Bishop McCort scores four in final at-bat for victory

By PAUL BURIAK
For The Tribune-Democrat

May 20, 2008 12:14 am

— A storybook finish sent Bishop McCort into the District 6-AA baseball semifinals after the Crimson Crushers rallied for four runs after two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Mount Union 7-6 at Point Stadium on Monday afternoon.
“We came back from the dead,” said McCort coach Denny Altimore, whose club now advances to face the Blairsville-Central winner at the Point on Thursday. “We finally started hitting the ball, and things started to fall into place.”
The Crushers (14-5) were held without a hit until the bottom of the sixth by Mount Union’s Brock Goodling, and trailed 6-3 heading into the seventh.
With two outs and a runner on for Bishop McCort, Josh Leech reached on an error that made it 6-4.
Zach Freeman followed with a double off the center-field wall, and Matt McIntyre then walked to load the bases.
Rick James, who also picked up the win in relief, lined a two-run game-tying single to left. Mike Kastelic, who Altimore earlier removed from the game for a pinch-hitter, was re-inserted into the lineup.
“I told him to just go up there, find a hole, and win us the game,” Altimore said.
Kastelic, the No. 9 hitter, rewarded his coach’s confidence by lining a single into left field to plate the winning run.
Mount Union (15-5) outhit McCort 14-7, but four crucial errors that led to four unearned Crushers runs proved devastating.
“Our pitcher did a great job, but we made error after error behind him,” Mount Union coach Nick Imperioli said. “We played horribly on defense, and that’s why we lost.”
Cody Hollibaugh’s run-scoring double in the top of the second broke a 1-1 tie. The Trojans added to their lead in the third as consecutive singles by Darrien Walker and Elliot Clemens made it 4-1.
Brock Imperioli’s sixth-inning single drove in Clemens, who had tripled earlier, to put the Trojans ahead by four.
The Crushers answered in the bottom of the frame. Zak Boyd picked up Bishop McCort’s first hit with a leadoff double, and one out later, scored on Freeman’s single.
With two outs, consecutive errors allowed McIntyre to score and pull Bishop McCort within 5-3.
The Trojans added what looked to be an insurance run in the seventh as Clemens, who had three hits, drove in his second run of the game with a single to center.
Goodling, Morrow, and Walker each had two hits for Mount Union, while Freeman had the only multiple-hit game for Bishop McCort.

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