St. Marys – The Allegheny Coatings Goats made it back-to-back championships Thursday night in the St. Marys Mens Softball League, turning back St. Marys Insurance 12-11, earning them their second consecutive championship during this past week’s action at the Robin Road Sports Complex.
Allegheny Coatings, who swept Elk County Tool & Die in the best of five championship series last year, took care of SMI this year three games to one.
The Goats, who entered the playoffs as the third seed, beat swept their way through round one against Cavalier Roofing, and in the semifinals against Elk County Tool & Die to earn their spot in the finals.
St. Marys Insurance, the playoffs top seed, also had a pair sweeps in the first two rounds, taking care of Gerg Tool & Die, then dispatching Deprators Beverage.
The two teams in the finals have hoisted the trophy each of the past six seasons between them, the Goats winning in 2023, 2022 and 2018, with St. Marys Insurance winning three in a row from 2019 through 2021.
Allegheny Coatings has been dominating during their two season run, going a combined 14-1 in the playoffs, their only loss was game two of the finals this year against SMI.
Thursday night’s game four was by far the best game of the series and epitomized how close the two teams are in terms of talent and competitiveness. The four game series was decided by just 11 runs, 45-34. That is just an average of 11-8 each game. The two teams averaged over 15 runs a game during the regular season. Defense and timely hitting were key throughout the series.
SMI’s Tony Chiodo led off the game with a solo homerun to give Insurance the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Goats went quietly, stranding a runner in the home half of the inning.
In the top of the second, with one out, Kurt Eckert singled, advanced to second on a fielders choice, then scored on a RBI single by Kiel Nissel. Again the Goats couldn’t do anything offensively, getting a runner on with one out, but a double play erased any chance of scoring to end the inning.
SMI went 1-2-3 in their half of the third inning. Allegheny Coatings finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Dalton Kline led off with a triple. After an infield flyout, Rich Quiggle singled to left, scoring Kline, cutting the lead to 2-1 after three complete innings.
Lucas Wendel led off the top of the fourth for SMI by drawing a walk. Kenny Vogt homered to left, scoring Wendel, putting Insurance up 4-1. The next batter, Jake Cortina, homered to left also, going back-to-back with Vogt for a 5-1 lead.
The Goats would respond in their half of the fourth. Andy Eck led off the inning hitting a solo home run, making it 5-2. Justin Quiggle singled, Cole Peterson walked, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Nick Brennen singled to right, scoring Quiggle to cut the lead to 5-3. Dillon Kline then doubled to center, Peterson scored and Brennen advanced to third. Dalton Kline came up and crushed a three-run shot over the left centerfield fence, giving Allegheny Coatings their first lead of the game at 7-5.
Insurance tied the game in the top of the fifth when TJ Breindel hit a two-run homer, scoring Kyle Garner, knotting the game at 7-all. The Goats were unable to score in the bottom of the inning.
The sixth inning was full of excitement for the approximately 75 fans in attendance. SMI got things going in the top of the inning when again Wendel was able to get on to lead off the inning, this time with a single, and Vogt again launched a two run dinger to put Insurance up 9-7. Ben Cortina then singled and advanced to third on a double by Nathan Liggett. Both would score on a single by Jeremy Williams to put SMI up four, 11-7, heading to the home half of the sixth.
The Goats didn’t disappoint the fans, rallying to tie the game. Dillon Kline led off with a walk. After a flyout and a lineout, Rich Quiggle singled to center, moving Kline over to third. Ricky Pearsall singled to right, scoring Kline, pushing Quiggle to second, making the score 11-8. Kevin Hoy stepped to the plate and delivered a three run homer to tie the game at 11-11 heading to the seventh inning.
SMI was able to load the bases in the top of the seventh but was unable to push a run across the plate, giving the Goats a shot at clinching the title.
Justin Quiggle led off the inning with a single to left. Peterson followed up with a single of his own, moving Quiggle to third win no outs. Brennen hit a pop fly to deep short, which normally wouldn’t seem like much, but both the shortstop and second baseman went after the ball, leaving second base open, allowing Peterson to move to second and removing the possibility of a ground ball double play. Dillon Kline then stepped to the plate and became the hero, hitting a long fly ball to left center, which was caught for out number two, but it didn’t matter, as Quiggle tagged up and scored without a throw, giving the Goats the 12-11 series clinching win and the title.
Leading the Goats in game four were Kevin Hoy and Dalton Kline, both smacking three run homers. Hoy finished 3 for 4 and Kline 2 for 3. Justin Quiggle went 3 for 4 and Rich Quiggle added a 2 for 3 night.
Vogt went 3 for 4 for Insurance, hitting two home runs and knocking in 4 runs. Tony Chiodo, Jake Cortina, and TJ Breindel all homered for SMI. Nathan Ligget added a double.
Allegheny Coatings started the finals winning game one Monday night 9-4 for a 1-0 series lead.
Cole Peterson’s three run homerun was the key hit of the game for the Goats. Ricky Pearsall added a 4 for 4 performance that included a double. Kevin Hoy added a 3 for 4 night at the dish for the winners.
SMI scored all their runs in the first two innings, collecting just one hit an inning after that. Jake Cortina went 3 for 3 with an RBI and Eric Bush was 2 for 2 with a run knocked in.
Insurance was able to tie the 1-1 Tuesday night, beating Coatings 12-10, capitalizing on a big 5-run sixth inning, rallying from an 8-5 deficit. The key moment of the game came in the bottom of the sixth, when with two outs and the score 10-8, SMI’s Jeremy Williams made a spectacular diving catch in leftfield on a sinking line drive by Justin Quiggle with two runners on to preserve the lead and probably the game.
Kiel Nissel led SMI, going 2 for 2 and recording 3 RBI’s. Kenny Vogt went 3 for 4 with a double. Kurt Eckert also added a 3 for 4 night with an RBI for the winners.
Nick Brennen led Allegheny Coatings, trying to put the team on his shoulders and lead them to a win by hitting 3 homeruns and knocking in 4 runs. Kevin Hoy also homered as part of a 2 for 3 performance, adding 3 RBI’s.
Allegheny Coatings took the pivotal game three Wednesday night, beating Insurance 14-8.
Rich Quiggle led the Goats, going 3 for 4 with 1 run knocked in, but twice started rallies that were key to the win, the first, a two out single in the second that led to 3 runs, then leading off the fifth with a single to start another 3 run inning, this time tying the game at 7-all. Justin Quiggle provided the big bat on this night, going 3 for 4 with a homerun and 4 RBI. Eck finished 2 for 3, knocking in 4 runs as well. Ryan Grimm added a double and Pearsall was 3 for 4.
Again, defense played a pivotal role in the outcome of the game, this time in favor of Allegheny Coatings. Nursing a seven run lead heading to the bottom of the seventh, Jeremy Williams led off the inning with a solo dinger for SMI to cut the lead to 14-8. With two outs and a runner on, TJ Breindel, the last hitter in the lineup and a key out before the top of the order would come up, hit what appeared to be a line drive single to left, by the Goats shortstop, Cole Peterson, laid out and made a great catch on the line drive to end the rally and the game.
SMI had a big third inning, scoring 5 of their 8 runs, but was unable to provide much offense the other six innings. Williams had the hot bat for Insurance, homering twice and finishing 3 for 3. Jake Cortina was 2 for 2 and Vogt, Ben Cortina, Liggett, and Nissel all went 2 for 3 in the losing effort.