St. Marys – And then there were two…
When the dust settled Thursday night at the Robin Road Sports Complex, the finals were set when Allegheny Coatings beat Deprators Beverage 11-7 to win their semi-final matchup 2-0 and advance to the championship series of the St. Marys Mens Softball League, where they will face Elk County Tool & Die, who a night earlier completed a sweep of Metco Industries with a 16-4 triumph.
The matchup has been an entire season in the making, as both teams have shared the top spot in the league all season. ECTD was the last undefeated team standing and winner of the Mid-Summer Classic Tournament, while Allegheny Coatings, the two time defending champions, fell from first to third and clawed their way back to the top of the standings to claim the regular season title with a 23-3 record. ECTD finished a game behind at 22-4. The next closest team to either of them was Metco at 14-10.
This years title series features the top two teams in most categories statistically. ECTD was the highest scoring team in the league, plating 405 runs. The Goats were second at 385. Allegheny Coatings gave up the least runs for the year, just 184, with ECTD checking in second, giving up 230. Allegheny Coatings outscored their opponents on the year by 201 runs, ECTD 175. Again, those stats were 1 & 2.
Checking in on individual stats, the series features three of the four top homerun hitters for the year, with league leader Jared Groll of ECTD topping the category with 23. The Goats Andy Eck was third with 18, followed by teammate Kevin Hoy at 16.
A look at runs batted in again shows Groll (66), Eck (61) and Hoy (56) at first, third and fourth, respectively.
And in one last category, batting average, Hoy led the league with a .708 average, followed closely by teammate Cole Peterson’s .692. ECTD’s Danny Singer and Rudy Gleixner also finished in the top ten, checking in at sixth and eighth, respectively.
The finals begin Monday night when the Goats will be the home team for game one. One game will be played each night, with the champion being crowned when one team reaches three wins in the best of five series. First pitch is slated for 6:15 pm each night.
Allegheny Coatings won game one of their semi-final series with Deprators Beverage 8-7 on Wednesday night.
Deprators took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single by Jordan Weinzierl.
The Goats battled back in the bottom of the first. Cole Peterson led off the inning with a solo homerun to tie things at 1-1. Derek Meyer then singled home Ricky Pearsall to give Allegheny Coatings a 2-1 lead after the first.
Nobody scored in the second and Deprators went quietly in the top of the third. The Goats pushed two runners across the plate in the home half of the third when Peterson doubled home pitcher Ryan Grimm and later scored on an infield groundout to make it 4-1.
Deprators came alive in the top of the fifth, plating 4 runs to retake the lead 5-4. RBI singles by Dalton Bauer and Tyler Wehler scored two runs and Gavin Elmquist added a two-run single to account for the scoring.
The lead was short lived though as the Goats plated two in bottom of the fifth to take back the lead at 6-5. Brett Quiggle doubled home his brother Justin and then scored on a single from Dillon Kline.
Deprators tied things up in the sixth when Alec Wehler hit an opposite field homerun to knot the game at 6-all.
Allegheny Coating then put up all the runs it would need to hold on for the win in the bottom of the sixth. Peterson started things off with a double and would score on a Kevin Hoy double. Hoy then scored on an Andy Eck two bagger and the Goats led 8-6 heading to the seventh.
Deprators tried to rally with two outs but came up a run short. Three straight two out singles by Wehler, Weinzierl and Matt Bellina scored Wehler, but the rally ended there when the third out was made on a fly ball to left.
Peterson led the Goats, going 3 for 3 with a homerun, two doubles and 2 RBI’s. Meyer finished 2 for 3 with an RBI and Hoy knocked in a pair of runs.
Deprators was led by Alec Wehler, who finished 3 for 4 with a homerun. Gavin Elmquist picked up a pair of RBI’s in the loss.
Thursday night in the second game of the series, things were the same as the first game, close with both teams holding the lead for at least one inning.
Both teams scored a pair of runs in the first inning, then Deprators added two in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2 lead. Back to back RBI singles by Tyler Wehler and Eric Gerber provided the fire power.
The Goats added a run in the third to cut the lead to 4-3, then regained the lead for good in the fourth, pushing 5 runners across the plate to take an 8-4 advantage. Andy Eck led off the inning with a single and scored on a Justin Quiggle single. Dillon Kline doubled home Quiggle and then Kline scored on a single by his brother, Dalton, to make it 6-4. Dalton Kline then scored on a Jake Geer single, with Geer scoring on a hit by Peterson to make it 8-4.
Tyler Wehler and Gerber again knocked in a run each in the bottom of the fourth, making it 8-6.
The Goats tacked on a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to finish off the game and series, taking home the 11-7 win.
Peterson again led the Goats, going 4 for 4 with another homer and 3 RBI’s. Dillon Kline doubled twice, and Andy Eck had three hits and one homerun for the winners.
Dalton Bauer led Deprators, going 3 for 3 with a homerun. Tyler Wehler was 2 for 3 with 2 runs knocked in.
Monday night had Metco beating Dream Catch 24-12 to reach the semifinals.
Mike Miraglia provided the big stick for Metco, going 5 for 6 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s. Dom Allegretto was 4 for 5 with a triple, homerun and 6 runs knocked in.
Also on Monday, Deprators beat SMI 17-5 to even their first round series at 1-1.
Deprators was led by Jordan Weinzierl, who went 4 for 4 with a double and homer, knocking in 5 runs. Tyler Wehler was also 4 for 4. Dalton Bauer and Zack Zameroski both added a dinger each.
Josh Zelinski was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s to lead SMI.
Tuesday night in the rubber match between Deprators and SMI, a shootout broke out, with Deprators winning 27-25 to advance to the semi’s to take on Allegheny Coatings.
Alec Wehler had the hot bat for Deprators, finishing 5 for 5 with 2 doubles and a homerun. Jordan Weinzierl and Dalton Bauer both added homers, with Bauer also hitting a triple.
Leading SMI was Kyle Garner, going 4 for 5 with a double and 2 homers, knocking in 7 runs. Kurt Eckert added a 3 for 5 night that included 2 homeruns, and 3 runs knocked in. Jake Cortina also homered in the losing effort.
In Tuesday’s other game, Elk County Tool & Die defeated Metco 13-12 in the first game of their semifinal matchup.
Mick Vogt was 4 for 5 for Metco, including a double and 2 RBI. Mike Miraglia hit a homerun, Dom Allegretto was 4 for 5 and Caleb Smith added 3 hits in the losing effort.