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Games of the Day: Central Catholic at Shaler / Montour at West Allegheny

April 18, 2015

By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

Montour 6 at West Allegheny 7

Our preseason top two teams in WPIAL class AAA predictably played a tight ballgame. Early on, however, it was not the pitchers' duel we would have expected. West Allegheny had at least one runner on base in every inning, while Montour only went down in order twice in seven frames.

West Allegheny scored a run in the home half of the first, but Montour answered right back, and then some. After a strikeout to start the inning, six straight Spartans reached base, with six different hitters driving in a run for a 6-1 lead.

The Indians pulled even in the bottom half of the third, as the first eight hitters of the frame reached base, highlighted by a two-run single from junior Jake Cunningham and an RBI double by senior Colin Claus, the only extra base hit of the inning. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Trent Vietmeier (3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), who verbally committed to Louisiana State earlier this week, came in to stop the bleeding, recording a strikeout and a groundout with runners on the corners.

The rest of the game was the Tyler Amedure show for West Allegheny. The Alderson Broaddus commit came out of the bullpen to start the fifth inning, shutting down the Spartans offense the rest of the way (3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K). He also put himself in position to pick up the win in the bottom of the fifth, stroking a two-out RBI triple to provide the game's final margin.

The loss is Montour's first in WPIAL AAA Section 3 play, leaving them a half game behind West Allegheny and Chartiers Valley, both 4-1, in the standings.

Central Catholic 1 at Shaler Area 0 (8 innings)

On the other hand, a pitchers' duel, albeit one of a bend-but-don't-break variety, is exactly what occurred in this match-up. It took until the bottom of the fourth inning for the game's first 1-2-3 inning to occur, but no runner reached third base until the bottom of the sixth.

In that frame, Joel Shaffer (2.2 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K) relieved sophomore Nolan Martino (5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K) with runners on first and second and one out. The Vikings' senior induced two groundouts sandwiched around an intentional walk to escape the jam.

The Titans senior pitching tandem of Gavin Cannon (6.1 IP, 4 H, 5 BB, 10 K) and West Virginia-bound Jake Potock (1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB 2 K) were equally as impressive. Potock entered the game in the top of the seventh in a similar situation to Shaffer, using a double play groundball with runners on the corners to keep the game scoreless.

But in the top of the eighth, Central Catholic was able to break through. Oklahoma commit Dom DeRenzo led off with a single, stole second, and advanced to third with two outs on a flyball. The Vikings then turned to the element of surprise, as senior Chase Trautman dropped down a first-pitch bunt single that scored DeRenzo.

Shaler Area gave itself a chance to tie the game in the bottom half, as Junior Nick Fugh tripled with two outs. Bucking conventional wisdom that says you don't put the winning run on base, Central Catholic called for its second intentional walk of the game, after which Shaffer recorded a strikeout to end the contest.

With the win, Central Catholic stayed in the race in WPIAL AAAA Section 3, its 2-2 section record trailing 4-1 Shaler Area and Fox Chapel Area.

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