Warriors fall to West Mifflin in windy walkoff
By ASHLEY CHASE
MVI Sports
West Mifflin walked off for an 11-10 win over Elizabeth Forward on a windy afternoon for baseball at the Titans ball fields Friday.
The win puts West Mifflin in sole possession of first place in Section 3-4A.
Elizabeth Forward trailed 5-0 early and rallied as the game went on, eventually taking the lead 10-9 in the top of the seventh.
With one away and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, the Titans pitch hit in the nine-spot of the order with Corey Kuszaj. The freshman blasted an 0-2 pitch deep into left center field that bounced all the way to the fence, clearing the bases and giving West Mifflin the 11-10 victory.
The Warriors struggled on both sides of the ball early in the game. In the top of the first, Elizabeth Forward had a trio of baserunners and couldn’t bring one in and one was picked off at third.
In the bottom half of the inning, West Mifflin stole their way around the bases and scored three runs on a wild pitch, sacrifice bunt and an RBI double by Eric Link.
The Titans took a 5-0 lead in the second on an RBI triple by Jake Walker and a fielder’s choice by Ryan Lang that brought Walker home.
Elizabeth Forward got on the board and scored a run on a pair of errors in both the third and fourth. Walker hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 6-2 game.
The Warriors’ rally really took off in the top of the fifth. Elizabeth Forward loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch and a pair of singles before the Titans made a pitching change and Walker replaced Linked on the mound. Isaiah Hart ripped a line drive to center field that scored a pair of runs to make it 6-4 with no outs. West Mifflin walked a pair of batters to bring in the Warriors next two runs and tie the game 6-6 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Saturday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.
