Seneca Valley rebounds with win over Pine-Richland
JACKSON TWP — Different day, different story.
Back on the diamond after its first defeat of the spring, Seneca Valley wanted to steer things back in the right direction Wednesday afternoon.
Raiders junior starting pitcher Zachary Tkatch headed that charge, going the distance on the mound by throwing a total of 91 pitches and allowing visiting Pine-Richland just three hits.
Junior catcher Creed Erdos smacked three singles and senior Brock White two RBI base knocks, as well, yielding a 4-0 victory for Seneca Valley (11-1, 4-1).
Taking into account what went awry in Monday’s 4-2 road loss to the Rams (10-4, 5-3), Tkatch’s performance in particular was just what the doctor ordered for the Raiders in the second of a three-game WPIAL Section 1-6A bill.
“What was doing really well for us through the first 10 games, we didn’t do so well in the first two innings (Monday) — and that was pitching,” Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega said. “We didn’t hit the zone. We got to 53 pitches after two innings and that put a lot of things in their favor real quick.”
This time around, Tkatch got through the first two frames using just 22 offerings. He didn’t give up a hit through the first 3.2 innings, either.
“That’s his fifth win,” Semega said. “He hasn’t had a bad outing yet. He has been consistently pounding the zone, keeping people off-balance. He was definitely a reason that we won today, because I don’t think we had an earned run ... Nothing fazes him.”
“I just felt great,” Tkatch said. “I had good command. We lost our first game (Monday), and the other dudes were chirping a lot. I knew I needed to dial in ... I just had great command on my fastball and my slider, and the velo was definitely working today.”
As Semega alluded to, Pine-Richland totaled four errors, three of which the Raiders capitalized on.
Seneca’s Matt Delduca got on via a throwing error to lead off the bottom second and was pushed across by the first of White’s pair of run-scoring singles three batters later.
In the next frame, Delduca reached again because of a fielding miscue on a fly ball to left field, loading the bases after a single by Erdos and a T.J. Border walk. Hunter Troiano put the ball in play a turn later, and a fielder’s choice prevented a run at the plate.
However, the Rams’ catcher tried to turn two by zipping the ball toward first, which instead skipped all the way to the left field corner, opening the door for Delduca and Border to score. Troiano was batted in by White before the side was retired.
“We just kept giving and giving and giving,” Pine-Richland coach Kurt Wolfe said, adding that his team averaged about an error a game entering the afternoon. “We’re not even at Christmastime. We feel a little generous right now. I would’ve felt better about it if they (Seneca Valley) hit the ball all over the place.”
Tkatch walked Tommy Zimmerman in the second, allowed a single to Joey Perry in the fourth, and two more to Tanner Cunningham and Danny Pederson in the sixth.
“I mean, you have days like that,” Wolfe said. “I felt we barreled up some balls. I thought Zach (Tkatch) did a nice job of working fast, throwing strikes, getting ahead ... You’re not going to win a whole lot of games having four base-runners.”
The teams will play a rubber match Thursday at Pine-Richland. After that, the Raiders begin a three-game section series with rival North Allegheny Monday.
Pine-Richland 000 000 0 — 0 3 4
Seneca Valley 013 000 x — 4 7 0
W: Zachary Tkatch 7IP (4K, 1BB); L: Tristan Farrar 2.1IP (0K, 2BB)
Seneca Valley (11-1, 4-1): Creed Erdos 3-1B, T.J. Border R, Matt Delduca 2-R, Hunter Troiano R, Mike Delduca 1B, Brock White 2-1B 2RBI, Evan Tomasic 1B
Pine-Richland (10-4, 5-3): Tanner Cunningham 1B, Joey Perry 1B, Sam Grana 1B
Thursday: Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland
