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WINDBER, Pa. – The Richland Rams played clean baseball to defeat the Central Cambria Red Devils and advance to the District 6 Class 3A semifinals with a 10-4 win at Windber Sports Complex.
Central Cambria struggled to make key defensive plays, resulting in a handful of runs for Richland. The Red Devils committed eight errors, and the Rams capitalized on those mistakes.
"That's what we talked about, not having selfish plate appearances when we had runners in scoring position," Richland coach Josh Day said. "Putting the ball in play and trying to make them do something with it allowed us to generate runs. They may have had a few mistakes, but I think it's because we kept putting pressure on them by putting the ball in play."
Richland was able to apply that pressure early by getting a runner on by an error. Ryan Ozog followed by smacking a single, moving Caden Robertson to third base. Ozog attempted to steal second and got caught in between first and second, but the throw went into center field, allowing Robertson to score.
The Red Devils got out of the inning with just one run allowed, but ran into more trouble in the second when Jake Regan laced a run-scoring double to left. A wild pitch moved Regan up to third, and Dom Shank brought him in with a groundout.
To start the third, Central Cambria got its first two runners on base, knocking Ozog out of the game early. Maddox Vojtko came in and got three flyouts to end it, keeping the momentum with the Rams.
Richland took that boost to the fourth inning, where it broke the game open. Regan drove in another run on a groundout, and Vojtko ripped a run-scoring double to left. From there, Central Cambria made three more errors and allowed an RBI triple from Ozog, making the score 8-0.
"We lost a few key members in the infield," Central Cambria coach Dan Beyer said. "Errors will happen with freshmen and sophomores in their place. We've just got to learn from it."
Despite a big lead for Richland, the Red Devils strung baserunners together. A leadoff hit by pitch and walk put a big opportunity out there for Ben Howard. He crushed a pitch to the fence, bringing home a run on the double. Shortly after, Derek McConnell brought home another run on a groundout.
An error by Richland brought home a third run, and Jacob Fisher lined a ball over the shortstop for an RBI single. That big inning cut the Rams' lead in half, making it 8-4.
Before that big inning, Beyer delivered a message to ignite the Red Devils.
"I grabbed them and told them, 'We can do one of two things,' " Beyer said. " 'We can give up, or we can focus pitch by pitch, have good approaches at the plate, and drive the ball when it's in the zone.' We started to, but they made the plays."
From there, Richland kept them off the bases and managed to bring home two more runs. Robertson scored on a wild pitch and Dylan Wyandt drove in a run on a single.
Wyandt slammed the door in the seventh inning with three strikeouts, sending Richland to the semifinals against Philipsburg-Osceola. The Rams faced off against the Mounties April 24 and lost 14-2.
"That's an outstanding baseball team," Day stated. "They are extremely fundamental one through nine. We saw them earlier in the year at the end of a long week. We know what we are walking into in that game. We have to clean up a few things on our end and come play the game on Friday."
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Central Cambria struggled to make key defensive plays, resulting in a handful of runs for Richland. The Red Devils committed eight errors, and the Rams capitalized on those mistakes.
"That's what we talked about, not having selfish plate appearances when we had runners in scoring position," Richland coach Josh Day said. "Putting the ball in play and trying to make them do something with it allowed us to generate runs. They may have had a few mistakes, but I think it's because we kept putting pressure on them by putting the ball in play."
Richland was able to apply that pressure early by getting a runner on by an error. Ryan Ozog followed by smacking a single, moving Caden Robertson to third base. Ozog attempted to steal second and got caught in between first and second, but the throw went into center field, allowing Robertson to score.
The Red Devils got out of the inning with just one run allowed, but ran into more trouble in the second when Jake Regan laced a run-scoring double to left. A wild pitch moved Regan up to third, and Dom Shank brought him in with a groundout.
To start the third, Central Cambria got its first two runners on base, knocking Ozog out of the game early. Maddox Vojtko came in and got three flyouts to end it, keeping the momentum with the Rams.
Richland took that boost to the fourth inning, where it broke the game open. Regan drove in another run on a groundout, and Vojtko ripped a run-scoring double to left. From there, Central Cambria made three more errors and allowed an RBI triple from Ozog, making the score 8-0.
"We lost a few key members in the infield," Central Cambria coach Dan Beyer said. "Errors will happen with freshmen and sophomores in their place. We've just got to learn from it."
Despite a big lead for Richland, the Red Devils strung baserunners together. A leadoff hit by pitch and walk put a big opportunity out there for Ben Howard. He crushed a pitch to the fence, bringing home a run on the double. Shortly after, Derek McConnell brought home another run on a groundout.
An error by Richland brought home a third run, and Jacob Fisher lined a ball over the shortstop for an RBI single. That big inning cut the Rams' lead in half, making it 8-4.
Before that big inning, Beyer delivered a message to ignite the Red Devils.
"I grabbed them and told them, 'We can do one of two things,' " Beyer said. " 'We can give up, or we can focus pitch by pitch, have good approaches at the plate, and drive the ball when it's in the zone.' We started to, but they made the plays."
From there, Richland kept them off the bases and managed to bring home two more runs. Robertson scored on a wild pitch and Dylan Wyandt drove in a run on a single.
Wyandt slammed the door in the seventh inning with three strikeouts, sending Richland to the semifinals against Philipsburg-Osceola. The Rams faced off against the Mounties April 24 and lost 14-2.
"That's an outstanding baseball team," Day stated. "They are extremely fundamental one through nine. We saw them earlier in the year at the end of a long week. We know what we are walking into in that game. We have to clean up a few things on our end and come play the game on Friday."
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