Gladiators look to keep rolling against Chucks

SA head coach received some words of encouragement from Serra Catholic coach Brian Dzurenda.

South Allegheny coach Gib Pohodich wanted another shot at Riverside in the state tournament after losing to them 2-0 in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals two weeks ago, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Gladiators (20-5) held up their end of the bargain with a 10-3 victory over District 6 champions Central Cambria in the first round of the state playoffs on Monday, but it was District 9 winners Punxsutawney that defeated Riverside 3-0 to set up a meeting with SA today. First pitch from First Commonwealth Field in Homer City is scheduled for 7 p.m. in today’s PIAA quarterfinal matchup.

“I really wanted Riverside,” Pohodich said. “I wanted to get another crack at them, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Instead of the WPIAL opponent, the Chucks (16-3) are led by four starters batting over .300 as Maddox Hetrick (.367), Nevin Day (.355), Coy Martino (.333) and Cooper Hallman (.327) all fit the bill. Martino leads the team with 20 RBIs and two home runs while Parker Stahlman has 19 RBIs with a .293 batting average.

On the bump, Stahlman, Day and Martino have accounted for 113.1 of 125.1 innings of work this season for Punxsutawney. Stahlman earned the win against Riverside on Monday, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball with no runs allowed and no walks. He struck out eight batters on the day.

Having pitched just three days ago, South Allegheny will not have to face Stahlman.

“The good thing is that they threw their ace against Riverside the other day,” Pohodich noted. “It looks like he really accounted for most of their wins this year. I think their two and three pitchers are above average, but definitely not as dominant as their main guy.”

Instead, it will presumably be Day that starts, or it could potentially be Martino. Day is second on the team with 33.1 frames of work, racking up 49 strikeouts to just eight walks. He boasts an ERA of 1.05. Martino has a 2.44 ERA in 28.2 innings of work on the year, issuing 26 walks while fanning 50 batters.

After Trenton Popovich got the start in SA’s win over Central Cambria, it will be Adam Jackowski on the rubber against Punxsutwaney.

“Even in the games he’s lost this year, he’s pretty much dominated,” Pohodich said about Adam. “We’re really confident. We prepared a lot for this team, and I think we can give them some trouble. We fixed some of what we did poorly the other night.”

Jackowski last pitched in the WPIAL third-place game, an 8-2 victory for the Gladiators over Burrell. He gave up four hits and two runs early in the game and settled in to shut the door for the rest of the contest.

Pohodich said that Jackowski is excellent at keeping teams off their rhythm by mixing offspeed pitches with his fastball, and he believes that the sophomore will do just that today against the Chucks.

Offensively, the Gladiators are looking to improve from the other night despite a 10run performance.

South Allegheny stranded several runners against Central Cambria, and Pohodich said that they’re trying to change that today.

“I felt like that was a team we could’ve 10-runned and gotten out of there early, but we didn’t,” he said. “We worked on some things to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I think that this team is better than Central Cambria. It’ll come down to our execution, but I guess every game does. I definitely feel like it’s a winnable game if we play our game.”

Of the eight remaining teams, only Trinity, the runner- up in District 3, joins South Allegheny as teams that didn’t capture their section crown.

Despite hearing outside noise that the Gladiators would have to wait until next year to truly compete, South Allegheny enjoyed its best district finish ever yet still felt a sour taste in their mouths after the defeat to Riverside barred them from a WPIAL title appearance.

Naturally feeling a bit dejected heading into the state tournament, Pohodich said that he heard from another Mon Valley coach that shed some light on what his squad could still accomplish.

“(Serra Catholic) coach (Brian) Dzurenda called me after our tough WPIAL loss and kind of gave me some wisdom,” he said. “I forget the exact year, but he told me that they lost in the WPIAL semis but they won the state title that year. Hearing that kind of rejuvenated me. I feel like we can win a state title.

Today’s contest is another step in that process. South Allegheny will look to continue what has been the best season of baseball that it’s ever had.

“My kids have bought in all year,” Pohodich said. “We’ve fought through a lot of injuries; I’ve got guys playing hurt. I just keep telling them, ‘Just give me three more games.’ We’ve battled through a lot and I truly believe that we can make a run at a state championship.”