Northern Cambria grinds out win over Conemaugh Valley in 6-1A baseball
· Yahoo Sports
NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. – Brady Hoover struck out four and allowed one run in Northern Cambria's 6-2 victory over Conemaugh Valley in the quarterfinals of the District 6 Class 1A baseball playoffs Monday.
A big four-run first inning for the Colts, followed by Hoover's strong five innings on the bump, kept the Blue Jays out of reach for most of the contest.
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Zach Cavallo started Northern Cambria's offense with a pop fly that floated into no-man's land behind first base for a double. He was then driven home with a base hit to left field by catcher Parker Shutty.
Hoover joined Shutty on base after a hit to center field. Both runners crossed the plate when Reece Wagner blasted a line drive over the center fielder's head for a triple and a 3-0 lead.
The early burst of offense arrived at a much-needed time for Northern Cambria. The Colts' offense struggled in recent weeks, coach Skyler Eckenrode said. That was evident in their recent 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays May 7.
"We really hit that hard in practice here this last week," Eckenrode said. "Having that week off was pretty nice. We really hit the ball early, jumped on them and I think we really put them back on their heels."
The Blue Jays were forced to make a very early pitching change and brought in Kyron Fields. The sophomore allowed a sacrifice fly and recorded his first of eight strikeouts to close the lopsided inning.
After allowing a walk and forcing three groundouts in the first, Hoover limited Conemaugh Valley's offense again in the second, forcing another groundout and back-to-back strikeouts.
Shutty then gave Northern Cambria its biggest lead at 6-0 after a two-run double to deep left field in the second inning, but the offense went dormant the rest of the game.
"I think it's just keeping the pedal on," Eckenrode said. "We've done that all year. We score runs in a couple of innings and then we kind of step back. They'll change pitchers and it takes us a while to catch on, so I think it's really just staying consistent with it."
Hoover continued to cruise with another strikeout and two groundouts in the third. It wasn't until the fourth inning that Conemaugh Valley saw its first hit – a ground-ball single from second baseman Gavin Buchan.
"I was just trying to keep them off-balance with the fastball and slider, and I was pretty comfortable because I knew my fielders were going to make plays behind me," Hoover said. "It was huge knowing that I could give up a runner, too, and we'd still have a good lead. That's what you want right there as a pitcher."
Buchan advanced to second on a botched pick-off attempt and later scored on an error for Conemaugh Valley's first run.
Meanwhile, Fields shut down the Colts' offense for the remainder of the game, allowing just one hit, two walks and striking out six in the final four innings.
"I thought Fields did a great job," Eckenrode said. "He came in and did a good job settling it down."
Hoover's day on the mound was finished after the fifth and Wagner stepped in relief. The senior allowed three hits, three walks, walked in one run in the seventh and struck out four, including the game's final batter.
Northern Cambria will host No. 3 seed Claysburg-Kimmel in the District 6 Class 1A semifinals Friday.