The champ is back

Eagles start title defense with convincing, 11-2 win

By TOM FOX — tfox@lockhaven.com
WINGATE — Joe Pillot applied a simple stragety in each of his four at-bats Monday.

Forget that it was a playoff game, or the start of Bald Eagle Area baseball’s title defense of the state’s Class AA crown. Just keep it simple, he kept telling him. See the ball, hit the ball was his mindset.

So far, so good.

The BEA junior finished his day 3-for-3 with three RBI and missed the cycle by a triple, while the Eagles racked up nine hits and 11 runs in an 11-2, quarterfinal victory over Laurel Valley in District VI Class AA action.

Pillot crushed a two-run homer to straight away center in the first inning —one where BEA scored four runs with back-to-back jacks by Pillot and A.J. Robinson — added a double to left-center in the second, and got his third RBI off a single to right-center in the sixth.

“There were a little nerves entering the playoffs. Anytime you enter into a playoff game, you are always a little nervous,” Pillot said. “Just some jitters, but everything has started good for us. I just tried to keep it as simple as possible in there. I was just looking for a good pitch to drive.”

While the Rams made the nearly 120-mile trek to Wingate, the departure wasn’t quite what Lew McLaughlin was looking for as LV really didn’t have any type of answer for BEA pitcher Justin Koleno.

In fact, one Ram run scored off an error on a throw to third base and the other came from an RBI groundout. Koleno, at times, was harder on himself than the Laurel Valley bats, issuing seven walks. He threw a complete-game four-hitter with nine strikeouts.

“Their pitcher was the difference,” McLaughlin said of Koleno. “He had us off balance. No pitcher has shut us down like that all year. He’s really one heck of a pitcher.

“He had a good curveball. Sometimes, you don’t have to throw that for a strike because we were helping him by chasing pitches in the dirt. That’s no excuse. He had a little control trouble early, and we didn’t take advantage of it. He got stronger, and that’s a credit to him.”

While the Eagles did enter the game on a two-game losing skid, that fact never bothered head coach Jim Gardner. Actually, he looked at it in a different way. He thought it would make BEA stronger in the long run, and more focused as the postseason came about.

Focused is what the Centre County boys were as Pillot and John Schall each had three hits, and the bats were consistently putting pressure on LV pitchers Sean Lenhart and Matt Allen.

“Our focus was there, and you could tell the kids were definitely up for the game. This is really what you work all season for,” Gardner said. “You want to get to this point. They did everything I asked of them, in terms of getting that No. 1 seed. It worked out with playing the No. 9 seed here. This is a big win.

“Hitting the ball the way we did, with the authority that we did, kind of made a statement. That was big for Justin too, because that gave him a 4-1 lead to work with. That allows him to get into a comfort zone when he was pitching.”

LV got a quick run in the first before BEA broke it open in its half of the inning.

Schall opened with a single, and advanced all the way to third on an error on a sacrifice bunt by Koleno. The Eagles’ lead-off batter scored later in the frame when Lenhart was called for a balk. Pillot and Robinson then went back-to-back as the Eagles had a 4-1 advantage.

BEA added a run in the third on a Derek Noll RBI, then the junior did the biggest damage in the fourth when he whacked a bases-clearing triple to left field off relief pitcher Allen, giving the Eagles a seven-run cushion, before two more were tacked on in the sixth frame.

“We liked our chances to be truthful because we were the underdog,” McLaughlin said. “Everyone knows that Bald Eagle has one heck of a club. The game was a little closer than indicted but they jumped out early. We tip our caps to their pitcher because he did one heck of a job. He kept us off balance the entire game. We came up to play. We knew their reputation because they won the title last year, and they had some guys back. Their pitcher was the difference. They got hits in key situations, and we didn’t. We had the bases loaded in the one inning, and didn’t get anything.”

Up next for BEA is Richland, a surprising winner over the reigning district champ Philipsburg-Osceola, 3-1, on Monday. Last season, the Eagles opened its road to a state title with a convincing victory over Rams.



District VI Class AA Baseball

Quarterfinals at Wingate

BALD EAGLE AREA 11, LAUREL VALLEY 2

L 101 000 0 —2 4 3

B 401 402 x —11 9 1

L: Lenhart, Allen (4) and Karasack. B: Koleno and Lucas. WP —Koleno (1-0). LP —Lenhart. HR: B, Pillot, Robinson. 3B: B, Noll. 2B: L, Karasack. B, Pillot. MH: B, Schall 3, Pillot 3. Record: BEA 14-6-1. Next game: Semifinal Thursday vs. Richland.