At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, first baseman Evan Smirniw is an imposing presence for the Upper St. Clair baseball team.
And he’s just a sophomore.
“He’s going to be a big-time player. He’s special,” Upper St. Clair coach Jeff Donati said.
Already about to complete his second high school varsity season, Smirniw put on a “big-time” performance Tuesday, nearly hitting for the cycle to lead No. 12 seed Upper St. Clair to a 16-5 upset of No. 5 Plum in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff game at Gateway High School in Monroeville.
The game ended after six innings following USC’s five-run outburst — capped by Smirniw’s three-run homer — that triggered the 10-run rule and gave the Panthers an 11-run lead.
Upper St. Clair (12-9) advances to play No. 4 Moon in the quarterfinals Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. Moon trounced No. 13 Baldwin, 17-1, in later first-round game at Peterswood Park in Peters Township that was called after four innings.
Smirniw wound up reaching base in all five plate appearances, including a career-high four hits, and scored four times while finishing with six RBIs.
“I wish I got the cycle,” he said. “But four hits, I’ll take that.”
Upper St. Clair, as a team, actually came within a single of hitting for the cycle in the first inning, but Grayson Valancius’ single was erased when the Panthers batted out of order and settled for a 2-0 lead.
The inning began with Nico D’Orazio doubling on the game’s first pitch before he was picked off second base by Plum starter Braden Kemmerer.
Smirniw followed with a triple before Nolan Wilson hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run that saw the ball roll to the fence after Plum left fielder Timmy Ruggiero’s diving try came up short.
Ruggiero injured his shoulder on the play and was removed from the game before Plum coach Carl Vollmer re-inserted him in the fifth inning. Ruggiero singled in his only plate appearance in the fifth.
“That was just a wild first inning with everything that transpired. It really was,” Vollmer said. “I’ve been around a long time, and I hadn’t seen anything like it. Just all the things that occurred.”
Plum (17-4) tied it with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Max Vollmer, who homered twice during the game, led off with a single, and Brannan Ryan homered to right.
But Ryan was ejected when he crossed home plate after flipping his bat while running out of the batter’s box.
“I feel like maybe that was a step too far,” Carl Vollmer said. “A warning might have been … especially in the playoffs. My kid’s excited. He hit a home run in the playoffs to tie the game.
“I don’t know. I’m still processing.”
Smirniw also was hit by a pitch and scored a run in the third, singled home a pair of runs, stole a base and scored again in an eight-run fourth and singled again in the fifth for Upper St. Clair.
“He had a great day,” Donati said.
Standing in the USC dugout in the aftermath, Smirniw remained composed but looked the part of a guy ready to let loose with glee.
“This was a first for me, and it came at a clutch time,” he said, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. “We’ve been working so hard. We’ve been preparing for this game for awhile. They’re a good team. The Vollmer kid hit to home runs. We just battled back.”
Upper St. Clair took a 3-2 lead in the third on Brooks York’s RBI single, scoring Smirniw, before Plum answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning for its only lead on Max Vollmer’s first homer of the game, a two-run shot that followed a walk to Cameron Napierkowski.
USC took command with its eight-run fourth, sending 13 batters to the plate and banging out six hits while benefitting from two walks and a hit batsman to go in front 11-4.
“We knew we were in for a battle. We knew they were a good team,” Carl Vollmer said. “We didn’t finish pitches. It is really about that particular day, who executes and plays better. There’s talent on both of these team. They threw strikes consistently. We walked a lot of guys and hit batters. You just add that many baserunners, and it makes it really hard. There’s traffic every inning.”
After Max Vollmer’s second homer for Plum cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 11-5 in the fifth, Upper St. Clair answered with five runs in the sixth before Ethan Capobres, in relief of winning pitcher Max Dietrick, blanked Plum to end the game.
“I love these kids so much,” Donati said. “In 32 years, this is my favorite team, just because they get along so well. They enjoy each other. They hang out together. And I want it for them more than me. I’m enjoying it, but it’s really, really important for me to see these kids to carry on.”