KC baseball denied trip to semis
DUBOIS — At the plate and in the field, Karns City fell short in earning the team a trip to the state semifinals.
The Gremlins were held to four hits by Bald Eagle pitcher Tyler Serb and four errors led to four unearned runs in a 6-0 loss to the Eagles in a PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Showers Field.
“We played a lot of good baseball down the stretch to get here, but we just didn’t play that well today,” said Gremlins coach Josh Smith.
Ominous signs hit the Gremlins in the very first inning. After Serb set KC down in order — including two strikeouts — on just eight pitches, the Eagles (20-4) scored the game’s first run without the benefit of a hit.
Kahale Burns walked to lead off the bottom of the first. He stole second and moved to third when nobody covered second base to accept catcher Troy Nagel’s throw.
With one out, Tayten Yoder hit a ground ball to third baseman Koen Williams, who threw home in an attempt to get Burns, who was trying to score. The throw was in time, but Nagel was unable to secure the ball for the tag.
Kahale Burns singled in Gavin Burns in the second and two more runs came in when a shallow fly ball was misplayed in the bottom of the third.
“They’re high school kids, not professionals,” Smith said. “We work hard every day in practice, but mistakes are going to happen.”
All four errors came with Mason Sherwin on the mound. He walked two, struck out two and allowed nine hits in six innings.
The last two runs scored in the bottom of the fifth frame when Parker Quick tripled in a run and then scored himself on a single from Kaden Burns.
Meanwhile, the Gremlins were finding it difficult getting base runners against Serb, who needed just 55 pitches to get through the first six innings. He struck out nine in the complete-game win while walking none.
A senior, Serb improved his record this season to 8-3 and now has an ERA of 1.75.
“We had a decision to make when to throw Tyler,” said Bald Eagle coach Jim Gardner. “We decided to go with Wyatt Coakley on Monday (in a 10-4 win over McConnellsburg). ”Tyler has been our No. 1 all year. He has a really good curveball and gets it over for strikes a lot.“
The Gremlins had just two hits in the first six innings, but were robbed by great defensive plays on a number of occasions.
Bald Eagle left-fielder Mikey Snyder, right-fielder Gavin Eckley and shortstop Kahale Burns each made diving catches to take hits away from KC batters.
“Kahale sets the tone for our defense,” said Gardner. “The other guys rise up around him.”
Michael Neff pitched a scoreless sixth for KC prior to the Gremlins making the last three outs of the game difficult for Serb to secure.
Mallick Metcalfe doubled to begin the top of the seventh and moved to third on Neff’s infield single. With two outs, Nagel was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Serb struck out Williams to end the game.
Karns City finishes the season with a record of 16-8 and picked up its first state-playoff win in 27 years.
“It’s a great stepping stone for the program and I’m happy with it,” Smith said. “We have to say goodbye to our seniors (Mallick Metcalfe, Michael Neff, Braden Grossman and Mitchell Waldroup). It hurts now, but life is filled with chapters. They just closed one, but are about to begin another.”
Karns City 000 000 0 — 0 4 4
Bald Eagle 112 020 x — 6 10 0
W: Tyler Serb 7 IP (9K, 0BB). L: Mason Sherwin 5 IP (2K, 2BB).
Karns City (16-8): Mallick Metcalfe 2B, Michael Neff 2-1B, Mason Sherwin 1B
Bald Eagle (20-4): Kahale Burns 1B R RBI, Justin Bisel 2-1B 2R, Parker Quick 1B 3B 2R RBI, Kaden Burns 2-1B RBI
