Zaas无毛视频� big blast helps W&J sink Waynesburg
Green lights on 3-0 counts, especially when you’re trailing, don’t come around often in baseball.
But when it’s a cleanup hitter with power like Washington & Jefferson’s Scout Zaas, you can sometimes swing away.
The Presidents found themselves trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning against Waynesburg in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament last Thursday afternoon when Zaas stepped into the batter’s box and worked a 3-0 count against Yellow Jackets starter Ethan Erhard, who had been very effective to that point.
With a runner on second base, W&J coach Jeff Mountain thought it was a good time for Zaas, who is the Presidents’ leading hitter but had missed nine games because of injuries, to get back in the swing of things and change the game’s momentum.
So Mountain gave the green light to his power-hitting lefthander.
Zaas responded by hitting an Erhard fastball over the fence in right centerfield for a two-run homer that gave W&J a 4-3 lead. The Presidents had the momentum and never let go as they went on to a 10-3 victory that eliminated the Yellow Jackets.
The game changed with one mighty swing of the bat.
“We give a green light to swing on 3-0 pretty consistently,” Mountain explained. “It depends on who is up, what the score is, but we’re not going to be fearful. We’re going to be aggressive.
“We wanted to get (Zaas) going. He’s been erratic since he came back.”
Zaas’s blast got W&J’s offense going as it ended the inning with a 5-3 lead. The Presidents added a run in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth.
W&J (31-12) went on to defeat Grove City, 12-5, on Friday to reach the championship series.
Nolan Lutz was 2-for-3 with three RBI for W&J. Leadoff hitter Jacob LaDuca scored three runs. He hit the game’s first pitch for a home run.
Even with LaDuca’s homer, Erhard cruised through the first five innings, allowing only three hits.
Waynesburg (23-19), which set a school single-season record for wins, forged the 3-1 lead with runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings. The Yellow Jackets, however, left six runners on base – four in scoring position — over the first four innings.
Two singles and an error by W&J tied the score at 1-1. Waynesburg’s Seth Burgdolt (McGuffey) doubled in the fourth and scored on a double by Garrett Comer to put the Yellow Jackets up 2-1.
In the fifth, Waynesburg designated hitter Marcos Mendez hit a solo homer to left field off W&J starter Dante DiMatteo that made it 3-1.
However, with a light rain starting to fall, Waynesburg lost its grip on the game in the sixth. Drew Garth was hit by a pitch to start the frame and scored on a Lutz hit-and-run double. Zaas followed with his home run that put W&J in the lead. Zac Stein then doubled and that was all for Erhard.
“We were a little flat,” Mountain said. “We didn’t make good adjustments. We knew what kind of pitcher (Erhard) is. He was going to keep the ball down and get ground balls. We were a little antsy early. The more looks we got at him the better we got.”
DiMatteo was the winning pitcher, giving up six hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings. The Presidents used three relievers.
“We have a lot of capable pitchers left,” Mountain said. “They all are about the same in terms of results. They don’t all throw the same. I think we’re OK. We have to control the strike zone.”
Waynesburg, which lost to Allegheny 4-2 on May 8, was eliminated from the tournament. Yellow Jackets head coach Perry Cunningham was not available for comment immediately after the game.