South Park loses in PIAA title game, 5-0
twice this year, and the other was also in a championship. Blackhawk beat the Eagles, 3-0, in the WPIAL title game.
“I was thinking to myself that this game reminded me of the Blackhawk game,” Bucci said. “We had some opportunities early. I felt like if we could just get on the board before they do, we could do it.”
But South Park’s score by innings was all doughnuts. The Eagles had two hits in the first inning but didn’t score. With the game scoreless in the fourth, South Park’s first two batters reached base, but the Eagles again came up empty. Pinchrunner Brenden Gray tried to score from second on Kevin Vaupel’s single but was thrown out at home by left fielder Drew Patton.
South Park finished with only six hits. Nick Kocher started for Dallas (15-6), a school near Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. Kocher wasn’t overpowering, but he hit spots and threw effective off-speed pitches. He worked the first six innings and struck out nine.
“He wasn’t better than anybody we faced Monday [against Blackhawk in the semifinals],” said Bucci, whose team scored 10 runs against Blackhawk. “It’s nothing against the kid, but for whatever reason, we kind of lost the zone of what we did the last round and other rounds.”
Kocher, who is 4-3, threw 98 pitches on only three days of rest after pitching Monday in the semifinals.
South Park’s Kyle Thompson gave up only one hit and struck out three in the first three innings, but Dallas broke through for two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. A wild pitch and an error were costly.
Mike Luksic led off the inning by striking out but reached first on a wild pitch, Kocher singled and Mike Collins followed with a sacrifice bunt. Thompson tried for the lead runner at third, but his throw was a little off target, allowing Luksic to score.
Dallas scored three more times in the sixth off South Park relievers Vaupel and Tanner Pantuso. Another errant throw on a bunt scored one run and Darren Kerdesky hit a two-run triple.
For the free-wheeling Mountaineers, it was the first PIAA baseball title in school history.
“These guys are really loose,” Dallas coach Ken Kashatus said. “It’s like a rock concert on the bus to games. I’ve had talented guys before who have their headphones on, looking out the window on the bus. This group wants music played through the bus speakers. It’s like a girls softball game with the way they sing and chant on the way to games.
“But at least for this group, it’s been the right approach for high-pressure baseball games.”