City League Baseball Championship: Langley pitcher strikes out 11 in another PNC Park win: "Langley defeated Allderdice, 22-2, in three innings earlier in the season. Mustangs coach Leo Rauterkus was not expecting another one-sided victory, but was confident his team would prevail.In the Tribune Review, the quote from my cousin, Leo Rauterkus, talks about 'math' of all things.
'That first game gave us some confidence to beat a good team like Allderdice, but I was expecting a tight ballgame.'"
City League Barnes burner - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'This was typical Matt Barnes,' Langley coach Leo Rauterkus said. 'He's just a solid baseball player, a competitor. We figured if Matt had eight or nine strikeouts, we'd have a good chance. He had 11. The math was with us.'Sports is often about 'math' and 'science' as well as 'psychology.'
Langley's team was better coached yesterday -- and it showed in a number of ways from squeeze plays to pitch outs that worked like magic.
At PNC Park, Langley, visitors, was on the first-base side of the diamond, by the way.
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City League Baseball Championship: Langley pitcher strikes out 11 in another PNC Park win
Thursday, May 25, 2006
By David Assad, Tri-State Sports & News Service
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Matt Barnes celebrates after Langley won the City League baseball championship yesterday at PNC Park, beating Allderdice in the final. Barnes improved to 10-2.
Click photo for larger image.
Not many local baseball fans can say they have fond memories of PNC Park.
Matt Barnes is an exception. Barnes, a senior right-hander, led Langley to a 5-1 victory against Allderdice yesterday for the City League championship at PNC Park.
Barnes scattered five hits and struck out 11 to lead Langley (17-5) to its second City League championship in the past four years.He was the Mustangs' starting third baseman when Langley claimed the City title at the same venue in his freshman year.
"To play in a Major League Baseball stadium is something that we all dream about," Barnes said. "I knew I had to bring my 'A' game because there's something about playing at PNC Park which is going to bring out the best in everybody."
The win avenged Langley's semifinal loss to Allderdice (12-5) last year when Barnes lost, 1-0, despite pitching a one-hitter. Barnes said revenge was not among his motivating factors.
"I just tried to stay focused on this game," Barnes said. "As a team captain, I feel it's always been my job to lead this team to a City championship. I just tried to do my best, and fortunately it came out successful for us."
Langley scored a run in each of the final five innings, gradually pulling away against freshman pitcher J.R. Leonardi, who was victimized by four Allderdice errors. Two of the four runs he gave up in six innings were unearned.
Langley led, 1-0, in the third when Brian Sites hit a book-rule double that bounced over the left-field wall. Courtesy runner Chuck Morris scored on a double by Doug Ruckert that was lost in the sun by Allderdice left fielder Brian Tobin.
The Dragons tied it in the bottom of the third. Tyler Graham hit a one-out triple to left-center field and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Leonardi.
Allderdice did not mount a serious offensive threat for the remainder of the game. The bottom five players in the batting order were 0 for 15.
The only player who reached base in the lower half of the order was Miller McCormick, who did so on a dropped third strike. But the fourth inning ended when McCormick was caught trying to steal second.
Langley got the decisive run in the fourth. Sites reached base on a dropped third strike. Running again for Sites, Morris scored after Luke Barnes, Matt's brother, singled and Graham made an error at second base when he could not handle Jonathan Mock's hot smash. That gave Langley a 2-1 lead, and it was all the Mustangs needed.
"I felt if I could hold them to three or four runs, our team would score enough to win," Barnes said.
Langley defeated Allderdice, 22-2, in three innings earlier in the season. Mustangs coach Leo Rauterkus was not expecting another one-sided victory, but was confident his team would prevail.
"That first game gave us some confidence to beat a good team like Allderdice, but I was expecting a tight ballgame."
City League Barnes burner
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Philip G. Pavely/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
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By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Matt Barnes had every reason to get rattled. The Langley pitcher was standing on a major-league mound, facing defending champion Allderdice with the City League title on the line and the Dragons stalling.
As Barnes went into his stretch, the Allderdice players would step out of the batter's box. When Barnes showed signs of frustration, the Dragons let him hear about it.
Barnes overcame the tactics to lead Langley to its 13th City League championship with a 5-1 victory over Allderdice on Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park.
"I knew they were going to talk, and I heard what they were saying," Barnes said. "Pitching is so much about keeping your composure, and I think I did a pretty good job of it. I figured if I could come out and hold them to a few hits, we were going to win this. It's just awesome to perform like this at a major-league ballpark."
Barnes (11-2), a senior right-hander, struck out 11 batters while allowing five hits and two walks over seven innings. Allderdice prevented him from being dangerous at the plate. Following his first-inning single, the Dragons walked Barnes in his next three at bats, the last one intentionally.
"This was typical Matt Barnes," Langley coach Leo Rauterkus said. "He's just a solid baseball player, a competitor. We figured if Matt had eight or nine strikeouts, we'd have a good chance. He had 11. The math was with us."
It added up to Langley's first City title since 2003, when Barnes and left fielder Doug Ruckert were freshmen. This one was better, Barnes said, because he got to share it with his brother Luke, a freshman third baseman.
Langley (17-5) also got a big performance from senior catcher Brian Sites, who overcame his offensive struggles to go 3 for 4 with an RBI single and two runs scored.
Sites doubled in his first at bat and scored on Ruckert's double to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the third inning. In the fourth, Sites struck out but advanced on J.R. Leonardi's wild pitch and beat the throw to first.
"I had to come out big and show I wanted it," Sites said. "I had a chance. It was down in the dirt, so I had to take advantage of it."
Luke Barnes singled, and Sites scored on an error by Allderdice second baseman Tyler Graham for the go-ahead run. Graham was 2 for 4, including a triple, and scored the only run for Allderdice (12-5) in the third.
But the Dragons committed five errors, and they proved costly by leading to four unearned runs. Leonardi, a 6-foot-4 freshman right-hander, gave up seven hits and five walks but was ultimately doomed by defensive deficiencies.
"We broke down where I thought we would," Allderdice coach Don Nania said. "We were vulnerable on the corners, and they hit our vulnerable spots."
Barnes held Allderdice's Nos. 5 through 9 batters hitless in 15 at-bats and struck out three of the final six batters.
"We expected that type of performance," Nania said. "We tried to take him out of his rhythm. We got to him early, but we let him in the backdoor by committing errors."
Kevin Gorman can be reached at kgorman@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7812.
Wow it was very nice to see Allderdice be humbled because the coach thanks he runs the city league!! If you coach year round and come up with lame excuses for losing you should step down and get a coach who can win with the talent they have!! Great Job Langley!!!!
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