TJ clinches playoff spot

By JASON BLACK

For the Mon Valley
Independent

It isn’t often that a strikeout is looked at as a positive, but Thomas Jefferson baseball coach Tim Vickers believes that a strikeout of his leadoff hitter proved to be the catalyst his team needed to not only win a game on Tuesday, but also clinch a spot in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

The Jaguars, aided by a long at-bat from Shultz Reinhart, scored four runs in the third inning on their way to a 7-4 win over host Connellsville in Section 4-5A.

Connellsville took a 1-0 lead in the first when Zakary David doubled and scored on a single by Brant Bonadio, but the lead didn’t last.

In the third, Thomas Jefferson’s McClain Flinn and Justin Dadig each reached base before Reinhart stepped up. Reinhart fouled off pitch after pitch before eventually striking out. However, his at-bat was a key factor in a 48-pitch inning for Connellsville starter Gage Gillott.

“That at-bat set the tone for us the rest of the game,” Vickers said.

Following the strikeout, Angelo Volomino executed a suicide squeeze bunt that brought in the tying run before Preston Zandier doubled and scored on a wild pitch. Later, Elias Lippencott walked with the bases loaded to make it 4-1.

Thomas Jefferson extended its lead in the fourth as Volomino singled to knock in a run before Zandier followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-1.

Connellsville committed three costly errors in the third and fourth innings, and finished with five errors in the game.

“That’s the story of our last two games,” Connellsville coach Rob Orndorff said. “I think we had six errors against Albert Gallatin on Saturday and five today. And you can’t give more than 21 outs to a good team like Thomas Jefferson.”

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