Wild.
That’s how West Mifflin’s Zane Griffaton described the ending of his team’s game Thursday.
It was their opponent’s wildness that helped put the Titans in the PIAA semifinals for the first time.
West Mifflin won in walk-off fashion Thursday. Not with a hit, but with a walk. Corey Kuszaj drew a free pass with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to help West Mifflin rally for a 4-3 win against Laurel Highlands in a Class 4A quarterfinal at Latrobe.
By defeating section rival Laurel Highlands (16-8) for the third time this season, West Mifflin (20-3) drew a WPIAL championship rematch with Montour. The two will meet in Monday’s semifinals. West Mifflin topped Montour, 5-4, in 12 innings in the WPIAL final.
It’s a walk-off walk in the PIAA Class 4A baseball quarterfinals! West Mifflin rallies for a 4-3 win against Laurel Highlands. pic.twitter.com/IvZc2O0U2E
— Brad Everett (@BREAL412) June 9, 2022
Beating Laurel Highlands again was no walk in the park, but it was a slew of walks that helped West Mifflin dig itself out of a 3-0 hole to park itself in the semifinals. West Mifflin had 19 runners reach base. However, only five reached via hits. Laurel Highlands pitchers walked 11 and hit two batters, and the Titans had another hitter reach via catcher’s interference.
“The game plan has been to try to get deep into their counts, deep into their pitching staff,” West Mifflin coach Jeff Kuzma said. “We were lucky enough to keep it close, and it paid dividends in the end.”
Trailing, 3-0, in the bottom of the fifth, West Mifflin drew five consecutive one-out walks. One runner got picked off at second in that time, but the Titans scored their first run when Bert Kovalsky walked with the bases loaded. An inning later, Kuszaj was hit by a pitch, Griffaton followed with a double, and Jake Walker walked. Devin Matey’s ground ball then scored courtesy runner Mekhi Scott, cutting the West Mifflin deficit to 3-2.
The wildness peaked in the bottom of the seventh. Eric Link led off and was plunked and Kovalsky then reached due to catcher’s interference. Braeden O’Brian entered the game as Laurel Highlands’ third pitcher, following starter Devan Krivosky and Alex McClain. O’Brian promptly walked Mike Lydon, loading the bases, and Ryan Lang followed with a run-scoring single. That set the stage for Kuszaj, the team’s No. 9 hitter.
“He wasn’t throwing many strikes before so I was thinking go up until I get a strike and if he throws me one I’m ready to end the game,” said Kuszaj, a sophomore catcher.
Kuszaj had drawn only four walks and driven in four runs the entire season, but those numbers both increased by one after he drew a four-pitch, game-winning walk.
“In this type of game with the emotions where they are, I would have rather seen a walk-off hit, but we’ll take a walk-off walk,” Kuzma said.
West Mifflin advanced to the PIAA Class 4A baseball semifinals for the first time today courtesy of a walk-off walk. Hear from the kid who drew that free pass, sophomore catcher Corey Kuszaj. @west_mifflin91 pic.twitter.com/TT9VjlWQc7
— Brad Everett (@BREAL412) June 10, 2022
Lang pitched three scoreless innings in relief to get the win. He also won in relief in the WPIAL championship before picking up the save in a first-round win against Somerset.
Laurel Highlands, which like West Mifflin claimed its first ever PIAA playoff win Monday, put itself in good position to win its second. McClain hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to put the Mustangs in front. An inning later, Tyler Sankovich crushed a two-run homer that made it 3-0.
It was a difficult loss for the Mustangs, who have dealt with a lot of emotions in the last year after longtime coach Scott DeBerry died last summer after a battle with stomach cancer.
“It’s tough,” Laurel Highlands coach Brad Yohman said. “First of all, I feel for our kids. We’ve had a heck of a year in general with a lot of transition and change. Our kids have really battled. They’ve worked through a lot of things. This is a heartbreaker.”
Brad Everett: beverett@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @BREAL412.
First Published: June 10, 2022, 12:42 a.m.
