Bellefonte falls short in first round of PIAA Class 4A Baseball Championships
Bellefonte baseball came up to bat down nine runs Monday evening in the Raiders’ first round playoff matchup with Montour, but nearly went home with a victory.
The Raiders fell to the Spartans at Bald Eagle, 13-9, in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A Baseball Championships.
Following the game, Bellefonte coach Jon Clark said the change Montour made on the mound to begin the inning made all the difference for his team.
“I won’t lie,” Clark told the Centre Daily Times. “They changed pitchers. The first pitcher, he had us off balance. He was throwing different speeds, different locations, had us off balance. Sometimes seeing a new and different pitcher gives you a breath of fresh air and new perspective and some new life.”
The change was made by Montour from starting pitcher Dylan Mathiesen, who threw six innings and gave up four earned runs, to the bullpen, which proved to be nearly disastrous for the Spartans.
The first reliever to come in was Vinnie Markulin, and the Raiders jumped on him. He didn’t record an out, giving up four earned runs on four hits, including a home run to Kenny Squires, his second of the game. His struggles spurred the Spartans to turn to Ryan Gallagher who gave up an earned run as well.
It would ultimately take Montour four pitchers to get through the inning, with Gallagher, Chris Tarquinio and Mason Sike each recording one out to end it.
Clark said the inning showed his team’s patience and willingness to adjust late in the game.
“We were just being patient and waiting on the pitches that we could hit,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just that change that allows you to refocus and allows you to attack the ball just a little bit differently.”
The 13-4 deficit came after Bellefonte’s pitchers struggled with control throughout the game. Starting pitcher Derek Fravel and reliever Dominic Capperella combined to walk 11 Spartan batters and hit three of them.
The biggest outbursts for Montour came in the first, fourth and seventh innings. Fravel didn’t allow a single hit in the top of the first, but three walks and an error gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead. Then Capperella walked two and gave up three hits in the fifth inning to allow four runs.
He gave up another three in the seventh after walking two and hitting one batter before giving up a three-run triple to the Spartans.
Despite the starter’s struggles early, Clark had faith in Fravel and knew he would settle in after his rocky first inning.
“Derek has the mentality of a pitcher,” Clark said. “You have to be able to forget the last pitch, forget the last at-bat. What happened before, you have to get onto the next guy. He’s pitched enough that he doesn’t need to hear anything new from any of us. ... A lot of times Derek can candle that on his own because of the type of pitcher he is. ... He was the first guy cheering our guys on when it was time to make a switch. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior leader this year.”
Any loss the rest of the way for Bellefonte would have been tough, with any defeat resulting in the end of the season. Despite the struggles on the mound, Clark said he was proud of his team for the way they performed Monday evening.
“In any type of game the margin of error is very small,” he said. “When you get to the playoffs it gets even smaller and even tighter. ... I liked how our pitchers kept battling and kept pushing. But what this team has done all year, they stuck together. We weren’t gonna let it get away from us. We kept battling and finding ways and scratching back into it.”
