PIAA BASEBALL: Riverside falls to Hughesville in Class 3A
Jun. 6—WILLIAMSPORT — Only once was Riverside able to capitalize on its several scoring opportunities during its PIAA Class 3A first-round baseball game Monday.
As a result, its season came to an end.
Three Hughesville pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the District 4 champion Spartans defeated the District 2 champion Vikings, 3-1, at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field.
Eli Olshefskie had two hits and two RBIs to back the effort on the mound of starter Jediah Webb and relievers Austin Gray and Carter Cowburn as Hughesville (20-3) advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals. It will face District 11 champion Saucon Valley, which won its first-round game over District 3 runner-up Trinity, 13-1, in five innings.
"I think the three different styles of pitching kind of threw us off. We couldn't get in a groove in the box," Riverside coach Sean Hughes said.
From the second through the fifth inning, Riverside (16-10) put the leadoff batter on base. It also had a runner reach on a two-out error in the sixth.
All but one time, Hughesville pitchers stranded them.
That time came in the top of the third. Thomas Day was hit by a pitch to open the inning and Jose Sosa sacrificed him to second. Following a groundout, Patrick Higgins ripped a triple into the right-field corner to score Day and give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
"Going into the at-bat, I knew I had to at least get the runner from second to third," Higgins said. "The first pitch wasn't too close so I didn't swing at it," Higgins said. "The second one I just gripped and ripped. Luckily I got it down the line and past their guy and I just kept going."
Hughesville coach Christopher Kish thought the biggest play of the game came at the end of Higgins' triple. The relay throw from the outfield got past the third baseman and skipped into foul territory in left field. But Spartans left fielder Logan Kiess alertly backed up the play, preventing Higgins from getting up and scoring.
"If he doesn't back up that ball, it's 2-0 and that game is completely different," Kish said. "It's Little League stuff, but that wins ball games."
To open the Riverside fourth, Trevor Balcerzak walked and was sacrificed to second by Nick Bohenek. Gray relieved Webb and sandwiched a comebacker and a strikeout around a two-out walk to end the inning.
In the fifth, Sosa drew a leadoff walk, but Gray retired the next three batters. In the sixth, Chase Taddonio reached on an error with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Again, Gray escaped by retiring the next batter.
Cowburn, who is headed to Division I Manhattan College, came on to pitch a perfect seventh with two strikeouts to close out the win.
"It's tough when you're facing three good high school pitchers," Hughes said. "But in games like this, you need to get the big hit. You can't leave guys on second base continuously. We just couldn't get the big hit. We hit some balls hard, but at them. A hit here or a hit there changes that ball game."
Meanwhile, Bohenek started for Riverside. The freshman threw 70 pitches in five-plus innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
"Nicholas has such a bright future. He really battled out there for us," Hughes said. "For a freshman, in front of a packed crowd, he did a hell of a job against a team that's 20-3."
Kish was impressed with Bohenek.
"That kid is good. For a freshman, he's tough and has some guts," Kish said. "He was pitching backward so we told our kids to find the fastball in multiple counts and drive it. I thought we did a fantastic job with two strikes today. That's kind of been the story of our season. If we're not behind, there's something wrong. We just find a way to gut it out."
One bad inning doomed Bohenek. He walked Tyler Wetzel on four pitches to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Jackson Bower sacrificed him to second and Aidan Barlett singled to shallow right-center to put runners at the corners.
Up stepped Cowburn, who ripped a pitch to the left-center field gap for a double to score Wetzel. Barlett also tried to score on the play, but a relay from center fielder Sosa to shortstop Casey O'Brien to catcher Chris Graff nailed him at the plate for the second out of the inning, keeping it 1-1.
"I hung a curveball to their big guy and he got a huge hit," Bohenek said. "That was a clutch play by our defense. They always have my back, every play, every pitch. I just have to thank them.
"I just tried to keep my composure and kept fighting to the end. Unfortunately, it didn't come out."
Olshefskie broke the tie, blooping a two-strike pitch the opposite way just inside the left-field line to score pinch-runner Carter Swank and give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
After walking Bower to lead off the bottom of the sixth, Bohenek was lifted for O'Brien. An errant pickoff throw, a wild pitch and an intentional walk to Cowburn put runners at the corners. Olshefskie followed with an RBI single to left — again with a two-strike count — to give Hughesville an insurance run.
"I have all the respect for Riverside. Coach Hughes does a great job with them," Kish said. "They came up to 3A from 2A and they are a tough, gritty team."
Hughesville 3, Riverside 1
Riverside 001 000 0 — 1
Hughesville 000 201 x — 3
WP: Austin Gray 2 2/3IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 2SO
LP: Nicholas Bohenek 5IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 4SO
2B: Eli Olshefskie (HU), Carter Cowburn (HU). 3B: Patrick Higgins (RIV).
Class 2A
Kole Schuler had three hits and three RBIs to lead Kutztown to an 8-4 win over Elk Lake in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs.
Matthew Remick singled, scored a run and drove in three for the Cougars and Dominick Pizzelanti had two singles and a double and scored two runs.
Noah Gesford doubled, scored a run and drove in one for Elk Lake and Elias Owens had two hits and scored a run.
Kutztown will play South Williamsport in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Kutztown 8, Elk Lake 4
Kutztown 040 003 1 — 8
Elk Lake 001 003 0 — 4
WP: Colten Mathias 6IP, 9H, 4R, 1ER, 2BB, 3SO
LP: Elias Owens 5 2/3IP, 13H, 7R, 6ER, 0BB, 7SO
2B: Noah Gesford (EL), Dominick Pizzelanti (KUT).
Class 1A
Clay Wiggins and Josh Stanton combined on a three-hitter to lead Northeast Bradford to a 5-3 win over Susquehanna in the first round of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs.
Wiggins also had a single, scored a run and drove in one for the Panthers and Ethan Hunsinger singled and drove in a run.
Matthew Callender had a double and two RBIs for Susquehanna.
Northeast Bradford will play Dock Mennonite in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Northeast Bradford 5, Susquehanna 3
Susquehanna 101 000 1 — 3
Northeast Bradford 200 210 x — 5
WP: Josh Stanton 3 2/3IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 2SO
LP: Travis Rooney 4IP, 4H, 4R, 0ER, 1BB, 3SO
2B: Matthew Callender (SUS).
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