Belle Vernon advances to championship

A 6-run second inning helped BV get past Charleroi to Fayette County championship against Connellsville.

Both Belle Vernon and Charleroi legion baseball teams had to battle some unusual, windy conditions Wednesday evening in Game 3 of their Fayette County League, bestof- 3 semifinal round contest at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex.

But Belle Vernon also had to battle something else … how they would respond after their first setback of the summer.

The home team brought the right resolve in the decisive game against their Valley rival, scoring eight runs in the opening two innings and breezing to a 9-3 victory against Charleroi.

“We just came out with our hair on fire tonight,” BV coach Tom Jackson said. “The boys had the right focus and energy into the game. It is going to be pretty difficult to beat this group two times in a two-day span. We have a lot of smart baseball players and our depth has been key this season.”

Belle Vernon posted an undefeated regular season and then took Game 1 against Charleroi Monday before suffering a loss to Charleroi Tuesday.

BV hosts Connellsville Monday in the league championship in a onegame, winner take all showdown.

“We are looking forward to playing Connellsville in the finals,” Jackson said. “It should be a great matchup. Hats off to Charleroi, we knew they were going to play a gritty series against us. Luke (Mollis) always has his teams ready to go. I thought our fundamentals were strong tonight and we were able to get the big hit with runners on base.”

Connellsville, who defeated Uniontown in the other semifinal series, will be limited with their depth over the weekend and both coaches decided to cancel the threegame series and instead settle on one championship game Monday.

Both BV and Charleroi qualified for the regional playoffs, which will a week from Friday.

Alex Nash got the start on the mound for the home team and threw the first three innings, scattering six hits and only allowing two runs with three strikeouts and two walks. Mason Suss pitched the remainder of the contest, only allowing a run off two hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.

“Alex gave us a solid start,” Jackson said. “He wanted the ball at the start of the game since yesterday and we knew we could trust him. With Mason, the kid is just a gamer and you can tell he just wants it out there. He came to us last year from Ringgold after they had too many kids on their roster. He pitches with a chip on his shoulder and throws a lot of strikes.”

Eddie Frizzell only lasted one inning for Charleroi in the loss, but Gavin Kovach threw the rest of the game and was able to limit the damage for the most part after a six-run, second inning. Kovach pitched five innings and allowed five runs off four hits with two strikeouts and six free passes.

Both teams had eight hits, but the main difference was all of Charleroi’s hits were singles while BV cashed in on three doubles and a triple. Charleroi left 14 runners on base in the defeat.

After the visitors could not put up any runs in the top of the first, BV grabbed two runs in the bottom of the opening inning. Jake Wessel led off the frame with a single and would later score on a delayed, double steal as the catcher threw the ball to second base hitting the base runner.

Kaden Faycheck made it 2-0 when he crossed home plate after a perfectly, placed bunt by Colton Lee.

BV sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and plated six runs off just a pair of hits.

Jaxson Bozek led off the frame with a single and scored the first run of the inning when Cole Matusik drew a bases loaded walk. BV quickly made it 5-0 after Lee drew a bases loaded walk and Austin Hoffman was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced.

The big blow in the second came when JB Crovak smacked a bases- clearing triple down the first base line to make it 8-0.

Charleroi rallied in the top of the third with two runs courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Kovach that scored Ben Shields and a bases-loaded free pass to Dan Verscharen.

The visitors made it 8-3 in the top of the fourth when Shields scored after Kovach was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Suss escaped the jam with a flyout to right and then was in cruise control the final three innings.

BV tallied the final run of the night in the bottom of the fourth when Lee started the inning off with a double and scored off an errant pickoff attempt at second base.

“We just have kids that are always ready to play and ready to compete,” Jackson said. “We kind of knew we might have a solid team at the beginning of the summer. After tryouts, I just thought we had the right mix. You build your team around your pitching and we have gotten some solid outings from our kids. They are legit kids that want to compete for every single out.”