Knoch advances with bizarre 1-0 win
WEXFORD — Not long after the celebration had turned into curious stares and shrugged shoulders, Knoch baseball coach George Bradley slowly walked to the mound and gathered his team.
He expected to find a bunch of shellshocked teenagers, ringing their hands in worry after the final out of a 1-0 PIAA Class AAA playoff win was erased by a catcher's interference call and a ground ball off the bat of the next Punxsutawney hitter was booted.
Instead, he found something else.
“They were laughing,” Bradley said.
That reaction was almost as bizarre as the game — and its ending.
Knoch overcame four errors, two runners gunned down at the plate, a run wiped off the board when a runner tagging up from third was ruled to have left early and a final inning in which the Knights had to record four outs to topple District 9 champion Punxsutawney, 1-0, at North Allegheny High School Monday afternoon.
“That's been this team: Adversity doesn't bother them,” Bradley said. “When I went out there (in the top of the seventh inning), I asked them, 'Are you going to let this stop you?' The answer was, 'No.'”
Knoch needed a stellar pitching performance and the Knights got one again from Alex Stobert, who scattered three singles, struck out just one and walked two in seven innings.
Three of the four Knoch errors were charged to Stobert on errant pick-off throws, but he was able to negate the damage, in large part because of his defense.
Cole Shinsky scurried after the first wild pick-off throw and gunned down Punxsy's Dakota Thomas at third.
The other two runners who moved into scoring position because of the off-the-mark pick-off attempts were stranded there.
In all, Punxsy left at least one runner on in each inning and five in scoring position.“It was a good defensive game, “ Stobert said. “One strikeout. What more can you ask for from your defense? Whenever anyone got on base, I knew our defense was going to make plays, so there wasn't really too much worries when guys got on base.“We ended up kind of hurting ourselves,” Stobert added. “I had three errors on throw-overs, but our defense made plays and made it no big deal.”The lone run scored by Knoch ended up being a real big deal in a game dominated by pitching.Dominick Bucko doubled home Logan Hickey, who reached on Punxsutawney's lone error, in the bottom of the third inning off Chucks' starter Ryan Sloniger and that run stood up.Sloniger, a Penn State University recruit, struck out six, walked one and gave up just five hits.“I told the guys we hit a lot of balls hard,” said Punxsutawney coach Mike Dickey. “We hit some atom balls, but right at people. That's a great pitcher over there and he did a great job. That's a great team and there's a reason why we have the records that we have. This, though, is tough because we pitched and played good enough to win.”It was even tougher for the Chucks because they had to suffer the sinking feeling of defeat twice.Punxsy's Brandon Blose appeared to have flown out to Addis Crouch in right field to end the game in the top of the seventh, but Blose's bat clipped the mitt of catcher Asa Adams on the swing and Blose was awarded first base.John Matthews then reached on an error and the Chucks had runners on first and second and new life.But Stobert got Punxsy leadoff hitter Braxton Giavedoni to hit a sharp ground ball that Knoch second baseman Mike McCartney snagged and then threw to Shinsky at first to end the game — for real this time.“We were just like, 'Let's just get the next out,'” Stobert said. “It was just a little bit of adversity.”Knoch has been conquering adversity all season.Stobert pointed to the closeness of the team as a reason why the Knights have been so resilient.“This is a good group of ballplayers,” Stobert said. “We come together as family. We love each other. I've never been on a team like this before. I've never been on a team that's had so much compassion for each other and love between everyone. We're all here for each other and I think that's what has gotten us through everything.”Knoch will play either District 10 champion Cathedral Prep or Montour, which was the third-place team in the WPIAL, Thursday at a site and time to be determined.The Cathedral Prep-Montour game was postponed Monday and will be played today.Bradley said his team is ready for anything.It has proven that this season.“Are we a team of destiny? I don't know,” Bradley said. “They play together and they play loose.“This is similar to the Masters, if you like golf,” Bradley added. “They just don't take anyone into this thing. You have to be invited. So, let's see how we do. They like to be challenged and they're playing loose, like they have all year.”Punxsutawney 000 000 0 — 0 3 1Knoch 001 000 x — 1 5 4W: Alex Stobert 7IP (1K, 2BB). L: Ryan Sloniger 6IP (6K, 1BB).Punxsutawney (19-2): Dakota Thomas 1B, Sloniger 2B, John Matthews 1BKnoch (20-2): Dominick Bucko 2B RBI, Cole Shinsky 1B, Jordan Kowalski 2B, Stobert 1B, Jake Herrit 1BThursday: Knoch vs. Cathedral Prep-Montour winner in second round of PIAA Class AAA playoffs at site and time TBD
