Rams needing wins to make playoffs
Thursday's 3-1 Elk County Tournament consolation loss to Port Allegany was the fifth straight for the 6-6 Rams, who travel to face the 5-6 Gators again today at 11 a.m.
After today, the co-op will have five games remaining to achieve a .500 record to qualify for the district's 2A championship tournament.
After a 4-0 start that included wins over Smethport, Elk County Catholic, Kane, and Port, the Rams fell to Redbank Valley before winning games over Brockway and Clarion-Limestone.
The five-game slide started on Apr. 23 against Kane (5-5) when the Wolves scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth, winning 10-8. Losses to DuBois (5-7) and Elk County Catholic (5-7) followed before the Rams again lost to ECC in the tourney's opening round.
It must be noted that senior pitcher/shortstop Luke Zimmerman remains on the mend from an injury suffered in the loss to Kane. Also, senior starters Hunter Beeler (P, OF) and Kaiden Danekas (DH, 3B) were away on their Ridgway class trip and unavailable for the consolation game.
"We're playing it on the safe side," said head coach Mike Porter when asked for an update on Zimmerman following the consolation loss. “Luke being out has forced changes in the lineup, especially with pitching, where we were challenged this week. Again, we had to make more changes today with Hunter and Kaiden away."
Thursday's lineup included senior Dominic Jacobs, freshman Hunter Hodgdon in the outfield, and junior Louie Bonini (double) as the DH. They joined regulars, seniors Isaiah Jackson (P, CF), Eric Hoffman (2B, P), Nicky Myers (1B), and Cameron Larkin (CF, 2B), juniors Derek Beimel (SS) and Rocco Delhunty (C), and sophomore Frank Miller (3B). Freshman Marcus Aiello drew a walk while pinchhitting.
After winning the 2021 and 2022 district 2A titles and advancing to last year's semifinals as a four-seed, the co-op is looking up in the 2A standings at Coudersport (9-1), Karns City (10-2), Redbank Valley (10-3), Moniteau (8-4), and Clarion-Limestone (7-4). Kane is 5-5. Port (56), Brockway (4-8), Cranberry (3-9), and Curwensville (6-10) are the bottom four record-wise.
"We started 6-1, and now we're 6-6 after giving up a lot of games that could have gotten us into the playoffs and set us up well. That's led to a situation where we have to play every game like it's do-or-die," said Porter. "Our last two games have been close, so it's not like we were blown off the field, but there were plays not properly executed, and we have to clean up those situations – that's the difference between winning or losing close ball games."
Friday's forecast called for rain today, which could postpone the game in Port this morning.
Next week, the Rams travel to DuBois for a doubleheader at Stern Field against DuBois Central Catholic (7-6) on Wednesday and make a trip to Emporium to play Cameron County (6-6) on Friday. Brockway (4-8) visits the Paper City on May 13 and St. Marys (6-6) two days later - the final game counting toward district seeding. There is a game at Smethport (2-7) scheduled for May 17.
*Note – Records are not the only factor for playoff seedings done by a committee.