Eagles plucked
SLIPPERY ROCK — That's baseball.
That was the only way Grove City High baseball coach Pat Forese could explain the implosion his team suffered in a surprising 8-4 loss to Warren in the first round of the District 10 Class AAA playoffs at Slippery Rock University's Critchfield Park Monday night.
"It happens," Forese said, shrugging his shoulders. "I told the kids going in that if we play well, we're going to be hard to beat. If we make some mistakes, then someone can upset us. That's the game of baseball."
Grove City (17-3) certainly made its fair share of mistakes.
Defense has been a problem for the Eagles and it was against the Dragons, the eighth seed who entered the playoffs with a three-game losing streak.
Grove City committed five errors, including three in a five-run second inning for Warren that put the Dragons ahead 5-1 and the Eagles in desperation mode.
Defensive blunders by Grove City led to three more unearned runs by Warren in the fourth inning and an 8-1 advantage.
By the time the Eagles regrouped, it was too late.
"The thing that really got us (this season) was errors," Forese said. "We had more errors this year than we have had in a long time."
Grove City, which entered the playoffs riding a 14-game winning streak, made a mild rally in the top of the fifth inning, scoring three times to cut the Warren lead to 8-4.
Jonny Anderson drove home two of those runs with a double, but the Eagles couldn't get to Warren starter Tyler Leichtenberger enough.
Leichtenberger gave up only three hits to a potent Grove City offense and struck out six, including three in the final inning, to pen a sour final chapter in a season that had the potential to be a masterpiece for the Eagles.
"I don't think many people gave us much of a chance," said Warren coach Jeff Passaro. "We kind of limped into the playoffs. We had our struggles, but we played good ball and Tyler pitched a fantastic game."
Grove City 100 030 0 — 4 3 5Warren 050 300 x — 8 7 2W: Tyler Leichtenberger 7 IP (6 K, 2 BB).
L: Randy Risch 2 IP (1 K, 0 BB).
Grove City (17-3): Alex Miklos 1B 2-R, Jonny Anderson 2B 2-RBI, Jason Revesz 2B
Warren (12-8): Kory Thomas 2-1B, Kevin Van Ord 2-1B RBI, T.J. Latimer 2B RBI
