Neshannock gets 9-inning win
Lancers get shot at third PIAA title
Neshannock freshman Dominic Cubellis had one job to do when he came up with a runner on and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth.
All he had to do was drop down a bunt and move courtesy runner Deandre Alberico.
And he couldn’t get it done.
“I couldn’t lay a bunt down,” Cubellis said. “I was down 0-2 and 1-2 in the count and I couldn’t get the bunt down.”
What he did instead helped send the Lancers to the state final.
Cubellis drilled a 1- 2 pitch to right-center field for a double. That set the stage for Gio Valentine to hit a bases-loaded bloop single to bring home Alberico with the winning run as Neshannock (20-7) pulled out a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Burgettstown (166) in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals at North Allegheny.
“The freshman was supposed to bunt and he said, ‘I’ll do it my way,’ and he did,” Neshannock coach John Quahliero said. “He actually did the same thing against Riverside last week [in the quarterfinals] in the 11th and he hit a triple.”
Grant Melder picked up the win as he struck out five and walked two in two innings of scoreless relief. More important, he opened the ninth with a line-drive single up the middle to start the rally.
Neshannock, which was five outs away from elimination, will play District 5 champion Everett in the state championship at 10:30 a. m. Thursday at Penn State University’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Lancers will be making their fourth final appearance while Everett is headed there for the first time.
“I’ve never been around a tough, gut- wrenching group of kids,” Quahliero said. “They battle to the final out and we practice daily that we’re never out of a game.”
Neshannock now is 4-0 in the PIAA semifinals. The Lancers made it to the final in 1991, 2004 and 2015, winning state championships in Class 1A in 2004 and Class 2A in 2015.
Neshannock starter Sebastian Coiro danced in and out of trouble throughout but was only touched up for the one run and stranded the bases loaded in the top of the seventh. In his 7 innings, he struck out 8 and only gave up 4 hits, but his only 1-2-3 inning came in the top of the sixth.
It took a long time, but the Lancers finally solved Burgettstown starter Nathan Klowdowski with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when Colten Shaffer doubled home Joshua Pallerino. Klowdowski retired 13 in a row before pinch-hitter Jacob Rynd ended the streak with a one-out single to start the rally.