ASHLAND — A shaky first inning in an otherwise rock-solid performance put MMI Prep in a small hole, and Nativity BVM made sure the Preppers couldn’t climb out and save their season.
Nativity scored twice in the first inning, and Stephen Karinch allowed just one run over six strong innings as the Hilltoppers beat MMI Prep 3-1 to eliminate the Preppers in the Class A quarterfinals at North Schuylkill High School on Thursday.
MMI Prep starter Tommy Horvat didn’t just bounce back from the two-run first, he stormed back: Horvat only allowed two more hits the rest of the way, and one more unearned run.
Horvat kept the Preppers right on Nativity’s tail, but the Preppers didn’t have many answers for the lefty Karinch.
“After they scored two runs in the first inning, we kept telling our guys to hang in there,” MMI Prep coach Charlie Karchner said. “We had our opportunities, we put some pressure on them at the end of the game, had one of our best hitters up and their kid made a good pitch.”
Nativity, the District 11 champ, looked primed to do some damage at the plate with three consecutive hits plating two runs in the first, Nick Examitas driving in both runs with a base hit.
But after stranding two more runners on base to escape the inning, Horvat found his groove from there. He retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, and racked up eight total strikeouts over his 6.2 innings.
“They got a couple line drives that weren’t where our guys were,” Karchner said. “Tommy had to settle down a little, but I think he got it together and set us up to try and come back at the end.”
The Preppers finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning, Ben Drobnock looping a base hit into right field to bring home Caleb Skuba and advance pinch-runner Andrew Pedri to third as the tying run.
Karinch, facing his last batter of the day, got a big strikeout to strand Pedri at third.
Nativity added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, and Examitas came on to relieve Karinch in the seventh.
MMI threatened one final time, with leadoff hitter Evan Pedri reaching on error to start the inning, and Mikie Kranyak drawing a two-out walk.
Just as they were in the inning before, the Preppers ended up one big swing short: a flare over third base was run down by Wagner, who made a great diving catch to send the Hilltoppers to the state semifinals and bring MMI Prep’s season to a close.
“We hit the ball well, we just didn’t find the gaps and the holes to manufacture runs,” Karchner said.
PIAA Class A Quarterfinals
Nativity BVM 3, MMI Prep 1
Nativity`AB`R`H`BI
Karinch p-cf`3`1`0`0
Grabowski 3b`3`1`1`0
Wagner ss`4`1`2`0
Examitas lf-p`3`0`1`2
Frehafer cr`0`0`0`0
Bartashus c`3`0`1`0
Lutzkanin cr`0`0`0`0
Rugh rf`2`0`0`0
Clarke dh`3`0`0`0
Verchick 1b`3`0`0`0
Jenkins cf`3`0`0`0
Totals`27`3`5`2
MMI Prep`AB`R`H`BI
Frask cf-p`4`0`0`0
Horvat p-3b`4`0`0`0
Kranyak ss`2`0`1`0
Skuba 1b`4`1`1`0
Witner c`2`0`0`0
A. Pedri cr`0`0`0`0
D. Radzwich lf`2`0`0`0
Drobnock 2b`3`0`1`1
Santana 3b`0`0`0`0
Gombeda dh`1`0`0`0
B. Radzwich ph`2`0`0`0
E. Pedri rf`3`0`0`0
Totals`27`1`3`1
Nativity`200`000`1 — 3
MMI Prep`000`001`0 — 1
2B — Wagner, Kranyak.
Nativity`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Karinch (W)`6.0`3`1`1`3`5
Examitas (S)`1.0`0`0`0`1`1
MMI Prep`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Horvat (L)`6.2`5`3`2`3`8
Frask`0.1`0`0`0`0`0
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