By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORT ALLEGANY, PA – Despite a hiccup in the early innings, the Port Allegany baseball team’s undefeated opening stayed intact as they responded with dominant performances both at the plate and in the field, besting St. Marys 11-4.
For the second year in a row, the Gators have hit the diamond flawlessly. Stringing together four straight wins by a collective margin of 53-4, head coach Rick Veilleux’s key to success is to keep their approach simple and trusting their instincts.
“It’s been just key hitting and great pitching up to this point,” said Veilleux. “We’re just playing good baseball. Fundamentals, making plays and hitting the ball.”
Against the Dutchmen, their first non-league game of the season, the Gators found traction early. Snubbing St. Marys in four at the top of the first, Port then swiftly put a run on the scoreboard with a RBI-single from Aiden Bliss that brought in Kellen Veilleux. While the action ended there for the inaugural inning, they again shutout St. Marys to return to the plate sooner rather than later. Instead of growing their momentum, however, Port then came face to face with adversity
After being dispatched in the bottom of the second with three consecutive strikeouts, Port ran into the wear and tear of a four-game-one-week schedule. Having played on Monday, and with two more games on Thursday and Friday, the Gators began rotating in their bull-pen to save some arm strength. Implementing a freshman arm on the mound, however, their grip on the game faltered as they walked three out of the first four batters.
With just one out and the bases loaded, the Dutchmen’s next two men up, the Beimel brothers, took advantage. Tysen Beimel cracked the Dutchmen’s first hit of the day, finding a gap in centerfield that brought two men across homeplate, while Joel Biemel followed it up with a hard hit shot through the infield that put St. Marys up 4-1 before Port tied on a tourniquet with the final two outs.
Needing to respond, the Gators did so with persistence. Refusing to go down without a fight, the first three men up all battled at the plate, facing three consecutive full-counts and each taking a trip to first via walk. Then, Bliss stepped up again, drilling a single past the pitcher to bring a pair of runners back to the dugout.
Reloading the bases with a hit batter, Port immediately put themselves back on top with a run from Nick Wilfong on a wild pitch and an RBI-single from Gavin Moses. The Gators kept their aggressive foot on the pedal, scoring two more runs within the inning, both on passed balls, to jump out in front at 7-4.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to put the ball in play. We don’t strikeout. Get the ball in play, make them make the play, hustle to first base,” said Rick Veilleux. “We’re never down. These guys are resilient. They battle. We were never out of it and we haven’t been out of anything yet, so I feel pretty good with the group we have.
Putting Liam Hawver on the mound and having an ironclad defense behind him, the Gators silenced St. Marys. Through the next two frames, Port refused to give up a hit, let alone a run as they protected their home field. Meanwhile, their lead ballooned to seven as they tallied two more scores in the bottom of the fifth.
Following two singles from Garrin Wright and Hawver, Ayden Bachman notched his first hit of the afternoon with a deep shot into centerfield, scoring the pair. Two batters later, with two men on and no outs, a passed ball and interference call scored run No. 10 before Wilfong drove in Kellen Veilleux with an RBI-single.
Despite breaking their dry spell in the sixth with a single from Cameron Coudriet, the Dutchmen were unable to break through. The lone hit in the sixth would be replicated in the seventh, but neither produced anything more than a man left stranded on the baseline.
“Our best attributes are with our defense. We’re skilled out there,” said Rick Veilleux. “Just throw strikes. Let them put the ball in play and let our defense work.”
In their fifth win of the season, seven Gators ended with hits. Bliss ended 1-for-4 with a team-high three RBIs while Kellen Veilleux finished with a team-best three scores on his 1-for-2 day at the plate. Brennan Fillhart also went 1-for-2 in the win with two runs, while Hawver came away with three strikeouts through three innings on the mound.
The Gators will next enjoy one day off before seeing Cameron County on Thursday and Osawyo Valley on Friday, where they will hope to match last season’s opening win streak of seven. The real goal, however, is another deep drive towards the District 9 Class A Championship, a feat that Rick Veilleux believes is possible as long as the Gators keep being themselves.
“I think these kids are used to winning. You don’t have to talk them up, you don’t have to do anything,” said Rick Veilleux. “They just go out and do the right things. I just think we’ll be fine. I have all the faith in the world in those guys. They’re good athletes and it’s a pleasure to coach them.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY
St. Marys 004 000 0 R:4 H:3 E:2
Port Allegany 106 040 X R:11 H:7 E:1
St. Marys: Nicklas (3 SO, 3 BB), Nedzinski (3) (1 SO, 2 BB), Hanslovan (6) (0 SO, 0 BB) and Coudriet
Port Allegany: Veilleux (3 SO, 1 BB), Petruzzi (3) (0 SO, 2 BB), Hawver (3) (3 SO, 2 BB), Bliss (7) (1 SO, 0 BB) and Boyd
