to one more batter.

The public address announcer let everyone in attendance know at the middle of every inning how many pitches Bredel had thrown.

“I noticed that we had my count as one more than what they did,” Bredel said.

Bredel was allowed to stay on the mound and needed only two pitches to retire South Side’s Tyler Staab on a bouncer to second base and complete the complete-game six-hitter.

“Andrew has been solid,” Tunno said of his senior pitcher who is a Penn State Behrend recruit. “His ball really moves.”

So much so that Bredel hit two of the first four batters he faced in the game. He survived the first inning with the help of two of his 11 strikeouts. In the second, three of the first four South Side batters singled up the middle to produce the Rams’ only run.

“I was trying to do too much,” Bredel said. “I realized that I had to relax and slow down my windup and then just let it fly. I was trusting my defense.”

That defense played errorless baseball behind Bredel, and the Blue Devils’ hitters gave their pitcher all the runs he would need during a two-run first inning.

With two outs and nobody on base, Bredel bounced a single back up the middle against South Side starter Alex Arrigo. Brodie Kuzior was then hit by a pitch. Tristan Roach, who had two of Burgettstown’s seven base hits, followed by blooping a ball about 160 feet down the right-field line. It landed inches inside the foul line, just out of the reach of the right fielder and first baseman. The ball then kicked into foul territory as Bredel scored and Kuzior raced all the way around from first base to score the Blue Devils’ second run.

South Side used three singles in the second inning to score its lone run, but Bredel adjusted and held the Rams to four baserunners the rest of the way. One of those Rams runners was picked off at first base by Bredel.

Burgettstown made it 5-1 in the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out, James Leuice, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, singled to score pinch-runner Matthew Bredel. Maddox Gratchen and Eric Kovach were then hit by pitches, each forcing home another run.

In the fifth, Roach singled, moved to third on an error and scored on a two-out single by Carson Tkalcevic.

The bottom five hitters in the Blue Devils’ lineup combined for six hits and four RBI.

“Those guys came through in a big way,” Tunno said.

Burgettstown (14-3), the No. 4 seed, advances to play top-seeded Serra Catholic (18-2) in today’s 2 p.m. semifinal at Ross Memorial Park.

The Blue Devils have not clinched a berth in the PIAA playoffs. Only the top three finishers in the WPIAL advance to the state tournament. Tunno, however, likes his team’s chances.

“If you have pitching, it helps,” he said.