It’s not that often a pitcher fires a no-hitter. What’s even more rare is doing so and still being handed a loss.
That’s what happened to New Castle’s Rocco Bernadina. Despite tossing a no-hitter, his squad fell to Blackhawk, 1-0, in a Class 4A Section 2 matchup.
Bernadina walked Ryan Jones, the leadoff batter for top-ranked Blackhawk (13-3, 8-3). Jones advanced to third after an errant pickoff attempt by the New Castle catcher and then scored on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Anthony Malagise.
Bernardina struck out 13 and walked two. No. 4-ranked New Castle (9-9, 6-5) had six hits, including a double by George Joseph.
More baseball
• West Mifflin plated four runs in the top of the fourth inning and the 4A No. 5 Titans (10-4, 9-1) ran off with a 5-2 victory against Ringgold (7-8, 3-6) in Section 3. Winning pitcher Ryan Lang scattered four hits and allowed one earned run in four innings. Corey Kuszaj of West Mifflin and the Rams’ Hunter Mamie each went 2 for 3 at the plate. The Titans have won six consecutive games.
• Behind a no-hitter from Nick Price, 1A No. 5 Our Lady of Sacred Heart (10-5, 8-2) defeated Cornell (3-9, 1-7), 15-0, in a six-inning Section 1 game. Price struck out 10 and walked two in the second game of a doubleheader. The Chargers won the first game, 10-0.
• Josh Obrist belted a home run and drove in six runs to help Beaver (4-10, 4-6) outlast Central Valley (6-11, 4-6) in 4A Section 2, 14-12.
• Behind a strong outing from lefty Robert Herr, 2A No. 5 Laurel (9-6, 5-3) defeated Neshannock (11-6, 5-3) in Section 2, 6-1. The Spartans came alive late, plating four runs in the final two innings. Conner Pontzloff went 3 for 4 and Laurel played perfect in the field with no errors.
• Adam Crawford had four hits and Nick Longo drove in three runs for 5A No. 3 West Allegheny (11-3, 8-2) in its 7-1 Section 3 triumph against Moon (5-10, 1-9).
Softball
• Mt. Lebanon and Baldwin put up a score that reads more like a football game. The 6A No. 4 Blue Devils (10-5, 5-3) were able to put down the Highlanders (3-8, 3-4) in a five-inning Section 1 slugfest, 25-12. Sophomore Deirdre Flaherty went 3 for 3 and bashed two home runs, giving her 10 for the season. She finished the game with five RBIs.
• Liana Morreale of North Catholic recorded 18 strikeouts and allowed just five hits, as the Trojanettes (10-4, 8-1) edged Derry (4-6, 4-4) in a 3A Section 1 clash, 4-3. North Catholic has won five in a row.
• Kelsey Stoner’s two-run single in the bottom of the seventh gave Blackhawk (6-6, 5-5) a walk-off 4-3 victory against Hopewell (5-9, 2-8) in 4A Section 3. Stoner’s heroics capped a comeback effort that started with the Cougars in a 3-0 hole. The win punched the Cougars’ ticket to the playoffs for the first time in four years.
• Hempfield ace Callie Sowers sat down 12 batters and scattered four hits as the 6A No. 2 Spartans (10-5, 5-4) edged Canon-McMillan (7-8, 4-4), 4-2, in a non-section clash. The Big Macs’ Olivia Ulam went 3 for 4 with a single, double and triple.
• Ligonier Valley ace Maddie Griffin had another superb game as she fanned 16 while allowing only one hit for the Rams picked in their 5-0 non-section win against Chartiers Valley (10-6).
Star of the day
• Brooke Cleland went 3 for 4 with 2 homers and 3 RBIs as 5A No. 1 Penn-Trafford (12-4) rallied to beat Trinity (7-4), 5-3, in a non-section softball game.
First Published: May 11, 2021, 2:48 a.m.
