Remember When?: Trojans win WPIAL championship
By JEFF OLIVER
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Zack Jeney couldn’t believe what happened to him in the bottom of the fifth inning Tuesday.
The California ace pitcher was sailing along with a 2-0 lead over Geibel in the WPIAL Class A title game at Falconi Field. There were two outs and nobody on base.
However, Jeney walked a batter, hit another and gave up three straight hits. Suddenly the Trojans were losing 4-2.
“I felt like I let my team down,” the Trojans’ starting pitcher said. “I knew I messed up.”
When the inning ended, he went to the dugout and hung his head.
But Jeney would get a chance to atone. And boy did he ever.
Jeney smacked a two-run home run over the 410-foot mark in center field in the top of the seventh inning to overturn a 4-3 deficit and catapult the Trojans to a 5-4 win and the WPIAL crown.
“It was the biggest hit of my life,” Jeney smiled afterward. “I had never done anything like that before.
“I was sort of feeling it when I went to the plate,” he said. “I was hitting the ball hard. (Geibel pitcher Jeff Baluch) threw me a high fastball and I’ve learned that a high fastball kind of gets you in trouble.”
“I threw it right down the middle and he took advantage of it,” said a disappointed Baluch.
Jeney’s homer hit the top of the fence and fell outside the park, touching off a joyous celebration for the Trojans at home plate.
“I like to carry the team on my shoulders,” Jeney admitted. “I had to come through.”
“Zach’s my go-to guy,” said California coach Don Hartman, who won his second WPIAL crown in nine years as head coach. “He’s come through on the mound. He’s got the big hits for us. He leads us in home runs and RBIs.
“He was really down on himself in the dugout after giving up the four runs and my heart went out to him. I didn’t want this game to end for him that way.”
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