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Recap of 2A & 3A WPIAL Championships

May 29, 2013

By Greg Williams
PA Director of Scouting

District 7 Class aa championship:  Quaker Valley vs. Beaver Area

Austin RossIn a match-up of two teams ranked No. 2 and No. 8 respectively in the PBR 2A state rankings Beaver Area took home the WPIAL title with a 7-1 win over Quaker Valley. RHP Austin Ross, a Radford recruit, starred for the Bobcats tossing a complete game three-hitter while striking out 10. Ross was also 1-for-3 with two RBI to give himself more than enough run support for the win. DH Jonathan Hill was also 1-for-3 with a two-RBI double in the 5th inning to cap the scoring for Beaver Area.


District 7 Class aaA championship:  South Park Vs. Hopewell

In a match-up of two teams ranked No. 1 and No. 6 in the PBR 2A state rankings, the South Park Eagles remained undefeated (24-0) in a thrilling 4-3 extra-inning affair.

Hopewell jumped on top in the bottom of the 1st inning when cleanup hitter Logan Johnston deposited a hanging curveball from USC-Aiken recruit RHP Nick Yobbi deep over the left field wall for a a 2-0 lead. The Vikings tacked on a third run in the 2nd inning when starting pitcher Clayton Covalt walked and scored on a throwing error with two outs.

Yobbi, who did not have his best stuff, battled through 3.1 innings before turning things over to LHP Jake Bywalski, a Concord University recruit. Bywalski silenced the Hopewell offense over the next three innings, striking out three and giving up one infield hit.

Randy DobnakCovalt was cruising for Hopewell through 3.2 innings of work. With two outs in the top of the fourth inning the senior right-hander hit SS Chris Winkler with a pitch, balked to allow Winkler to advance to second and 1B Shane Fetsko singled to right field to drive in the first run of the game for South Park. On the very next pitch, starting LF Randy Dobnak deposited a curveball from Covalt over the left field fence to tie the game at three.

Dobnak, an Alderson-Broaddus recruit, moved to the mound with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning with the game still tied and a runner on first base. He got Point Park recruit Stefan Mrkonja to hit a ground ball, but the throw pulled Fetsko off the bag at first base putting runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Hopewell SS Arion Sepp, a Seton Hill recruit, stole third and the South Park coaching staff elected to walk Johnston to load the bases. The decision ended up being a good one as Dobnak was able to retire the next two hitters via strikeouts to send the game to extra innings.

Following a scoreless 8th inning, South Park managed to load the bases in the top of the 9th inning on a Yobbi leadoff single, an intentional walk of Dobnak and a walk to DH Greg Pantuso. Mrkonja then walked RF Adam Thompson to score Yobbi from third base with the go-ahead run.

Dobnak, in his third inning of relief, worked a 1-2-3 9th inning to pick up the win. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-hander touched 91 mph four times in the final inning and picked up his fourth strikeout in 2.2 innings of work.

Dobnak led the South Park offense going 3-for-3 with a double, a two-run home run, two RBI and a run scored. Shane Martin led the Hopewell offense with a 2-for-4 night. Johnston was 1-for-3, with a 2-run home run and was intentionally walked twice.

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