After quarterfinal loss, Riverview Baseball looks forward to next season
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Sunday, June 5, 2022 | 11:01 a.m.
The Riverview baseball players had playoff-winning experiences under their belt as they kicked off this year’s WPIAL Class A tournament with a first-round matchup against Bishop Canevin.
The Raiders, hoping for a second straight run to the WPIAL finals, entered as the No. 10 seed, but coach Bill Gras knew his team, which went 6-10 on aggregate in the regular season and finished fourth in Section 3 at 4-6, had what it took to advance.
“It reminded me a bit of last year when we started hitting in the playoffs,” Gras said.
“We didn’t hit as well in the regular season this year as I had hoped, but we beat Bishop Canevin with 11 hits. It made me think about what we could have done if we had this good successful in the regular season.
Those 11 hits helped Riverview produce a slight upset for the No. 7 Crusaders. The Raiders were in the quarterfinals with a 13-7 victory.
The quest to reach the title game, and the season as a whole, however, came to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals with a 5-1 loss to No. 2 Union. The Raiders, who also fell to the Scotties in the title game last year, were limited to one hit this time around.
Union then beat Eden Christian, 4-1, to win another WPIAL title.
But for at least one day in this year’s playoffs, Riverview was sitting in the winner’s seat and feeling great.
Junior Luke Migely led the way against Bishop Canevin with three hits and two RBIs, while juniors Enzo Lio and Daniel Roupas and rookie Johnny Bertucci had two hits apiece.
Bertucci, one of two Riverview freshmen in this year’s playoffs — the other being Tyler Aftanas — had four RBIs against Bishop Canevin.
“Experience is everything,” Gras said. “With that, I felt very confident that we wouldn’t be hurt by nervousness or anything like that. I could see their focus before this game. I felt we could beat this team. We lost very close games against Sewickley Academy and Leechburg. The throwing was there, and if we did a bit of hitting, knowing how aggressive we had been on base, I knew we could compete with them.
Against Union, Gras felt his hitters did a good job putting the ball in play. Only one batter struck out over the seven innings.
“We fought hard against Union both times,” Gras said.
“We hit the ball hard. We’ve done that in a number of games this year. We were hitting the ball hard but it was right on someone. If we had moved that ball a few feet back and forth in multiple instances (against Union) it could have been a different game.
Riverview’s four section wins this season have come from St. Joseph and Springdale. The two losses to Sewickley Academy and the pair of backhands to Leechburg to close out sectional play were a combined seven points.
The Raiders also survived the Apollo-Ridge Class 2A playoff qualifier, 12-9, in a no-section game.
“It was a bit frustrating not to have found a way to win those tight games,” Gras said. “We were there within four. For the season, we hit .260 as a team, and that had to be better for our goals, but at the same time, we scored three more points than last year.
“I felt the guys were progressing and improving as the season progressed. They started to understand what it took to be a hitter. They became more and more patient at the plate. They stopped thinking too much, and it became “see the ball, hit the ball”.
Gras said it will be hard to say goodbye to the senior starting pair of receiver Taylor Zellefrow and pitcher Vinnie Shook, who he says have given so much on and off the field to the team’s successes.
“They were both outstanding,” Gras said.
“We had Vince for four years and all three seasons, and Taylor moved to the district and had two really good seasons for us. Taylor was so valuable to us behind the plate in the way he handled pitchers and his bat in the lineup. Vince, for four years, I loved the kid to death. He gave us everything he had and was our bulldog last year and this year on the mound.
Gras said Zellefrow and Shook hope to continue playing locally at the top level.
With the loss of only the two senior starters, Gras likes the potential of the team heading into the 2023 season.
Many returning team members, Gras said, will join the seniors on traveling baseball teams this summer as they continue to play and hope to keep their skills sharp.
Michael Love is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Michael by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
Key words: View of the river