James Hastings knew his team would be tired following a 6-5, nine-inning road win over New Castle on April 8. Having to beat the same team a day later wouldn’t be the easiest task.
“You are drained,” Hastings said. “But I told the kids you should be physically and emotionally drained after a section game. Especially after two of them.”
Results of the Foxes’ second game with the Red Hurricanes were too late for this edition. Fox Chapel was on the wrong side of an emotional two-game swing before spring break.
The Foxes lost their first Section 3-5A matchup, 6-4 to Pine-Richland in eight innings. Fox Chapel (3-4, 3-2) ended up losing the road matchup with the Rams, 8-4.
The WPIAL, which went to two-game series for section play in 2021, made the move to avoid having ace pitchers throw every section game. Hastings likes the system, but knows it can be a grind.
“It’s hard the second game when your back is against the wall and you are fighting for a split,” Hastings said. “Against Pine-Richland, we lost the first game at home in extra innings. In the second game, when we went to play at their place, we were flat.”
The Foxes’ offense delivered throughout a wild game with New Castle. Fox Chapel scored in the top of the first and delivered a run in the third through six innings.
Foxes pitcher Blake Krushinski threw five innings and struck out seven batters to help the team build a 5-1 lead. The Red Hurricanes rallied by scoring two-runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings.
The game featured 11 errors, with New Castle committing seven and Fox Chapel four.
“It wasn’t how we drew it up,” Hastings said. “We saw resiliency. They kept grinding and fighting.”
Tristan Blum got on base to open the ninth inning. He later scored the eventual game-winning run on a hit by Milan Fluhme. Joey Geller threw the last 1 2/3 innings and struck out a pair to earn the win on the mound.
Fox Chapel will have three section games to play before the schedule will switch to nonsection games for a few weeks. Hastings said the team is starting to progress after it had some difficult challenges early in the season.
The Foxes opened the season with losses to Franklin Regional and Norwin.
“Against Franklin Regional, we didn’t play well and kicked the ball around,” Hastings said. “Norwin is in 6A, and they are a good program. Those games will make us better. I think when you lose, it shows off some of your deficiencies that you don’t necessarily see when you win.”