Madonna wins city championship in extra inning thriller
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WEIRTON -- The Madonna baseball team put the ball in play, and things worked out well for the Blue Dons.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, David Connors singled to right field, and TJ DeCaprio scored the winning run when the ball was misplayed in the outfield allowing Madonna to defeat city rival Weir, 9-8, in the annual City Championship Game Tuesday night at Bowman Field.
"I wanted to get here and make a statement," first-year Madonna (12-4) head coach T.J. Miller said. "The guys here are great. They do a great job. The school has been great. I wanted to start by winning the city championship. The guys showed they wanted it, and they got it."
After a strikeout to start the eighth, DeCapio and Chase Littleton were both hit by pitches to put two runners on base. Facing a 1-2 count, Connors singled, DeCapio scored the winning run and the Madonna players stormed out of the dugout and onto the field to celebrate the city championship.
The misplay in the outfield was the Red Riders fifth error of the game.
"We made too many mistakes early," Weir (5-10) head coach Dave Cowden said. "Give Madonna credit, they put the ball in play. They scored three runs in the first inning, and we had four errors. You can't win games when you give teams six or seven outs in an inning.
"Madonna hit the ball. They put the ball in play.
"I'm proud of my guys. They came back. They fought. They battled back.
"We had some chances to win the game. We had a runner thrown out at the plate. We had a runner thrown out at second.
"It was a very good competitive high school baseball game."
The hit by Connors made a winner out of Mathew Geer, who came on in relief of starter Jacob Lazear in the fifth. Geer struck out three and walked two in his four innings of work on the mound. Lazear struck out four and walked four in his four innings.
The Red and Black used three pitchers in the game.
Trae Cook started, but he only pitched into the second inning. Cook did not strike out a batter and walked one in his one inning of work. Alek Zanieski replaced Cook during the second inning, and he pitched the next six innings. Zanieski struck out six and walked four. Liam Williamson was charged with the loss. Williamson struck out one and did not walk a batter in his 1/3 of an inning of work.
The hosts outhit the visitors, 10-7.
Individually for Madonna, Koleton Grishkevich collected three doubles, Lazear tallied a single and two doubles and Grant Wilharm contributed two singles and an RBI. Also, Leyland Nagy delivered a single and an RBI, and Geer recorded two RBI on sacrifice flies.
For Weir, Nico Glass singled, doubled and had an RBI, Cook collected a two-run single and Lucas McAllister and Damir Mowder each tallied an RBI single. Also, Teddy Glyptis and Zanieski ended up with singles, while G Cross recorded an RBI.
After keeping the Red Riders off the scoreboard in the first, the Blue Dons plated three runs in the home half of the inning to take the early lead. The first two batters reached on errors to set the tone for the inning. Wilharm singled home a run, and Geer brought home another as the boys in white took a 3-0 lead.
Mowder singled home a run for Weir in the second as the Red Riders closed the gap to 3-1.
The victors increased their advantage in the bottom half of the inning as Madonna scored three more runs to build a 6-1 lead. Nagy singled home a run, Grishkevich doubled home Nagy and Geer recorded his second sacrifice fly of the game to give his team a five-run advantage.
"We started hot, and then we got a little sloppy," Miller said. "We fell asleep. The guys brought the energy.
"We faced a little bit of adversity, and the guys battled through it. I'm proud of them. Our pitchers did well. They faced some adversity.
"Everybody on the team played a role in this win. It is a special win. It is a great win for Madonna baseball. We want to get hot at the right time."
Neither team scored in the third or fourth innings.
Weir got its offense rolling in the fifth as the Red Riders pushed four runs across to pull within 6-5.
The Red Riders had the momentum, but it was short lived as the Blue Dons answered right back with a pair of runs – the second coming when Grishkevich stole home – to take an 8-5 lead.
Weir responded with two more runs in the sixth to pull back within a run at 8-7. The Red Riders had a chance to tie the game, however, Connors threw a runner out at the plate to keep Madonna in the lead.
Madonna failed to score in the sixth as Weir headed into the seventh down by just one run.
In the seventh, McAllister, who played baseball last season at Madonna, singled home the tying run to knot the score at 7, however, that was the only damage Weir was able to do in the inning.
"I'm very proud of the fight these guys showed," Cowden said. "They came back, they battled. A lesser team would have folded, but they continued to fight. I have to give them credit."
After back-to-back groundouts to start the home half of the seventh, Grishkevich doubled off the fence to extend the inning. Zanieski, however, was able to bear down, and he got his third groundout of the inning to end the threat and the inning, sending the game into extra innings
Both teams are scheduled to play today at home. Weir is slated to take on rival Big Red at 5 p.m., while Madonna is set to play Frontier at 5:15 p.m.
Madonna 9, Weir 8 (8 innings)
Weir 010 042 10 – 8 7 5
Madonna 330 020 01 – 9 10 4
WEIR (5-10): Cook ND (1IP, 0K, 1BB), Zanieski ND (6IP, 6K, 4BB), Williamson LP (1/3IP, 0K, 0BB) and McAllister. Cross RBI; Cook S, 2RBI; Zanieski S; McAllister S, RBI; Mowder S, RBI; Glyptis S; Glass S, D, RBI
MADONNA (12-4): Lazear ND (4IP, 4K, 4BB), Geer WP (4IP, 3K, 2BB) and Wells. Nagy S, RBI; Grishkevich 3D, 2RBI; Wilharm 2S, RBI; Geer 2RBI; Connors S; Lazear S, 2D