NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. – In a game that's outcome was determined by the final two innings, New Kensington closely fell behind Penn State Beaver on Wednesday, 12-10. This loss drops New Kensington to 0-6 in the conference and 0-8 overall.
New Kensington became the forefront in the top of the first.
Facing one out, Alex VanMeter ( Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar) doubled and soon advanced to third off a Reise Matson (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) single. Max Oliveri (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) came in to pinch run for Matson. He moved to second when Thomas Santiago Jr. (Jersey City, N.J./M.E.T.S. Charter) reached first on catcher's interference. The bases were loaded when Branden Stipetich (Blawnox, Pa./Fox Chapel) got on first off a fielder's choice. VanMeter was out at home. With two outs and no runs, Jared Busche (Pittsburgh, Pa./Gateway) doubled and brought home Oliveri, Santiago, and Stipetich. Busche was able to score off of the next hit by AJ Collins (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills). At the end of the first, New Kensington had a 4-0 lead.
Beaver soon answered back, and by the end of the second, the game was deadlocked 4-4.
New Kensington broke the tie in the fourth inning. Mario Gomez (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) walked and made his way to second when Jordan Witcher (District Heights, Md./Largo) grounded out. On a wild pitch, Gomez advanced to third and scored off a Tallon Auth (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) single. This put New Kensington back on top, 5-4.
New Kensington ran in another two during the fifth. Santiago made it to first after walking and soon moved to second when Stipetich reached first on a Beaver error. Busche loaded the bases after getting hit by the pitch. Santiago was able to score when Collins walked, and Stipetich ran in another off a ground out. Heading into the bottom of the fifth, New Kensington led 7-4, but Beaver ran in two which put it down by one, 7-6.
To increase the gap, New Kensington scored two more runs in the sixth. VanMeter singled and got to second on a pitcher's error. With a Matson double, VanMeter scored. Matson was able to advance to third when Santiago struck out swinging and scored off a Stipetich single. New Kensington was ahead 9-6, but the lead was handed over to Beaver at the bottom of the inning, 10-9.
In the top of the seventh, New Kensington tied up the score, 10-10, courtesy of Auth homering.
Beaver used the bottom of the inning to score once more, and it saw another run in the eighth. Down 12-10, New Kensington had the ninth inning to come back by two but was only able to get one hit.
Collins went 3-for-4 and had two RBI. Busche led in RBI, three, and doubled. Auth totaled two RBI including his homerun.
New Kensington will play at home on Friday, Apr. 9 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. as it takes on Penn State Mont Alto.
Written by Janet Surma
