Blackhawk wins in 8th
Cougars trip Mount Pleasant, 7-6, to earn berth in Class 4A semifinals
With the tying run 90 feet from home with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday afternoon in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal baseball game, Blackhawk outfielder Jarett Wright admitted he was nervous when he stepped to the plate.
Those nerves didn’t disappear when he belted the ball to deep center. After all, it was too late for a sacrifice fly to tie the score with the Cougars down to their final out.
Furthermore, with the wind blowing in, a home run to straightaway center seemed extremely unlikely.
Wright’s drive landed a few feet short of a walk-off homer, but the ball sailed over Mount Pleasant center fielder Jonas King’s head and bounced off the fence to bring home the tying run. That sent the game into extra innings, and Blackhawk (15-4) eventually won it, 7-6, on an infield single by Ray Knallay in the bottom of the eighth to send the Cougars to the WPIAL semifinals.
Wright said that while he was in the on-deck circle, he had envisioned himself hitting a home run, but considering that his team’s season was over if King had caught the ball, he was happy to settle for the tying double.
“I was hoping it was over his head … When I got to second, my adrenaline rush just came. I was real excited,” Wright said.
“It’s overwhelming. Everyone believed in me. They knew that I could do it, and I did. It was exciting. It was a big atmosphere.”
The teams exchanged leads several times with the Vikings taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before the Cougars scored two the bottom half. A two-run single by Cody Surma gave Mount Pleasant a 3-2 lead in the top of the third, but Blackhawk tied the score in the third after a mix of wind and sun contributed to a dropped
pop-up on the edge of the outfield grass.
A sacrifice fly gave the Cougars a 5-4 lead, and they needed three outs in the seventh to close out a victory. But Vikings catcher Pete Billey smacked a leadoff double, and Surma came up with another clutch RBI single with two outs to tie the score.
Trevor Mason followed with a double to the gap, and Surma came home to score on a wild pitch to give Mount Pleasant a 6-5 lead.
The Vikings couldn’t add more insurance runs before Wright’s double sent the game to extra innings.
Blackhawk reliever Mario Borello retired Mount Pleasant in order in the top of the eighth.
Then, the Cougars loaded the bases, bringing Knallay to the plate with one out. He tapped a chopper to the right side of the infield, and Mount Pleasant first baseman Mike Secosky made a good play on the ball. But his throw home was late as Hunter Woodward dived headfirst across the plate to set off a celebration.
“It’s awesome,” Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia said. “Because. honestly, it took me a long time to get over that game.”
The game Amalia referred to was the Cougars’ stunning 1-0 loss against Greensburg Salem in the 2018 WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals.
That Blackhawk team won its first 16 games and entered the postseason tournament as an overwhelming favorite to win a WPIAL title, only to have its season come to an end with back-to-back defeats.
This year, though, the Cougars aren’t beating opponents into submission like the one last year so often did.
The win Monday improved Blackhawk’s record in one-run games this season to 6-1 with five of its past nine victories being decided by such a margin.
Amalia believes that bodes well for Blackhawk’s chances as the playoffs continue and games get closer and closer. He acknowledged that the ability to stay calm and composed in high-pressure situations can make a huge difference.
“That’s at least the fourth game that we’ve won on our last at-bat,” Amalia said. “If you look at our scores, every game’s pretty much been close. That’s another thing I think is a plus.
“Last year, we were 10running people pretty much, and then when we got into a close game, we got a little bit tight.”
Waiting on the other side of the bracket for the Cougars in the Class 4A semifinals could be this year’s No. 1 seed — the same Greensburg Salem team that ended Blackhawk’s season a year ago. And if it comes down to another one-run game, Wright thinks the Cougars will be ready.
“I think our chances are pretty good,” Wright said.
“I’m hoping for redemption.”