PIAA CLASS AA Grove City can't hold 3-0 lead, loses by 1

The Eagles lost by three games this season -- all by one run.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CHIPPEWA PARK -- Missed opportunities can many times be the difference between winning and losing a baseball game. After watching his team drop a 4-3 decision to Blackhawk Thursday in the PIAA playoffs, nobody knows that any better than Grove City coach Pat Forese.
The good news for Grove City was that the Eagles scored a run in the first and two more for a quick 3-0 lead. Coming up with the big hits for the Eagles were Brian Sansom and Dustin Caylor with RBI singles, while the Eagles also took advantage of one of three Blackhawk errors in the two frames for their third run.
Failing to capitalize
Although Grove City put the three runs on the board, it could have been a lot more as they totaled six hits in the two innings, but they also left the maximum of six runners on base in their first two at-bats.
"We just didn't get a couple of clutch hits when we needed them," said Forese. "We had the opportunity to score several more runs in the first couple of innings and just didn't do it. We also made some dumb baserunning mistakes that hurt us and I'll take the blame for all of those for not working on a few specific things."
Blackhawk answered in the second, when Mike Burger picked on a Brian Sansom fastball and drilled it for a two-run homer.
More missed chances
The Eagles (20-3) wasted a golden opportunity to add to their lead in the fifth when they put together three hits, but failed to score.
The Cougars tied the score with a single run in the fifth when Chris Janicki singled and later scored on a passed ball, before they scored the game-winner in the bottom of the sixth when Burger walked and scored on a RBI double by Grant Morgan.
Jeremy Hedegore, who relieved starter Sansom in the fourth when Sansom took a line drive off his thigh, took the loss. Hedegore closed out his prep career with 27 wins.
"Jeremy did a good job and Brian did a good job," praised Forese. "To hold a team like that to just four runs is a creditable job. We had 10 seniors who carried us through the season and they did a nice job for us. I feel this team on a given day can play with anybody, but unfortunately today we just didn't do it.
"Our three losses this year were all one-run losses and in each of those games, we did the same thing," Forese said. "In each of those games, we left a bunch of guys on base."