South Fayette junior no-hits BEA in opener

By Guy Cipriano

ALTOONA — Bald Eagle Area will attempt to win its third straight District 6 Class AA baseball title next year.

Craig Houtz

South Fayette starting pitcher Dillon Haviland, left, gets high fives from manager James Barton during his no hitter win over Bald Eagle Area of the PIAA first round playoff game on Monday, June 1, 2009.

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If the school repeats the always-dif ficult task, it might want to call the PIAA offices in Mechanics-burg with a request: A first-round state playoff game as far from aging Vets Field as possible.

While in a greedy mode, the Eagles might also want to solicit the PIAA for an opponent other than a District 7 third-place finisher with a stingy, rested junior pitcher.

South Fayette’s Dillon Haviland ended BEA’s postseason run by tossing a no-hitter and leading the Lions to a 5-1 victory Monday. The victory came 366 days after then- Seton LaSalle junior Derek Law handled the Eagles 4-2 at the

identical site. South Fayette and Seton LaSalle, coincidentally, play in the same WPIAL section.

The similarities between these Lions, who will play section rival North Catholic in Thursday’s quarterfinals, and those Rebels ends with their proximity to Pittsburgh and success against BEA at Vets Field.

Law used his right arm to strikeout 10 Eagles last year, yet he still allowed seven hits, which gave BEA optimism that extended into the seventh. Haviland represented one of baseball’s rarest breeds. This was a left-hander who struck out 12 and benefited from a tenacious, opportunistic offense.

The Lions scored four runs with two outs.

Their only extra-base hit against Miles Etters was Jonathan Goodwill’s double off the right-field wall in the second. Goodwill recorded the hit with two outs. It scored two runs, giving the Lions a 3-0 lead and their vivacious coach James Barton confidence.

“With Dillon, it’s easy,” Barton said. “If you get two or three runs a game, you’re going to win, unless something drastic happens because you’re not going to get three runs off him.”

Haviland’s only rocky outing this season came when he allowed five runs during the first inning of a loss to section rival Bishop Canevin on April 14. According to Barton, Haviland, who has orally committed to Duke despite one season of high school ball remaining, hit three batters and walked two others to begin the game.

Haviland quickly cooled BEA (16-9), which outscored its four District 6 playoff opponents 47-1, by blowing fastballs past Derek Jabco and Mark Kotzur to end the first inning. At that point, the Eagles faced a dilemma. The only shutdown left-hander they had seen this season was A.J. Robinson, who happened to be their own first baseman Monday. Robinson allowed one run in 20 postseason innings, but he couldn’t pitch because he tossed seven innings during last Friday’s District 6 final against Mount Union.

“We haven’t seen a lefty close to that all year,” BEA coach Jim Gardner said of Haviland.

The Eagles placed Haviland in just one precarious situation when Dillon Schall walked and Toby Quick reached on an error to begin the bottom of the third. The runners moved to second on Evan Gettig’s sacrifice bunt and Schall scored on Jabco’s ground-out to second base. Kotzur then walked, giving Robinson, a member of the 2007 state championship team, an opportunity to bat with two runners on base.

Haviland started Robinson with a ball, and Barton visited the mound. Haviland threw a wild pitch, and Kotzur trotted to second. Robinson then worked himself into a full count, and took a third-strike fastball on the outside corner.

“It just caught the paint,” Haviland said.

No other Eagle batted with runners in scoring position. In fact, no other Eagle batted with a runner on base after Haviland fanned Robinson.

“It was a borderline pitch, but obviously too close to take,” Gardner said. “If we put some pressure on their defense, I think we might have been able to score some runs there. We just weren’t able to do that. That’s the game of baseball.

“Things have been rolling our way and we have been pounding the ball around and feeling good about it. It just didn’t happen today.”

Haviland retired 13 straight to end the game. The Eagles only hit two balls out of the infield as right fielder Ryan Ross made a sliding catch on a ball hit by Etters to end the fourth and Gettig flied out to Goodwill in left field during the fifth. Haviland ended the game by striking out Tyler Womer and Etters with curveballs.

“Early in the game, my curveball and offspeed wasn’t as sharp,” Haviland said. “But as I started throwing it a little more often, I got that bite and tail on it and relied on that more.”

Etters also improved as the game progressed. The Lions took a 1-0 lead on Haviland’s two-out single in the first, but Etters didn’t allow an earned run after Goodwill’s double.

Only four of South Fayette’s 10 hits came after the third. Shortstop Sean Lubin went 3-for-4 with three singles to center field and Lane Ramage took advantage of high grass to leg out two infield singles. Etters, a senior, was pitching for the first time since throwing four innings against Central Cambria on May 15.

“He did a better job of hitting his spots later on,” Gardner said. “They had 10 hits, but maybe four or five of them were good, solid contact. He did what he had to do to give us a chance. We weren’t just able to get our bats going.”

This marked BEA’s third straight trip to the PIAA playoffs. The Eagles won the title in 2007 despite falling to Philipsburg-Osceola in the district final.

Once again, the District 6 runner-up has encountered state playoff success. Mount Union advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 victory over District 7 champion Shady Side Academy on Monday. The Trojans met the Indians at the Burkett Complex in Robinson Township, another sign that playing inside one’s own district often makes little difference during the state playoffs.