Penn-Trafford-USC game suspended

The Penn-Trafford and Upper St. Clair baseball teams tried to complete their WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal round playoff game Tuesday afternoon, but Mother Nature wouldn't let them.

A steady rain made the playing field at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex in Rostraver Township too dangerous, so the umpires suspended the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with Upper St. Clair leading 3-1.

"The umpires made the right call," Upper St. Clair coach Jerry Malarkey said. "They are responsible for what happens and conditions were getting bad. You don't want someone to get hurt."

The game will be resumed 4 p.m. today at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex.

That's where Upper St. Clair will try to protect its lead.

When the umpires stopped play, Malarkey was changing pitchers.

Starting pitcher Ryan Cain had just walked Penn-Trafford's Mark McRobie and Dan Obremski to begin the bottom of the fifth inning when Malarkey called on Patrick Gannon to face the Warriors' Dan Shusteric.

Penn-Trafford, which grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by starting pitcher Anthony Cirocco, missed an opportunity against Cain in the third inning when it loaded the bases with one out.

But Cain got Dan Barton and Stephen Hermann to fly out to end the threat.

"They were aggressive," Penn-Trafford coach Ron Evans said, "You hate to give them the take sign. Both were fastballs down the middle. All we have to do is hit the ball."

Evans said he hopes the middle of his order can duplicate what the middle of the Upper St. Clair lineup has done, collect key hits.

Cirocco shut down the Panthers in the first two innings, but a one-out walk to Len Mills got things started for Upper St. Clair in the top of the third inning. The Panthers scored three runs on three-consecutive hits.

Upper St. Clair center fielder Dan Cafaro drove in Mills when he tripled to the right-center fence. Catcher Kris McDonough followed with an RBI- double to center and Chris Coleman then delivered an RBI-single to left. That forced Evans to replace Cirocco with Erik Rasky.

"The middle of their order crushes the ball," Evans said. "I felt it was time to get Anthony out and show then something different."

Rasky, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning, blanked the Panthers. He struck out Pat Slowey, and then got pinch-hitter Josh Helmrich to bounce out to end the threat.

"We let them off the hook," Malarkey said. "Now we have to play it out."

McDonough was 3 for 3 for the Panthers, while Coleman was 2 for 2.