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P-O eliminated from PIAAs
Friday, June 08, 2012
By Andy Stine Sports Writer
SCOTLAND - There are days in baseball where things just don't go your way. Unfortunately, one of those days came at the most inopportune time for the Philipsburg-Osceola baseball team.
The Mounties only collected two hits on Thursday afternoon and could not quiet Pine Grove's bats in key situations, and the Cardinals eliminated P-O, 10-0, in five innings in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.
"We just felt snake-bit," said P-O head coach Doug Sankey. "Nothing went right for us."
"Those guys hit the ball. I give them all the credit in the world. We hit the ball here and there, but they made plays. It was just one of those days."
The Mounties started off the game on a positive note with a single in the hole between the shortstop and third baseman from the bat of Mike Marcinko.
After Marcinko stole second, Robbie Smith drew a walk. Then, an Andrew Greenawalt flyout advanced Marcinko to third base. Smith later swiped second base on the next batter.
With runners on second and third and only one out, Cody Lee ripped a foul ball that just missed the line. Pine Grove starting pitcher Jared McCabe got Lee to strike out and forced Parker Watson to pop up to left to escape the Mountie threat.
The only other hit McCabe allowed was a leadoff single in the second inning from Mark Curtis.
"Baseball is about momentum," said Sankey. "We're best when we get out early. We don't play too well when we're behind. Even if Cody puts the ball in play there and we get one, it'd be different. But, that was a big turning point."
Pine Grove got out of the gates quickly in its half of the frame.
Nick Todero hit a leadoff single and took second on a wild pitch from Lee. Josh Scheibley then ripped a single to score Todero. Center fielder Logan Walstrom misplayed the ball, allowing Scheibley an extra base.
Steve Zimmerman hit a single that brought in Josh Scheibley. After a walk to Brandon Scheibley and a groundout that moved up both runners, Jordan Shiffer blasted a double to score the runners and give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead after an inning.
"We had all the confidence in the world in Cody," said Sankey. "He's a kid that can go out and put up a 3-hit shutout against Central Mountain. We felt our best defense was when he pitches."
Things didn't get much better in the bottom of the second for the Mounties, as Pine Grove scored five runs on four hits in the stanza, with the big blow coming from Steve Zimmerman's 2-run double.
Shortly after, the game was delayed for almost an hour and a half due to rain.
Lee was taken out in the middle of the inning in favor of Parker Watson.
Watson set the Cardinals down in order in the bottom of the third inning for the Mounties' only 1-2-3 inning.
However in the fourth inning, two errors allowed Ty Zimmerman to reach second base. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to give the Cardinals a 10-run lead.
Curtis led off the top of the fifth inning with a walk. But, McCabe got two flyouts and a groundout to end the game, due to the 10-run rule. It was the last game for eight P-O seniors.
"Most of those guys have been with me for three years and have been major contributors to the program," said Sankey. "We won 14, 16 and 19 games with them."
"It's a great senior class. They've contributed a lot to the program, but they really contributed a lot to our school district. They're real classy kids. It's been really nice to be around those guys."
The Mounties ended their season at 19-6.
Philipsburg-Osceola-0
Marcinko ss 2010, Smith c 1000, Greenawalt rf 2000, Lee p 1000, Golemboski 1b 1000, Watson 1b-p 2000, Curtis 2b 1010, Carpin lf 2000, Harris dh 2000, Kephart 3b 0000, Walstrom cf 2000. Totals: 16-0-2-0.
Pine Grove-10
Todero ss 3220, J. Scheibley 3b 2211, T. Zimmerman 1b 3210, S. Zimmerman c 3223, B. Scheibley rf 2212, Martin 2b 2000, Shiffer cf 1012, Blankenhorn dh 2000, McCabe p 0000, D'Agostino lf 2000. Totals: 20-10-8-8.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg-Osceola 000 00-0 2 3
Pine Grove 450 1x-10 8 0
Errors-Walstrom, Kephart 2. LOB-Philipsburg-Osceola 3, Pine Grove 1. DP-Pine Grove 1. 2B-S. Zimmerman, B. Scheibley, Shiffer. SB-Marcinko, Smith; Todero, B. Scheibley. CS-Shiffer (by Smith). WP-Lee, Watson.
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola: Lee-1 1/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Watson-2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO.
Pine Grove: McCabe-5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO.
WP-McCabe. LP-Lee (1-3).
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