May 23, 2023 3 min read

Sometimes it’s just not your day.

That’s what the members of the Burgettstown High School baseball team had to be thinking Tuesday afternoon.

The first bad sign for the Blue Devils in their 10-0 five-inning loss to defending champion Serra in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals came in the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless game. Serra’s Isiah Perry swung late on a fastball from Burgettstown pitcher Brodie Kuzior and hit a line drive that landed just inside the right-field line. The ball rolled all the way into the corner and Perry ended up on third base with a triple.

The next batter, Owen Dumbrowski, hit a Baltimore Chop that went over both Burgettstown third baseman Wyatt Stevenson and the third-base bag on its first hop, then hit the left-field line and rolled for an RBI double, driving in the game’s first run.

“They hit the line drive, they hit the chopper that hit the foul line,” Burgettstown coach Doug Tunno lamented. “Those are killers. I’ll take some of those.”

A few inches the other way and those are fouls balls. So it went for Burgettstown.

The Blue Devils hit the trifecta of bad luck in the top of the fourth. Stevenson led off by drawing a walk from Serra pitcher Tyler Skaggs. That brought up second baseman Riley Kennedy, who turned on and pulled a Skaggs offering. Kennedy hit the pitch about as hard as he’s hit any baseball and the rocket shot was lined to the left of drawn-in third baseman Dumbrowski, who fell to his stomach and made a diving catch. Dumbrowski then fired a strike across the diamond to double Stevenson off first base.

“We had chances,” Tunno said. “We couldn’t get a clutch hit.”

Serra (19-2) advances to next week’s championship game while Burgettstown (14-4) will play a third-place game for a berth in the PIAA playoffs.

Serra scored four times in the third inning and added six more in the fourth. The Eagles put pressure on the Blue Devils’ defense, stealing an amazing 12 bases in four innings. Burgettstown also committed four errors.

“Our defense let us down,” Tunno said. “You have to keep those guys off first base, but with a left-handed pitcher (stolen bases) should never happen. No guy should steal second with a lefthander because he can keep his kick leg hanging.”

Skaggs pitched a two-hitter – a double by Andrew Bredel and a single by Kuzior – and struck out five. He walked three (one intentional).

Kuzior went the distance and struck out seven.

Skaggs helped his cause by driving in three with a pair of singles and scoring twice.

Michael Schanck had a two-run single in the fifth.

“They’re good,” Tunno said of Serra. “That’s a good, solid team. They play smallball. They slap the ball and some guys don’t swing until they get two strikes. I thought we would hang with them. I thought it would be a lot closer.

“Our guys will come back next week. We’ll be alright. We’ll have Bredel pitching, and I like our chances when he pitches.”