Devious Blue Devils win semifinal

Errors allowed the winning run to score.
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Good things happened for Sharpsville High, which defeated Sharon, 5-4, in nine innings Friday in a PIAA District 10 Class AA baseball semifinal game at Critchfield Park.
"I have been around for quite a while and we waited around quite a while today," said Sharpsville coach Kirk Scurpa. "We have lost games like this one and fortunately for us today, we won this one. I hated to see that team lose a game that way."
The Blue Devils scored the winning run without the benefit of a hit.
With one out, Chris Mielecki walked and Shawn Valenly reached on an error. Mielecki never broke stride and raced into third, and when the throw went over the third baseman's head, Mielecki raced home.
Tigers' troubles
Costly mistakes and the inability to come up with the big hit at the right time hurt the Tigers for most of the afternoon.
"It comes down to which team makes the fewest errors, and today they did," said Sharon coach Bill Dorfi. "I told the kids at the end of the game the score should have been 4-2"
Every time Sharon scored the Blue Devils had an answer.
"We went 16-2 in the regular season and beat them three times, so I guess it was a little tough for us to get up for it," said Scurpa. "They jumped on us right away and got onto Jarrod [Summers], but the kids weren't going to die. Every time they went up, we were able to come back."
Seesawing score
Sharon led 2-0 in the first inning. Andrew Pagletta tripled to left and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wally Carpenter, then Mike Snyderwine doubled to right-center and scored on a RBI single by Jay Squatrito.
Sharpsville tied the score in the bottom of the inning. Josh Fyffe reached on the first of two Tiger errors in the inning and scored on a RBI single by Valenly. Jarrod Summers reached on the second error and scored when Jordan Cataldi beat out an infield hit.
Sharon regained the lead in the top of the third inning with a pair runs. With the bases loaded, Cory Johnson drove in two runs with a single. Then came a rain delay.
"Actually that rain delay came at a good time for us because it allowed us to get our reliever warmed up," Scurpa said. "It gave us some time when we needed it so it all worked out for us."
Sharpsville cut the deficit to 4-3 on a single by Josh Fyffe and sacrifice fly by Valenly.
In the fourth, with the bases loaded and one out, Sharon's Phil Williamson hit a liner up the middle that appeared headed for the outfield. However, Valenly made a diving catch and doubled the runner off third.
In the ninth inning, with Valenly on the mound, the senior started a 1-6-3 twin killing to get his team out of trouble.
Valenly, who worked three scoreless innings, picked up the win. He faced 10 batters, walking one and striking out three. The only hit he allowed was a single by Andy Finzel to open the seventh.
Mike Snyderwine took the loss, walking five and striking out four in 42/3 innings.
Sharpsville will play either North East or Northwestern Monday at 4 p.m. at Critchfield Park.
Villa Maria 5, West Middlesex 3
SLIPPERY ROCK -- West Middlesex couldn't come up with a hit at the right time in a Class A semifinal.
The Big Reds had nine hits to Villa Maria's four.
& quot;When you outhit a team 9-4, you expect to win, & quot; said West Middlesex coach Jerry Novosel. & quot;We made more mental mistakes than we did physical mistakes and that is what cost us the game."
The Big Reds had nine hits from six players but they failed to bunch them for a big inning.
"They hit when they had to and we didn't," said Novosel. "We got picked off first, we took too many third strikes looking with a runner on third."
Jesse Polite's RBI single put West Middlesex ahead in the first, and Ryan Ellison's single in the fourth drove home a run to make it 2-1.
But Villa Maria scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good.
Polite's single and a triple by Kloton Hoffman scored the final two runs for the Big Reds (14-5).