For the first time in 40 years, a Fort Cherry baseball team will play for a WPIAL title.
The Rangers, the top seed in Class 2A, collected only three hits in their 4-1 semifinal victory over No. 4 Riverview on Wednesday at Gateway.
But opportunistic baserunning, solid defense and the pitching of junior Ryan Huey helped give them a chance to add to their only other WPIAL championship (1986).
“We have come to work hard all season, and it is an amazing feeling to be where we are with a chance to win a WPIAL title,” said Huey, who came within one out of a complete game.
“We don’t ever struggle to put up runs, no matter how we do it. If we are struggling at the plate, we’re always thinking of ways to get guys in position to score those runs. We like to make life hard on opposing defenses. We have great coaches, and they prepared us as much as they could for today.”
Fort Cherry improved to 18-1 overall and will play for the title Tuesday or Wednesday at EQT Park, the home of the Washington Wild Things. The Rangers will face No. 2 Neshannock, which beat No. 3 South Side Wednesday.
The WPIAL could decide as early as Thursday the day and time for the championship.
It will be the first title game in the 38-year head coaching tenure for Fort Cherry’s Bob Sawhill, whose first year with the Rangers came two years after the title season.
“This is so great, because everyone wants to do this for coach Sawhill,” Huey said. “He deserves every bit of it. There is nothing I want more than to see a big smile on his face at the WPIAL championship game. We have a week to prepare, so we will be ready.”
In a reserved manner, Sawhill let the cat out of the bag about the next step for his team.
“I think I am going to give them tomorrow off,” said Sawhill, knowing that a day of rest will be well received by his players. “This is pretty special. This is why you play games, to go as far as you can. This group of kids has done it. They have gotten victories this year in so many ways. That is what this team does.”
Whereas Fort Cherry will have close to a week to get ready for the title game, Riverview (14-7) will have close to the same amount of time to prep for their next game, a third-place consolation contest against Section 3 champ South Side. The winner will advance to states.
Riverview knows all about this opportunity. Last year, the Raiders lost in the Class 2A semifinals to section rival OLSH before bouncing back to shut out Laurel, 2-0, and punch their ticket to states.
“We’re not done,” said Raiders coach Bill Gras. “We have at least one more game left. We get another shot at (South Side) after splitting with them this year. They both were close one-run games. We’re going to come out hungry to get them so we can get back to states. That was basically the message to the guys. There is more pressure on (South Side) than us because we’ve been there.”
Each team finished with three hits as Huey and Riverview’s Owen Metz delivered gritty performances.
Huey faced just one over the minimum over the first three innings — Metz walked with two outs in the second — before Riverview delivered its first hit.
Miles Duncan doubled to lead off the top of the fourth and came around to score on a hard-hit single up the middle from Lukas Duncan. An Owen Orbich groundout put Lukas Duncan on second with one out. But Huey got a groundout and a strikeout to quell that threat.
Riverview tested him again in the sixth and seventh.
A play at the plate after an error went Fort Cherry’s way to end the top of the sixth and preserve a three-run lead. While the Rangers celebrated, Riverview coaches, players and fans protested what they thought was a safe slide into home by Miles Duncan.
Huey, who battled through hamstring issues this season that limited his pitching, surrendered a single to Metz and walked Dom DelRosso with one out in the top of the seventh. Metz and DelRosso moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch.
Huey then struck out Raiders third baseman Liam Thomlinson on his 106th and final pitch before giving way to Colton Temple.
Temple got Ian Stempfer to ground out to end the game.
Huey finished with six strikeouts and four walks.
“I felt I earned that long leash,” Huey said. “The coaches trusted me. I knew that if I couldn’t do it, Colton could finish it. I knew we had arms in the back side of it. I trusted my teammates to make plays the way they’ve been doing it all year.”
Said Gras: “We faced harder-throwing pitchers with more of a mix, but we just didn’t have it.”
The Fort Cherry offense got all it would need in the bottom of the first. Temple, the Rangers’ starting catcher, delivered an infield single with one out and later scored on a single from Huey.
Shortstop Ben Demascal walked and came around to score on a throwing error, and Huey made it 3-0 on a double steal with third baseman Tyler Wolfe.
Rangers left fielder Nathan Wolfe reached on an error with one out in the second and scored on another error to make it 4-0.
Metz gave up two first-inning singles and didn’t allow another Fort Cherry hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
“Owen got stronger as the game went on,” Gras said. “I think there were some nerves in the beginning. But then he got his composure and settled down. He pitched a hell of a game after that first inning.”