Pitching carrying Blackhawk

1.92 ERA in 7⅓ innings, is tied with Turconi as the team’s leading hitter at .478.

McClymonds, who is 20-1 in his Blackhawk career, pointed to the Cougars’ experience level as the something helping them to a strong start. Last year, Blackhawk beat South Park in the WPIAL Class 4A championship before South Park avenged the loss in the PIAA semifinals.

“We’re going to have a lot of success,” McClymonds said. “We know what it takes. Last year, we hit a bit of a rough spot, losing the last two games of the year, and I guess it was a wake-up call. So I think this year, we’re going to take no game lightly and just keep dominating teams like we have been.”

Blackhawk has held opponents to a combined 13 runs through its 10 wins. Part of that can be attributed to returning their infield from last year and building chemistry with their defense, Turconi said. When not pitching, Turconi plays shortstop and McClymonds plays first base.

“It’s good because we can throw strikes. We trust our defense, so no matter if we throw strikes and we let them hit the ball, or if they swing and miss, we can just trust our defense,” Turconi said.

The most impressed Amalia has been with his 1-2 pitcher punch came in the first and second games of section play. McClymonds struck out 15 batters and didn’t register a walk in a 5-0 win against New Castle April 5, then, one day later, Turconi struck out 15 and didn’t register a walk in an 11-1 win against Ambridge.

“You put them out there and they’ve been there and they’ve had a lot of success, so you feel pretty confident with them,” Amalia said. “But it’s just like the major leagues, every once in a while they’re going to have a bad outing, but they’ve been very solid and done an outstanding job.”

Sarah K. Spencer: sspencer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @sarah_k_spence.