Following Suit
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's pitching staff has been stellar this season and it closed the WPIAL Section 1-6A slate with another commanding performance Saturday afternoon.
Junior Zyler Freedman allowed just one run on seven hits over 6.2 innings in SV's 6-1 victory against Butler at Raider Field.
"Zyler was committed to his pitches and he kept their hitters off balance," said Raiders coach Eric Semega. "He got in a few jams, but didn't give in."
The win for SV completed a three-game sweep of the Golden Tornado during which Raider hurlers limited Butler to a pair of runs on 15 hits.
"We entered this game with a team ERA of 1.82," said Semega. "We've had games when we didn't hit the ball well and other teams have taken it to us, but our pitching always gives us a chance."
Freedman was working with a nice cushion after his teammates plated four runs in the top of the third. Evan Tomasic's leadoff single was followed by Brock White's sacrifice bunt. Butler pitcher James Desmond then walked Hunter Troiano and Luke Anderton to load the bases.
Creed Erdos doubled in two runs, Nick Parrotto singled in another and Matt DelDuca's sacrifice fly made it 4-0.
It was the lone frame of Desmond's five innings of work that he allowed any runs, finishing with three strikeouts and five walks.
"He didn't have his best stuff, not the same life in his fastball and his off-speed stuff wasn't there," said Butler coach Josh Forbes. "But he battled and gave us a chance."
Freedman, however, closed the door on nearly every scoring opportunity the Tornado (9-8, 6-6) earned. He stranded a baserunner in the third and fourth inning. In the fifth, he surrendered an infield single to Andrew Lucas, walked Mavrik Clement and, with two outs, Lance Slater singled to load the bases. Parrotto then made a diving stop at second base to retire Madden Clement on a groundout to end the threat.
"I kept going back to my curveball. It was working well for me today," Freedman said. "We've had three of our pitchers go down with injuries this season and it's been a next-man-up attitude.
"This was a huge win for us, especially for seeding (in the upcoming WPIAL playoffs)."
After the Raiders (15-4, 8-4) scored two more runs in the top of the sixth — Brock White's double and Troiano's single both driving in one off Butler reliever Nolan Stefaniak — the Tornado finally broke through with a run. Conner McTighe singled and scored on Mac Schnur's double.
Freedman retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh. After issuing a walk, he was pulled after reaching 100 pitches with five strikeouts and two walks. Paul Rebovich came on to close the game for SV.
Butler's bats averaged just five hits per game in the series.
"I give Seneca Valley a ton of credit," said Forbes. "They didn't give us anything in this series. Some of our outs with runners in scoring position were hit at their guys and they made all the plays. We tried to put pressure on them, but they had four or five plays that changed the course of the games."
Seneca Valley 004 002 0 — 6 9 0
Butler 000 001 0 — 1 8 0
WP: Zyler Freedman 6.2 IP (5K, 2BB). LP: James Desmond 5 IP (3K, 5BB).
Seneca Valley (15-4, 8-4): Hunter Troiano 1B R RBI, Creed Erdos 2-1B 2RBI, Matt DelDuca 3B RBI, Brock White 2B R RBI
Butler (9-8, 6-6): Madden Clement 2-1B, Conner McTighe 2-1B R, Mac Schnur 2B RBI
Monday: North Catholic at Butler
Wednesday: North Hills at Seneca Valley
