Remember When?: BVA wins section opener
By RICK BRUNI JR.
Sports Writer
Belle Vernon vs. East Allegheny baseball
FAYETTE CITY – Down 5-0 in the first inning, the Belle Vernon Area baseball team began its section opener Wednesday resembling a jalopy struggling for traction in a field of mud.
However, it took two senior pitchers and timely hitting by three underclassmen to haul them from that quagmire. Once the Leps emerged from their sloppy play, they cruised to a 12-6 victory over East Allegheny at Fayette City to open Class AA Section 5 play.
“I just told them to be patient, play percentage baseball and hold the fort until relief comes,” BVA coach Jim Russell said. “Those boys responded against a great ball club.”
BVA surrendered the five spot after two hits, two walks, two hit-batsmen, a wild pitch and a catcher’s throw into left field.
After Russell yanked John Timko, who got the first out of the game then loaded the bases before hitting his second batter to force in a run, fellow senior Bret Herspold came on to pitch 3 2/3 solid innings. Herspold gave up just one run after the first ram and senior Brian Gray followed with three scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.
“I was Sparky Anderson tonight; last year, I made a lot of quick changes here and I made multiple moves,” Russell said. “Those seniors in the batter, including (catcher) Jimmy Fretz, did their job tonight.”
Couple that with a 13-hit attack led by leadoff hitter Doug Ivill (two singles, four RBIs), DH Ryan Kelly (three singles and hit by pitch) and Mike Jurcevich (double, three RBIs), and it was BVA that owned a lopsided score at the end.
“The scenario was the young cats hit the ball. Kelly, Ivill, (Chris) Trenk and Jurcevich,” Russell said. “Our young clutch hitting was where it was today.”
To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.
