Bishop Canevin came up on the short end of an 8-1 decision to South Allegheny Thursday in a WPIAL non-section baseball game at Three Rivers Field in Kennedy Township.
But at least on this day, the end result took a back seat to the overarching meaning of the game.
The Crusaders wore special green jerseys for the game to raise awareness regarding kidney disease and organ donation in a show of support for assistant coach Tim Jones.
Jones, whose wife, Katie, and their children Harper and Parker attended the game, is in stage 5 renal failure and is in urgent need of a second kidney transplant.
The McKees Rocks native and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart graduate, who underwent his first kidney transplant 28 years ago at the age of 14, said he was very grateful to be a part of Thursday’s event.
“It was incredibly heartfelt and heartwarming what the boys did, creating the green ‘awareness’ jerseys with my initials on the sleeve,” Jones said afterward.
Jones said he was touched to see the players sell those jerseys to raise funds on his behalf “and more so sharing an abundance of awareness of kidney disease.”
“The Bishop Canevin community is incredible through and through,” Jones added. “I love being with the players — helping, encouraging and seeing them fight. It’s growth across the board.”
Jones said he was thankful his family had a chance to see the impact he’s made on the players’ lives “and the massive impact they make on mine.”
“The legacy I work so hard to leave behind was on full display — young men bonding together to make an impact,” he said.
On the field, Liam Fonner collected three hits and drove in three runs to spark South Allegheny’s win.
The Gladiators built a 3-1 lead through four innings but added four runs in the fifth inning to secure the win.
Dillon Pomocki added two hits and scored two runs while Owen Werner had a hit, scored a run and drove in a run.
Bishop Canevin managed just four hits off two South Allegheny pitchers, with Jamin Brock accounting for two of them.
Moon Area 4, Hampton 3
Nick Machusko’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Tigers past the Talbots in a non-section game played at Moon.
Machusko’s base hit brought home Thad Longwell with the winning run. Longwell led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Will Swisher’s walk.
The Tigers snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fourth inning, with one scoring on a passed ball and the other on Nico Marasco’s RBI single.
But Hampton scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and the game went to extra innings tied at 3-3.
Machusko led Moon’s eight-hit attack with three hits. Three Moon pitchers – Brady Houck, Matt Forkin and Carter Posey – combined to hold Hampton to six hits and two earned runs.
Montour 6, Central Valley 4
Caleb Armbruster had two hits and drove in three runs and the Spartans built a 6-0 lead after four innings and held on to down the visiting Warriors in a non-section game.
Montour scored twice in each of the first, second and fourth innings to take a lead it never relinquished.
Tyler Puffer’s two-run single in the first gave Montour a 2-0 advantage and Armbruster’s RBI double was the big hit in the second. Armbruster then singled home two runs in the fourth to make it 6-0.
Union 3, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 1
Maddox Ryhal’s fifth-inning single broke a 1-1 tie and put the Scotties in front for good on the way to a win over the Chargers in a non-section game at Youthtowne.
OLSH’s only run came in the first inning when Chad Minton singled home Ryan DeNinno, who had reached on a one-out single and advanced to second on Dean Douglass’ base hit.
DeNinno finished with two of OLSH’s five hits. OLSH pitchers Bruno Williams, Angelo Ursida and Douglass combined to allow just three hits and two earned runs but walked seven and struck out 14.
SOFTBALL
Baldwin 5, Montour 4
Jordan Gerendash’s two-run single in the top of the seventh inning gave the Highlanders a come-from-behind win over the Spartans in a non-section game at Montour.
Montour trailed 3-1 head into the bottom of the fifth inning when an error on a ball hit by Paige Fiedler allowed two runs to score, tying the game at 3-3.
The Spartans then moved ahead in the bottom of the sixth on Hailey Herbst’s RBI fielder’s choice before Baldwin mounted its game-winning rally in the following frame.
Baldwin outhit Montour 10-3, with Emily McClean accounting for two of those Spartans’ hits.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Seneca Valley 3, Moon Area 0
The Raiders swept the Tigers in a Class 3A Section 1 match, winning by set scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-18.
Ayden Anderson-Simmons led the way for Moon with eight kills followed by setter Logan Anderson-Stewart with four. Shane Johns had a season-best 18 digs and the Tigers registered eight team blocks.
Moon will host Central Catholic in the home finale Friday night.
Hopewell 3, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 0
The Vikings rolled to a Class 2A Section 4 victory, sweeping the Chargers by set scores of 25-23, 25-13 and 25-22.
Isaac Tarbuk registered 13 kills and eight digs for OLSH while Brady Rooney had 10 kills and Patrick Altmar eight. Aidan Curry finished with 33 assists and five digs and Marco Buzzard contributed 12 digs.
The Chargers need to win at least one of their two remaining matches to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.
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