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Sep 17, 2023

Tyrone just misses out on WPIAL champ

Jun 6, 2023 Mirror photo by Michael BoytimTyrone’s Landon Postreich (19)

Jun 6, 2023

Mirror photo by Michael BoytimTyrone's Landon Postreich (19) consoles pitcher Caiden Bonsell after Monday's loss.

By Michael Boytim

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ELLWOOD CITY — Tyrone baseball coach Kevin Soellner is just two years removed from winning a PIAA championship, and the feeling he experienced bringing home the gold that season has stuck with him.

Soellner admits he hates losing more than almost anyone, especially this time of the year.

But when it comes to the possibility of a victory or risking a player's future, the prospect of a loss pales in comparison.

The Golden Eagles led undefeated WPIAL champion Riverside by a run in the bottom of the sixth inning of Monday's PIAA Class 3A first-round playoff game, and Tyrone pitcher Caiden Bonsell was rolling.

The senior came on in relief after Tyrone took the lead and pitched three scoreless innings, but after 53 pitches, he started to feel some pain.

"The most I have thrown this season is 64 pitches, and that's pushing it," Bonsell said. "At the beginning of the season, I was only supposed to throw 25 pitches, but I exceeded that a little bit on my own."

Soellner didn't hesitate. He took Bonsell out of the game, and to Riverside's credit, the Panthers came up with three straight hits and scored the go-ahead run on a balk to take the lead in an eventual 3-2 victory. But Bonsell said he felt fine physically after the game, and that was what was most important to his coach.

"The plan was to let him go the rest of the way," Soellner said. "He said he was starting to feel a little sore. His arm is more important than winning a game. He already had surgery on it once. I’ll never put winning a game over a kid's health, and I love winning."

Riverside, which improved to 22-0, will take on District 10 champion Fairview in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

"We have played a couple close games, but most of our games we scored nine or 10 runs," Riverside coach Dan Oliastro said. "Their pitching kept us off balance for most of the day, especially Bonsell."

Oliastro, who has won nearly 700 career games, questioned why Tyrone removed Bonsell after the game, and when he was informed the senior was dealing with a pitch count returning from an injury rather than a choice, he shook his head and said, "we could have lost today."

Bonsell struck out five in his three innings, part of the reason he wasn't able to go more than three innings.

"It sucked knowing I had to come out of the game and then having to watch my team struggle a little bit," Bonsell said. "We had a kid come in after me that's been having arm problems too. We have been struggling with that all year, actually."

Bonsell and Ross Gampe have been splitting the pitching duties during Tyrone's playoff run, but Gampe went down with an injury in the District 6 championship after retiring just one batter and did not play in Monday's game.

"I don't want to make excuses, but we did go through a lot of stuff this year," Soellner said. "They fought through it. I was worried after Ross went down what we would do, and they came out and we had a chance. The pitching kept us in the game."

A.J. Coleman started for the Golden Eagles and allowed an unearned run in the first inning when the ball popped out of Gayge Miller's glove in the outfield to help Riverside take a 1-0 lead.

Miller atoned for his mistake by hustling out an infield single in the top of the third inning. Zac LeGars, who had two of Tyrone's five hits, singled to right and both runners moved up a base on an error. Ashton Walk followed with a two-run single to give Tyrone the lead.

"He got two strikes, and he was getting under it," Soellner said. "I thought he might pop it up to be honest with you. But he fouled one off, the pitcher got the ball over the plate a little more than he wanted to, and he took advantage. We expect him to do that."

Miller kept momentum on Tyrone's side by crashing into the fence in the bottom of the inning and catching a deep fly hit by Evan Burry that robbed the Riverside leadoff man of extra bases.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth when Mitch Garvin led off with a single, Drake Fox doubled, Darren McDade tied the game with an RBI single and the Panthers went ahead on a balk.

The balk actually benefited the Golden Eagles as it was called just as the pitch was being thrown to Sam Barber, who hit the ball over the fence for what would have been a three-run home run. But unlike higher levels of baseball where the offensive coach can choose to take the balk or the result of the pitch, the National Federation of High School rule book states that a balk is an immediate dead ball, and the pitch does not count.

Tyrone nearly tied the game in the top of the seventh when Brandon McClure drew a walk, and pinch runner Josh Patterson stole second. Ryan Light hit a sinking liner to the outfield, but Riverside outfielder Ashton Schlosser made a running catch and threw Patterson out for a double play.

"They played us tough. You have to give them credit. They came here to play," Oliastro said. "My team is resilient. They have been all year. That's why we’re undefeated. It's a good solid team with a group of good pitchers."

Tyrone's senior class were sophomores when the Golden Eagles won the state championship, and LeGars and Gampe both played big roles on that team.

"They got to see the highest of highs in Tyrone," Soellner said. "They experienced some hurt from losing earlier than we thought we would last year. But between losing last week and Ross getting hurt, I’m really proud that they fought like crazy. That's the biggest takeaway for me right now."

Tyrone finished 12-12 but was left to wonder what could have been if it stayed injury free.

"If we were all healthy, we could be one of the top teams in the state," Bonsell said.

TYRONE (2): LeGars cf-c 312, Walk ss 301, Hamer c-p 300, Coleman p-rf-cf 301, B. McClure 3b 200, J. Patterson pr 000, Light rf-dh-rf 300, Bonsell p 000, Postreich p 000, Lehner 2b 200, C. McClure 1b 200, Miller lf 211. Totals — 23-2-5.

RIVERSIDE (3): Burry ss 410, Schlosser rf 301, Kristophel pr 000, Fornataro cf 301, H. Garvin lf-p 300, M. Garvin 1b 311, Harper p 000, Bowser lf 000, Fox dh 211, McDade c 302, Barber 3b 200, Hayes 2b 100, Hare ph 100. Totals — 25-3-6.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Tyrone 002 000 0 — 2 5 3

Riverside 100 002 X — 3 6 1

E–Miller 2, B. McClure, Schlosser. 2B–Fox. 3B–Fornataro. RBI–Walk 2, Schlosser, McDade. SB–J. Patterson, McDade, Hayes. CS–Walk, B. McClure. Balk–Hamer.

PITCHING

Tyrone: Coleman–2IP, 1H, 1K, 2BB, 1R, 0ER, 38 pitches. Bonsell–3IP, 2H, 5K, 1BB, 0R, 0ER, 53 pitches. Postreich (L)–0IP, 3H, 0K, 0BB, 2R, 2ER, 11 pitches. Hamer–1IP, 0H, 2K, 1BB, 0R, 0ER, 16 pitches.

Riverside: Harper–4IP, 5H, 3K, 0BB, 2R, 1ER, 48 pitches. H. Garvin (W)–3IP, 0H, 5K, 1BB, 0R, 0ER, 40 pitches.

Records: Tyrone (12-12); Riverside (22-0).

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