The Riverview baseball team likes Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park.
Last year, the Raiders defeated Laurel at Ross in the WPIAL Class 2A third-place consolation to clinch a berth in the PIAA playoffs.
Riverview returned there Tuesday with a similar goal, and the Raiders quickly established themselves against their Section 3 rival.
Riverview scored five runs in the top of the first and added on from there in a 12-2, six-inning victory over South Side Beaver to punch its ticket to the state tournament.
“It feels really good when everyone can contribute like they did today,” junior shortstop Rex Roberts said.
“It was a good vibe. Everyone was hitting, and we were playing good defense behind (starting pitcher) Lukas (Duncan). He pitched an amazing game. Obviously, we wanted to be over there (in the WPIAL title game at EQT Park), but we are familiar with this field. It was a good time last year, and it was a good time this year.”
Riverview, which improved to 15-7, bounced back from last week’s semifinal loss to No. 1 Fort Cherry. The Raiders now turn their attention to a PIAA rematch with District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep on Monday at a site in the Erie area to be determined. The Raiders lost to the Lakers, 5-3, in last year’s PIAA first round at Mercyhurst University.
“We’re really looking forward to going up there and getting another crack at them,” Riverview coach Bill Gras said.
Tuesday’s game was a rubber match after the teams split their section series. Both of those games were decided by one run.
South Side, the No. 3 seed, concludes its season at 10-8. The Rams hoped to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2018.
“I am very proud of this team,” South Side coach Craig Campbell said.
“We were pretty young, having lost a good core last year. We were inexperienced at the start of the season, but these kids grew throughout. They did a lot of good things to help them win the section, be in a good spot for the playoffs and be in position for a shot at states. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for us today. Riverview has a really strong offense, and they certainly hit the ball today. Our guys battled all year, and my hat’s off to them.”
South Side played Tuesday’s game without regular starting catcher Will Hudson, who is recovering from surgery to remove his appendix.
“We had a good practice yesterday, but losing someone like Will really took the air out of us a little bit,” Campbell said. “But again, give credit to Riverview. They hit the ball and played good defense. They were the better team today.”
Riverview, which finished the game with 13 hits off South Side starter Ryan Shaw and relievers Dawson Frasier and Tyler Cooke, struck quickly to take control.
“It’s been our MO all year, to get going quickly,” Gras said.
“They had their backup catcher in, so we knew we could run, and that created some extra opportunities. We put pressure on them. We worked a lot on facing either Shaw or Frasier. The guys were ready.”
Junior Lukas Duncan led off the game with a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and twin brother Miles then crushed a Shaw offering over the left-field fence to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.
Junior Owen Metz kept it going with a single up the middle, and Roberts delivered a single to left to score Metz to make it 3-0.
Roberts stole second, and sophomore Owen Orbich walked, spelling the end of Shaw on the mound after just five batters. Frasier came on to try and stop the bleeding.
Frasier’s first pitch was wild, and Roberts and Orbich moved up to second and third.
Freshman Jake Sprajcar grounded out on a chopper to short, but Roberts scored for a 4-0 lead. South Side first baseman Cole McCoy threw errantly to third in an attempt to get Orbich, but the ball went into foul territory down the left-field line, and Orbich came home for the Raiders’ fifth run of the inning.
Riverview added one in the top of the second as Lukas Duncan singled with one out, stole second, moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a single from Metz.
The Raiders had runners on first and third, still with one out, when Roberts lined out sharply to Rams shortstop Andrew Corfield, who threw on to second to double up Miles Duncan for the third out.
Orbich tripled to right to lead off the third and scored on a suicide squeeze bunt from Sprajcar to extend Riverview’s lead.
Junior Ashton Saunders singled with two outs, stole second and came home on a single from junior Ian Stempfer, the No. 9 hitter, to make it 8-0.
Sprajcar singled with one out in the fifth and scored on an infield single from Stempfer.
Riverview extended its advantage in the sixth as Miles Duncan drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a grounder to short and scored when Metz, who reached on a throwing error, was caught in a rundown between first and second. Orbich walked and scored on an error, and Sprajcar singled and came home on a double from sophomore Dom Del Rosso.
Duncan walked the first two South Side batters in the bottom of the first, but he worked out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to right.
He allowed just two hits on 84 pitches through five innings.
South Side finally broke through off Duncan in the bottom of the sixth as cleanup hitter Cole McCoy tripled and scored on a single from Shaw. Brooks Mzyk added a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
Duncan surrendered five hits and walked four while striking out seven. His final pitch of the game was his 100th.