By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORT ALLEGANY, PA – As Kellen Veilleux stepped to plate in the bottom of the sixth, he and the rest of the Port Allegany baseball team were far from relaxed.
The two-run lead they clung to on the scoreboard was uncertain to say the least. Already, they had seen Coudersport topple their near-double-digit advantage and what followed was a blow-for-blow battle for the survival of their respective seasons. And while the Gators weren’t out of the woods yet, they had a chance to break away for good.
Staring down a bases-loaded, two-outs, full-count at-bat, the weight of the season sat on Veilleux’s shoulders. While going without a hit this far into the District 9 Class A quarterfinals, his second trip to the batters’ box would prove fruitful.
As pitch No. 6 came down the pipe, Veilleux found contact, sending a crack into the outfield that crashed against the centerfield wall. As he made his way to second, he chased down three runs for the Black and Orange, finally building an insurmountable lead for Port as they swiftly dispatched the Falcons one last time and kept their season afloat.
“We were never comfortable. It was frustrating but we got through it,” said Port Allegany head coach Rick Veilleux. “It feels pretty good that we got out with a win but it was not pretty.”
Having seen the Gators twice through the regular season and walking away with two losses, Coudy needed a way to buck the trend. Luckily for the Falcons, Port gave them an early window.
Starting with an error on a throw-out to first, the Gators struggled to get out of their own way through the opening action. Another missed grounder immediately after put a second Falcon on base, setting the stage for Coudy to drill in three early runs with a line drive double from Lawon Wetzel and a grounder past second from Bradley Butler that scored a pair. Before escaping the inning, the Gators saw another self-inflicted wound – an errant throw to third on a pickoff attempt – dig their hole even further as the Falcons pulled away by four.
Despite tacking on a run of their own in the bottom of the second, seeing Kellen Veilleux cross home plate on a wild pitch, Port’s defense failed to plug up the holes, allowing another run in the top of the second.
“I don’t know if we expected to win, but we were not focused,” said Rick Veilleux. “We had a lot of errors on plays that should have been one-two-three and instead we ended up giving up a bunch of runs.”
However, before things got bleak, the Gators mustered up a response. The first step was taking advantage of Coudy’s weary man on the mound, who gave up three consecutive walks to open the bottom of the third. Seizing their opportunity, Aidan Bliss rattled off his first hit of the day, cracking a single through the infield to bring in the inaugural pair of Port runs.
Two more back-to-back walks scored another error and as the momentum began swapping hands, Port took full control. With two outs, the Gators drove in eight more runs over the course of the next six men up, taking a 12-5 lead.
“We’ve been a two-out team. Everybody feels like they’re ‘the guy,’ so when there’s two outs, I don’t know if it relieves pressure off of them or what, but the inning just keeps going,” said Rick Veilleux, whose team would end with 13 total runs scored when facing two outs through the day. “They’re patient. They’re a fun bunch of kids to work with and they never feel like anything’s too big.”
Unfortunately for the Orange and Black, their newfound advantage didn’t stand the test of time. Over the next two frames, Coudy chipped the game back down to even, scoring two in the fourth before erupting for five in the fifth.
Even when Port built a cushion once again, scoring two runs off of a Brennan Fillhart single and a sacrifice grounder from Kellen Veilleux in the bottom of the same inning, Coudy was right there to draw back to within reach, sitting just behind the Gators at 14-13 as they reached the bottom of the sixth.
In the back-and-forth, do-or-die battle, Port sent one last volley into play.
Seeing Chase Boyd reach third after being walked and stealing his way to the opposite corner, Garrin Wright brought him in with a single to left field. Despite picking up the second out of the inning, the Gators loaded the bases once again on a walk and an error, giving Kellen Veilleux the spotlight. Crushing a shot up against the wall, his spark was followed by another run off Nick Wilfong’s RBI-single, giving the Gators a six-run buffer of hope.
Now, the fate of the game rested on Port’s freshman prospect. Having cycled through their two star pitchers – Veilleux and Wilfong – the Gators turned towards Iziah Petruzzi. Seeing two frames already under his belt, Petruzzi immediately pounded the zone, tallying the first out as Butler was dispatched with a fly ball to right field.
Then came the Falcons once again. Finding a full house with back-to-back walks and a single from Chase Wahlers, they were on the cusp of retaliation. However, as Luke Fowler put the ball in play, the Gators quickly snuffed out any comeback, fielding a line drive to first before turning the double play at the base. After over three hours of grit and grind, the Gators had survived.
With his big hit in the sixth, Kellen Veilleux ended the afternoon going 1-for-2 with four runs and four more batted in. Bliss also tallied four RBIs through the win, ending 3-for-5 with one run scored while Fillhart finished 2-for-3 with four runs and two RBIs.
Reaching the Class A semifinals, Port now becomes the underdogs. Traveling to Berwind Park in St. Marys on Thursday, the Gators will see top-ranked Clarion (13-5). Despite the impending uphill battle, Port is ready to empty the tanks in order to summit it.
“It was ugly. It definitely was not the best game we’ve ever played, but to come out with a win and having an opportunity to go play Clarion to reach the D9 finals, that’s pretty awesome,” said Rick Veilleux. “We’re looking forward to the challenge, we’ll hopefully have a different mindset going into that, we’ll prepare as best we can and see what we can do.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY
Coudersport 4100 251 0 R:13 H:14 E:4
Port Allegany 10(11) 025 0 R:19 H:9 E:3
Coudersport: Veilleux (1 SO, 4 BB), Wilfong (2) (4 SO, 2 BB), Hawver (4) (0 SO, 2 BB), Petruzzi (4) (1 SO, 2 BB) and Boyd
Port Allegany: Taylor (3 SO, 5 BB), Wetzel (3) (1 SO, 4 BB), Wahlers (3) (4 SO, 4 BB), Roessner (6) (0 SO, 0 BB) and McClintock
