Wolverines Strike Late, Upset Deer Lakes In WPIAL Opening Round

Ellwood City snagged a late lead by way of an unusual series of events and held on to defeat Deer Lakes 2-1 on Wednesday.

The game was tied at one with the Wolverines batting in the top of the seventh when Ellwood City used ‘small ball’ and gained the go-ahead run on a strike out that led to a wild pitch.

A walk followed by back-to-back sacrifice bunts put the pressure on the Deer Lakes defense, leading to a first-and-thrid situation with one out.  On the ensuing at-bat, a wild pitch on strike three force the Deer Lakes catcher to scramble and, on his attempt to complete the out at first base, pinch runner Noah Magill sprinted from third to score the winning run.

The Wolverines had knotted the game up in the top of the sixth inning. Samuel DiCaprio doubled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one run.

Ryan Gibbons was credited with the victory for Ellwood City Wolverines. He went six and a third innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out three. Zach Polojac and Ryan Hampton entered the game out of the bullpen and helped to close out the game in relief. Polojac recorded the last out to earn the save for Ellwood City.

Greg Geis took the loss for Deer Lakes. He surrendered two runs on five hits over seven innings, striking out six.

Ricky Pitrelli, DiCaprio, James Meehan, Joey Rush, and Ashton Wilson each collected one hit to lead the Wolverines. Ellwood City was sure-handed and didn’t commit a single error. Pitrelli made the most plays with seven.

The Wolverines will play third-seeded Keystone Oaks, coming off a bye, on Monday, May 20 at a time and site to be determined.

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That’s a F-I-N-A-L! EC Baseball wins 2-1! pic.twitter.com/96IEn8QPTx

— Ellwood City Wolverines Sports (@EC_Wolverines) May 15, 2019