When it comes to baseball, you just never know.
Facing the others team’s ace and playing in freezing conditions where a strong, steady wind made it feel like it was 30 degrees, Upper St. Clair figured runs were going to be tough to come by.
The Panthers were wrong.
In another key Section 2-5A game, host Upper St. Clair bashed out 16 hits as it defeated Peters Township on Monday afternoon, 13-5.
“When I first got here, and it was cold and windy, I wondered how we were going to play today,” admitted USC senior shortstop Nico D’Orazio. “But everyone stepped up and everyone was contributing. The mindset is you have to be tough and ready to go.
“I like to say, cold is just a mindset.”
To prove his point, D’Orazio did a pregame lap around the field with a ski mask on and no shirt.
Before painting D’Orazio with a “crazy” brush, know that he is headed to play football in the fall at Ivy League Brown University.
While leading in crazy pregame rituals, D’Orazio also led the Panthers on offense with three hits, a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs.
“He’s unbelievable,” Upper St. Clair coach Jeff Donati said. “I’ve had him in two sports from freshman on. Such a good kid and a great leader, and he led this team today, and there was no question about it.”
The Panthers entered this section series with neighboring Peters Township in a tie with Trinity for fifth place in the section and currently out of a playoff spot.
“This series is about us punching back,” Donati said. “The kids did a really nice job, and all my seniors didn’t put pressure on ourselves and just went out and competed.”
Peters Township scored in the top of the first inning when with two outs, Colin Stofik tripled and scored on a Conor Gilligan base hit.
USC took the lead for good in the bottom of the first off Indians ace David Oberschelp when Brooks York tied the game with a groundout that scored D’Orazio, who had led off with a double.
Grayson Valencius singled home Nolan Wilson, then he and Cooper Stutzman scored on a gift wind-aided double by Tanner Schroeck. The ball got caught up in the wind and kept hooking from PT center fielder Brad Bucci, who then had the ball pop in and out of his glove.
There were several Panthers hits that Indians players would have described as plays that needed to be made.
Meanwhile, the USC defense was near flawless.
“To play defense on this field, we’re fortunate because we practice on it every day,” Donati said. “The gaps are bigger, the foul lines are bigger, so the whole dynamic of the game changes. Peterswood is a smaller, tighter park, so you can’t blame their kids. Plus you look at the flag out there, and it’s just whipping to the right. It’s just hard here.”
The rest of the game was spent with Peters Township chipping away and Upper St. Clair adding on.
Another key moment came in the top of the fifth inning.
Trailing 7-5, the Indians had runners at second and third with two out and Adan Koraido at the plate, who was 2 for 2.
Donato lifted USC starter Max Dietrick and brought in reliever Ethan Capobres, who promptly struck out Koraido to end the PT rally.
“I like Ethan because of the funky motion he has. It’s different,” Donato said. “He throws hard, and now he has a slider with it. Plus, Max was struggling and if he walks him, I didn’t want to bring Ethan in with the bases loaded.”
The Panthers put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and two more in the sixth.
Oberschelp was 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA coming into the game with only 13 hits allowed in 22 innings pitched. However, the Panthers nearly matched that total with 12 hits off him in 4⅓ innings pitched Monday.
Peters Township falls to 3-4 in the section and 5-7 overall. It had four players with two hits each in James Tygard, Jordan Haught, Gilligan and Koraido.
Dietrick got the win and Capobres the save for Upper St. Clair, which improves to 3-4 in the section and 9-5 for the season.
D’Orazio and Schroeck led the way for USC with three hits, while Valencius, Stutzman and Baird had two hits each.
The teams meet again Tuesday evening at Joe Maize Field in Peterswood Park at 7 p.m.
“We need this one (Tuesday),” D’Orazio said. “They have played well all year there and I don’t think they’ve lost a section game there, so we’re going to have to come ready to play and have those sticks again.”