Latrobe leaned on its lone returning starter from last season’s baseball team to carry the once-beaten Wildcats to their third consecutive victory Tuesday.
Cole Short pitched four innings of two-hit ball and drove in three runs with a bases-clearing double to pace Latrobe past visiting Kiski Area, 13-1, in a lopsided Section 1-5A game shortened to 4 1/2 innings.
The teams were scheduled to play a rematch Wednesday at Kiski Area.
“These guys are starting to come around, and it’s good to see,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “We’re pleased at where they are right now, but definitely a lot of room to work.”
Short, who also plays first base when he’s not on the mound, combined with Austin Slezak on a three-hitter for Latrobe (7-1, 3-1), which lost 11 seniors and eight every-day players from a team that went 15-7 and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals a year ago.
Short worked four innings, and Slezak came on for the final three outs after Latrobe scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to trigger a mercy rule. The duo finished with a total of five strikeouts and no walks.
Kiski Area pitchers Andrew Varner and freshman Chason Zarichnak combined to walk 14 Latrobe batters without registering a strikeout.
Cavaliers coach Mike Manning was ejected for the second consecutive season in a game against Latrobe in the bottom of the third for challenging home plate umpires’ calls.
Assistant coach Jim Christie managed the team the rest of the way.
“There was frustration all the way around,” Christie said. “Frustration with us not swinging the bats like we know we can, frustration of not throwing strikes … It was a little chilly today, but for both teams, so that’s no excuse.”
Kiski Area (1-5, 1-2) was coming off a 9-3 victory over Franklin Regional on March 31, the Cavaliers’ lone win and the Panthers’ first section loss.
Latrobe jumped on Varner with three runs in each of the first two innings, taking advantage of eight walks while getting just three hits.
Kiski Area scored its lone run in the second on Henry Krogh’s RBI single, scoring Zach Hald, who led off the inning with a double against Short.
Three more walks by Zarichnak in the third led to a pair of Latrobe runs and an 8-1 lead for the Wildcats.
Latrobe put the game out of reach when Short’s double into the right-center field gap cleared the bases and capped a five-run rally against Zarichnak, who walked three more in the inning.
Grady Ruffner and Noah Noel also drove in three runs each for Latrobe. Joe Razza contributed an RBI on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly for the Wildcats, whose only loss is to Penn-Trafford.
Game time conditions were less than ideal, with temperatures barely reaching the 40s.
Basciano scoffed at the idea of playing on warmer days, instead suggesting his players have gotten used to the chill.
“We’re kind of used to this. I don’t think we’ve played a game warmer than 45 degrees this year,” he said. “We kind of embrace it. The sun’s out. We’re going to play. The kids want to play. We kind of instill that mindset in them early on that, if at all possible, we’re going to play. We want to play, so we’re ready for every game. There are a lot of other teams playing today, too.”
Whereas Latrobe topped double digits in the runs column, the Wildcats finished with just eight hits.
“We just work to get on base. We find a way,” Basciano said. “These guys are fighters. They’re scrappers. They’re going to do whatever it takes to get on base. Whether that’s a hit, a walk, getting on on an error, whatever it takes. That’s kind of their motto. Whatever it takes, that’s what we’re going to do.”