Why P-O baseball is trying to look on the bright side after losing the district title in extras

Philipsburg-Osceola pitcher Ryan Whitehead stood on the PNG Field mound as his infielders closed in on him, clapping their hands. P-O coach Doug Sankey embraced his starter at the bump while the Mountie crowd offered a standing ovation. Two outs down in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s District 6 Class 3A championship game, Whitehead’s commanding day was done — but not by choice.

Whitehead hit his pitch count. With 105 under his belt, the sophomore trotted off the mound to applause, knowing he couldn’t finish the job he started. An inning later, Whitehead had to watch from the dugout as Mount Union celebrated a walk-off single.

The Mounties fell short against Mount Union, losing 1-0 in nine innings in the district title game. P-O’s season isn’t over; it plays the District 7 champion in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Monday. But this one hurt for the Mounties.

“There were a lot of emotions,” Whitehead said, recalling that eighth-inning trip off the mound. “Throughout the whole season, this is what we worked toward. This was the stage we wanted to be at this point of the season. It’s a tough one. Definitely a tough one.”

Added Sankey: “I thought we’d score one run for him. That’s all we needed to do. Push one run across.”

But the bats were silent for the Mounties (15-8). P-O, a squad that scored 34 runs in its last four games, scattered five hits off Mount Union starter Dylan Gearhart. The winning pitcher tossed a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts on 99 pitches. Whitehead, meanwhile, had eight Ks, gave up four hits and walked one unintentionally.

The losing pitcher for P-O was Carson Jones, who came on in relief of Whitehead. The senior got out of the eighth inning unscathed after allowing back-to-back, two-out singles. But the Trojans secured the run they needed in the ninth. Mount Union’s Grayson McClain — after striking out three times at the hands of Whitehead — hit a game-winning, RBI single past third baseman Keegan Soltis.

McClain’s teammates erupted and ran onto the field while the Mounties let loose a wide array of emotions. Jones put his head in hands on the mound. Soltis threw his glove to the dirt. It was a frustrating way to lose a district final — needing only one run — given Whitehead’s stellar showing.

Whitehead — while offering credit to catcher Trey Shaw, who “called a heck of a game” — said Tuesday was a top-five performance of the year for him. “It would have been my top one if we won,” the pitcher added.

Instead, Whitehead was ushered out of the game early. The sophomore entered the bottom of the eighth inning knowing he had 101 pitches to his name. Before going to the mound, Whitehead told Sankey he’d get him two outs, and he did. Whitehead struck out McClain on three pitches and induced a first-pitch flyout by Matt Harshbarger. Then, Sankey made a walk he wished he could have avoided.

“I’ve said this since they’ve had the rule: At this point in the year, me personally, they should have a staggered thing. Like, first week make it 80 pitches and 120 by this time,” the coach said. “(Whitehead) could have thrown 120 pitches. It’s frustrating. But they put some good at-bats up, fouled some balls off and worked good counts. We didn’t do that.”

The Mounties did have a few opportunities to get that elusive run, most notably in the top of the eighth inning. Designated hitter Isaiah Dixon led off the frame with a double — one of only two times P-O got on-base to start an inning. Dixon, standing on second base, looked to the Mountie dugout and threw his arms up and down in celebration, pumping up the P-O players and crowd.

“I thought for sure we were going to push a run across there,” Sankey added. “It was our opportunity.”

P-O didn’t capitalize, though. Jeremy Whitehead popped up behind shortstop, not deep enough to advance the pinch-runner, Micah Martin. Ryan Whitehead belted a line drive right at McClain, Mount Union’s centerfielder. And Jones flew out to right field, ending the best threat of the game.

Despite the lackluster offensive showing, Ryan Whitehead believes P-O can “make a run” in the PIAA playoffs. In order to do that now, the Mounties need to regroup before their first-round matchup.

“We’ll try to look on the bright side,” Sankey said. “We’re playing Monday, and you never know.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2019 at 5:40 PM.