Eagles roar back to beat Southern Huntingdon in 8
By Ashley Chase
MVI Sports
Serra Catholic’s baseball team took fans on their first roller coaster ride of the summer in a wild back-and-forth extra innings affair Monday.
The Eagles rallied from an 11-5 deficit in the seventh inning to soar past Southern Huntingdon for a 13-11 victory in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs at Mt. Aloysius.
Jayden Mertz hit the game-winning two RBI double in the top of the eighth inning, scoring Dom Puzzanchera and Zach Black. Joe DeMoss shut the door from the mound, allowing Serra Catholic to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
An extra-inning victory is exciting as it is, but the road to get there was paved in multi-run rallies from both teams.
Serra Catholic raced out to a 4-0 lead through the first three innings. Southern Huntingdon put up four runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game. The Eagles went up 5-4 in the top of the fifth before the Rockets posted another four-spot in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-5 lead.
Southern Huntingdon, no stranger to comebacks after earning come-from-behind victories in the District 6 semifinals and championship, posted another three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a commanding 11-5 lead.
Serra Catholic wasn’t ready to go home just yet, though.
The Eagles scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 11-11, and pushed two across the plate in the top of the eighth to snatch the win from the clutches of the Rockets.
“Words can’t describe what just happened here,” said a nearly-speechless head coach Brian Dzurenda after the game. “That’s the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of.
“Our seniors just weren’t ready to quit. It’s kind of ironic, all of our seniors were in that game at the end to get that rally going when we scored six in the top of the seventh. Just an amazing baseball game.”
To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Tuesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.
