By dean dellamalva jr.
MVI Sports
It wasn’t the finish the Belle Vernon Leopard Nation summer baseball team had envisioned.
But who thought they were going to be playing for a championship anyway?
Irwin Area took advantage of a tired pitching staff that struggled to throw strikes and capitalized when strikes were thrown in a 15-1 victory in the Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League championship game at Boyce Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair Thursday night.
Despite the loss, Leopard Nation finds solace in the accomplishments of a team that beat several bigger school districts in this tournament. They defeated the likes of Seneca Valley, Highlands and Ingomar, a team that consisted of players from North Allegheny.
“We were not expecting to even be here, but we came together in the past week and beat some really good 6A schools, and tonight we just ran into this juggernaut,” said BV coach Tony Watson. “(Norwin) is on top of the heap every year. Just to be playing on the same field as them as a 4A school, we are very happy.”
To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.