There is an old saying in sports – It’s not how you start a season; it’s how you finish!
Well, for Allegheny Coatings, that couldn’t be more true of the 2022 season.
Sitting with a 9-7 record and in sixth place in the league standings, the Goats went on an 8-game winning streak to end the regular season and finish in third place with a 17-7 record. The Goats then swept their way through the playoffs with a perfect 7-0 record, to make it 15 straight wins and a league championship title.
After sweeping sixth seeded Tubby’s Tavern in the first round of the playoffs, Allegheny Coatings, the third seed, then swept second seeded St. Marys Insurance to reach the finals against top seeded Elk County Tool & Die.
In all, the Goats outscored their opponents 103-29 on their way to the title.
Elk County Tool & Die, regular season champions with a record of 22-2, which included a 15-game winning streak to start the season, swept eighth seeded Wildwoods, then went the full three games against fifth seeded Carlson Technologies to beat them 2-1, to meet up with Allegheny Coatings in the finals.
After winning the first game 13-3, Allegheny Coatings took game two 16-8 last Wednesday night in action at the Robin Road Sports Complex.
After ECTD went scoreless in the top of the first, the Goats got things going in the bottom half of the inning, putting up the first of their four three spots. Back-to-back singles by Ricky Pearsall and Derek Meyer had runners on the corner. Andy Eck grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice, scoring Pearsall. Kevin Hoy would single, moving Eck to second and both runners would advance one base on a fly ball off the bat of Cole Peterson. Justin Quiggle followed that up with a two-run single and the Goats led 3-0 after one inning of play.
Josh Zelinski led off the second with a single for ECTD but was erased on a double play and a fly ball end would end the second for the Diemen.
The Goats got going again in the home half of the second when Dalton Kline, batting last in the lineup, rolled the top of the order with a leadoff single. Pearsall followed with another single, moving Kline to third. A Meyer single scored Pearsall and moved Pearsall to third with Meyer strolling into second on the throw. Eck knocked in Pearsall with a sacrifice fly and Meyer scored on a groundout by Hoy to push the lead to 6-0 after two.
ECTD got on the board with four in the third to cut the lead to 6-4. An RBI single by Brandon Sicheri scored Nick Reuscher. Danny Singer’s sacrifice fly scored the second run for the Diemen and a double by Kyler Lenox scored two to account for the ECTD scoring.
An RBI single by Jake Geer and a two run double by Pearsall pushed the Goats lead back to five at 9-4 after three innings.
That score would remain the same until the top of the fifth when Rudy Gleixner smacked a two-run homer and Lenox followed that up with a solo shot to cut the lead to 9-8.
Two sacrifice flies, on by Dalton Kline and the other by Hoy scored two in the bottom of the fifth for Allegheny Coatings. Meyer also roped a two-run single to right center in the inning and the Goats up five again, leading 13-8 heading to the sixth.
ECTD got two runners to reach base in the top of the sixth but couldn’t cash in and still trailed 13-8 going to the bottom of the sixth.
Allegheny Coatings got three insurance runs in the sixth when Dalton Kline hit a three-run homer to left to extend the lead to 16-8.
ECTD went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh and now trail Allegheny Coatings two games to none in the best of five showdown.
Leading the Goats with a perfect 3 for 3 night was Dalton Kline. Kline had a homerun and 4 RBI’s. Meyer was also 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s and Pearsall finished 4 for 5. Dillon Kline also had a solid night, going 3 for 4.
Gleixner led ECTD, going 3 for 3 with a homerun and 2 RBI. Lenox ended up 2 for 3 with a double, homerun and 3 RBI. Singer and Nate Schneider both finished 2 for 3 as well.
That set the stage for the sweep on Thursday night. This time though, the two teams were in a dogfight for seven innings.
Allegheny Coatings went scoreless in the top of the first inning, the first time in series they didn’t score in the opening frame.
ECTD didn’t take long in the bottom of the inning to take their first lead of series. Back-to-back singles by Brandon Sicheri and Danny Singer put runners on the corners. Rudy Gleixner hit a sacrifice fly to score Sicheri for the first run of the game. Kyler Lenox then smacked a two-run homer to left, scoring Singer and ECTD led 3-0 after an inning of play.
The Goats responded in the top of the second, scoring eight runs, the most by either team in the series, to take an 8-3. Cole Peterson led off with single and went to third on a single by Justin Quiggle. Ryan Grimm’s one out single scored Peterson and a single to left by Rich Quiggle loaded the bases. Dalton Kline grounded into a fielders choice, but Justin Quiggle scored to make it 3-2. An error allowed Grimm to score, and the game was tied at 3-3. Singles by Derek Meyer and Kevin Hoy scored three more, and the Goats now led 6-3. Peterson collected his second hit of the inning, this time a 2-run triple and the score was now 8-3 favor of the Goats gong to the bottom of the second.
Kyle Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Donachy to pull the Diemen to within four, 8-4, after two innings.
Allegheny Coatings went scoreless in the top of the third, while ECTD scored a pair to make it 8-6 heading to the fourth inning. Gleixner’s two run dinger provided the offense for the Diemen.
The Goats added two runs in the fourth, one on a sacrifice fly by Meyer, the other thanks to an RBI single by Hoy to make it 10-6.
ECTD pulled to within a run in the bottom of the fourth, 10-9, when Josh Zelinski led off with a solo homerun and Donachy added a two-run blast later in the inning.
The Goats responded in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-run dinger off the bat of Dillon Kline to make it 12-9.
ECTD added a run in the bottom of the sixth when Corey Huff smacked a solo shot over the left center field fence to cut the lead to 12-10 heading to the seventh.
The Goats got two runners on with one out but couldn’t capitalize and the score remained just a two-run advantage headed to the bottom of the seventh.
ECTD went quietly, three up, three down in home half of the seventh, giving the Goats second league championship in the past five seasons.
Peterson finished 4 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI’s to lead Allegheny Coatings offensively. Hoy ended the night 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s. Ryan Grimm also went 2 for 3 to help the Goats.
Sicheri, Singer, and Williams all went 2 for 3 to lead Elk County Tool & Die. Gleixner, Lenox, Zelinski, Huff and Donachy all homered for the Diemen.
Allegheny Coatings finished the season with a 24-7 record including the playoffs, while Elk County Tool & Die ended the 2022 campaign with a 26-6 record.
Member of the 2022 Allegheny Coatings Goats are:
Front row (L-R); Kevin Hoy, Joey McLaughlin, Justin Quiggle, Cole Peterson, Rich Quiggle, Ricky Pearsall.
Back row (L-R); Joe Jacob, Derek Meyer, Dalton Kline, Jake Geer, Vince Jacob, Ryan Grimm, Dillon Kline, Nick Brennen, Andy Eck.
