Gladiators sink Bucs in consolation game

Josh Nesky and Jaxson Champ each drove in a pair of runs in South Allegheny’s win.

In what has been one of the greatest seasons in program history, South Allegheny’s baseball team officially documented its highest district finish ever by knocking off Burrell 8-2 on Tuesday.

The No. 4 Gladiators (185) took on the No. 14 Buccaneers (13-10) at Washington and Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park to determine the WPIAL’s third seed in the PIAA Class 3A baseball tournament. South Allegheny earned that distinction and will take on the District 6 champion, which will be determined today in a matchup between Central Cambria and Huntingdon. As the final WPIAL Class 3A state qualifier, Burrell will match up with District 10 champs Fairview.

“I told them, ‘Give me two more weeks,’” South Allegheny coach Gib Pohodich said after the win. “Our senior leadership has been amazing this year. We have three seniors, and they’ve done a lot for us. I told them, ‘Guys, you’re already done with school. Give me two more weeks, and I think we can make a run at the state title.’

“I think we’re built to do it with our arms and our defense. Offensively, we have to scrap to get some runs together, but anytime we have Adam (Jackowski) or (Trenton) Popovich on the mound, I feel like we can win any game.”

It was Adam Jackowski on the mound for the Gladiators Tuesday, and he dominated to earn the victory.

The sophomore went the distance and allowed just four hits and two runs. He struck out four and walked two as he kept getting better throughout the contest.

“I was mixing my pitches and throwing the curveball first pitch and second pitch before blowing the fast ball by them,” Adam said. “I got to see their flaws as I moved through the lineup, so that helped me get more comfortable.”

It’s no wonder he earned high praise from Pohodich.

“He got better as he went today,” Pohodich said. “For a sophomore, and he should really be a freshman because he’s only 15 years old, he handles himself like a senior on the mound. He’s been our guy all year. This was a big game today so some people were telling me to go with Popovich, but Adam’s our guy and we went to him. If we were up at (Wild Things Park in the championship), he was going to be on the mound today.”

Offensively, Josh Nesky and Jaxson Champ put up two RBIs each while Ryan Cortes and Josh Jackowski each added one more. Champ was the only batter to manage two hits while Popovich went 1 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored.

It was the Buccaneers that struck first, plating a run on one hit to open up play.

Burrell’s speedy leadoff hitter AJ McLafferty scored the opening run, drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base before the Gladiators managed an out. Adam Jackowski forced two outs from there before Trey Coury managed a bloop single into shallow center to score McLafferty and make it 1-0.

Burrell’s lead was short-lived, though, as South Allegheny came right to the plate and doubled their output to make it 2-1.

Popovich opened things up with a leadoff double before Nesky drew a walk and Champ singled to load the bases with no outs.

Cortes registered the first out of the frame with a fielder’s choice that retired Champ at second but scored Popovich from third. Josh Jackowski then stepped up and hit an RBI single to give the Gladiators a 2-1 lead after the first inning.

Burrell almost went down in 1-2-3 fashion during the next frame, but they mounted some offense with two outs.

Ryan Wass doubled, David Kleckner drew a walk and Dylan McKallip singled to bring the top of the order up, but Adam Jackowski got the better of McLafferty on the mound as he forced the final out to strand three Burrell runners.

Burrell eventually evened the contest in the top of the third as Isaac Lacinski singled to open things up. Ryan Bates then stepped up and roped an RBI double to deep center to bring Lacinski in and even it up at 2-2.

Once again, South Allegheny had a quick rebuttal, with Nesky winning a pivotal two-out at-bat.

After a fly out to open it up, Adam and Caleb Jackowski drew walks before Christian Pohodich moved courtesy runner Fischer Ielase and Caleb over to second and third with a groundout.

With two down, Nesky stepped up and hit a two-run single to center field to give the Gladiators a 4-2 lead after four.

“I thought it was better today,” Pohodich said about his team’s offense. “But after the last game against Riverside, (a 2-0 loss in the WPIAL semifinals), we had nowhere to go but up. But I think the guys played loose today, and I think it showed. I think they were loose because we played this team a couple of times in the fall and beat them, so they were comfortable.”

Adam Jackowski then retired the Buccaneers in 1-2-3 fashion as he started to hit his stride on the rubber. After the double from Bates in the third that tied the game at 2-2, Adam retired 10 straight batters with all four of his strikeouts before plunking Michael McKay in the top of the sixth. He didn’t allow another hit after the third frame.

South Allegheny added to its lead in the fifth by taking advantage of the first mistakes of the game from Burrell.

With Brayden Mell now pitching, Cortes drew a walk and stole second before two SA put up two outs. Adam Jackowski looked to have been the third out on a routine ground ball to third, but the throw bounced into first and got away from McKay. The error allowed Cortes to score before Caleb Jackowski hit an infield single and a wild pitch allowed Ielase to score again, giving the Gladiators a 6-2 advantage.

SA added two more unearned runs in the sixth as Champ doubled to score Popovich and Nesky and end the game at 8-2.

Moving forward, the Gladiators will be looking to go on another long run in the state playoffs.

“I hope we get Riverside in the states,” Pohodich said. “If we’re going to win it, I want us to beat them.”