Raiders roughed up
Playing from behind is tough enough in the regular season.
Seneca Valley was forced to do so in a state playoff game Monday and the Raiders were unable to save their season.
Altoona scored five runs in the top of the second, sparking a 9-4 victory in a PIAA Class AAAA first-round affair at Pullman Park.
SV starting pitcher Zach DeTillio looked sharp in the first inning, retiring the Mountain Lions in order, including a pair of strikeouts.
But the senior encountered trouble in the next inning. He walked Ben Wyland and hit Anthony Lombardo to begin the frame. After striking out Chris Sinisi, DeTillio allowed a single to Dylan Oswalt that loaded the bases.
A walk forced in Wyland with the game's first run. Shea Stayer then hit a two-run single and Christian Helsel lined a two-run double down the left-field line. In just a matter of minutes, the Mountain Lions had built a 5-0 lead.
Helsel's hit prompted SV coach Eric Semega to pull DeTillio in favor of Zach Spangler.
“Zach (DeTillio) wanted to perform well and I'm sure he's disappointed,” said Semega. “He battled, but I felt we needed to make a change.”
The Raiders (18-5) began their comeback attempt with a three-spot in the next half inning. Austin Bream, Spangler and Jason Martin led off the frame with three straight singles.
Later in the inning, Connor Coward and Zach Creedon managed back-to-back run-scoring infield singles and Brad Gresock was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring a third run. Helsel, Altoona's starting pitcher who would go on to throw a complete game, did get out of the inning with no further damage when he struck out Sam Fragale with the bases loaded.
Helsel, a senior, is headed to the University of Mississippi as a position player.
“He had one tough inning when Seneca Valley hit the ball well, but after that, he was pretty much in control,” said Altoona coach Tom Smith. “As a team, we played good baseball for seven innings.
“You put up a nine-spot and you better find a way to win the game,” he added.
Down 6-3 in the fifth inning, the Raiders pulled closer with a solo home run from Fragale. But Altoona (16-5) answered with three runs in the top of the sixth as two SV fielding errors proved costly. Before the inning was over, Spangler was relieved by Martin.
The Raiders went on to strand two runners in the sixth and one more in the seventh, as Helsel ended the game with 10 strikeouts, no walks and four runs allowed on 10 hits.
“We had a pretty good read on him,” said Semega. “He's probably the best pitcher we've faced all year and I thought we did a great job of putting the ball in play against him.
“But when you're down 5-0 early, you start pressing.”
The 2012 season may have ended in disappointment, but it also yielded a second consecutive WPIAL title, the third district crown in program history.
“Winning two straight titles, that's something a lot of Quad-A teams aren't able to do,” said Semega. “I told the guys to hold their heads high.”
Notes: Bream collected three base hits for SV while Helsel did so for Altoona. ... Spangler pitched 4 1-3 innings, struck out two and did not walk a batter. ... Martin did not allow a run in his 1 1-3 innings of work.
Altoona 050 103 0 — 9 11 0Seneca Valley 030 010 0 — 4 10 4W: Christian Helsel 7IP (10K, 0BB). L: Zach DeTillio 1.1IP (3K, 2BB).Altoona (16-5): Christian Helsel 2-1B 2B R 2RBI, Colby Fink 1B R RBI, Ben Wyland 2R, Anthony Lombardo 1B 2B 2RBI, Chris Sinisi 1B, Dylan Oswalt 2-1B R, Jared Berardinelli R RBI, Shea Stayer 2-1B 2R 2RBI, Tyler Negri RSeneca Valley (18-5): Brad Gresock RBI, Sam Fragale HR, Austin Bream 3-1B R, Zach Spangler 1B, Jason Martin 1B, Carson Kessler 1B, Connor Coward 1B R RBI, Zach Creedon 2-1B RBI, Zach Bredl R
