Latrobe reaches WCABL finals; Murrysville, Bushy Run split

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, August 1, 2020 | 7:38 PM

For the third consecutive playoff, Latrobe found itself in a hole late in a Westmoreland County American Baseball League game.

And for the third consecutive game, Latrobe rallied for a victory. At least it wasn’t an 11-run deficit Saturday.

Latrobe scored 11 runs over the final two innings at Sutersville and defeated Yough, 15-5, in Game 2 to win the semifinal-round series.

The Jethawks, the regular-season champions, advanced to the championship game Tuesday and clinched a berth in the regional tournament next weekend at Hollidaysburg. Latrobe rallied to defeat Yough, 13-12, in Game 1 and came back to beat Mt. Pleasant in Game 2 of its opening series.

Latrobe jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, but Yough rallied to grab a 5-4 lead after five innings.

Nate Wilkins had a triple to spark Yough.

“Yough is a quality team and well coached,” Latrobe coach Jason Bush said. “We knew they would punch back at us. We were able to scratch out two runs to reclaim the lead and then had the big seventh.”

Ethan Boring opened the sixth inning with a single, and he moved to second on a single by Drew Clair and to third on an error. Clair stole second.

Boring scored on a groundout by Clay Petrosky, and Clair scored on a hit by Logan Gustafson.

Gustafson had four hits and Clair three, including two doubles, for the Jethawks.

Clair’s two-run double highlighted the nine-run seventh inning.

“I’m happy that we reached the championship and earned a berth to Hollidaysburg to face some of the top teams in central Pennsylvania,” Bush said. “This is icing on the cake.”

Latrobe will face the winner of the other semifinal-round series between Bushy Run and Murrysville at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Legion-Keener Field. Yough will be on the road to face the loser of the other series Tuesday.

The top three teams advance to Hollidaysburg for the regional tournament.

Murrysville 7, Bushy Run 2 — A four-run third inning helped Murrysville win Game 1. Zach Miller had a triple, and Trevor Brncic and Connor Helm each had three hits for Murrysville. Chris Pagano was the winning pitcher, allowing four hits. The loss went to Devin Boehm.

Bushy Run 3, Murrysville 1 — Pitchers Garrett Couch and Anthony Sherwin combined on a five-hitter to pace Bushy Run to a Game 2 victory to even the series 1-1 after a doubleheader. The deciding game is 11 a.m. Sunday at Sunrise Elementary School in Penn Township.

Davin Berardi had an RBI triple in the sixth inning for Bushy Run.

Helm limited Bushy Run to four hits in the loss.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.