Win over Fox Chapel motivates Monroeville Junior Legion team

The Monroeville Junior Legion baseball team had played a number of close games in the early portion of its Westmoreland County Youth Legion schedule, so it probably came as no surprise to the Gators that they found themselves in a close battle against Fox Chapel on June 8, at Monroeville Community Park.

Trailing by two runs early, Monroeville battled back to take the lead and went on to score a 4-3 victory in the midst of what has become a league-wide run of competitive play over the first three weeks of the season.

“It was a really well-played game on both sides,” Gators coach Rich Otterman said.

“There were a lot of great defensive plays. Our left fielder (rising eighth grader Braden Washington) made a nice catch in the first inning and doubled up a runner to help us get out of a tough situation. It was just a great game to watch.”

The win, payback for a 5-4 loss to Fox Chapel on May 31, put Monroeville at 2-3 overall with 10 games left in the regular season. The Gators play Penn-Trafford, Murrysville, Plum and Fox Chapel a total of three times each in their division, with three crossover games against teams from the other division, as they try to qualify again for the league playoffs.

Harris Otterman got the start against Fox Chapel and worked into the sixth. He left the mound with two outs and his team holding a one-run advantage.

Elliott Sterner, a rising 11th grader at Gateway and one of four players on the roster from last year’s regional-qualifying team, came on with runners on second and third and picked up a strikeout to end the threat.

He then retired the side in order in the top of the seventh.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to talk about that win because we went so quickly in the second game, but from reading the body language, they were pretty happy with it,” coach Otterman said. “There were a lot of high-fives and a lot of smiles as they were coming off the field. The guys worked hard for the win, and they deserved to be happy.”

The meeting with Fox Chapel was supposed to be a doubleheader, but rain forced the suspension of the second game in the third inning with no score. The game will resume from that point on a day that hadn’t been determined as of the deadline for this week’s edition.

Monroeville was to face Penn-Trafford on Friday in a rematch of a 4-2 Gators win May 23.

“That was a really good game with them the first time,” coach Otterman said.

“They are the defending state champs, and we know they don’t have everyone back from last year, but it is always a great program.”

Coach Otterman said he hoped the Fox Chapel win was the resumption of good things in the win column for Monroeville.

Monroeville’s Junior Legion program formed six years ago, and in that time, teams have made it to regionals on three occasions, including last year’s trip and close call as it attempted to qualify for states.

The 2021 tournament saw Monroeville go 2-2, beating Punxsutawney and Oil City and losing to Penn-Trafford in pool play before falling to Conneaut in the third-place game with a spot in the state tournament on the line.

It was an all Westmoreland league state final as Penn-Trafford defeated Connellsville, 6-0, in the championship game.

In addition to Sterner, Owen Dumbroski, Grady Dunsmore and Jayden Lewis are the lone players back from last year’s team.

Dumbrowski joined the team this past week after his run with Serra Catholic ended in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs.

“We have a lot of younger players going up against teams with older kids who might be a little better than them right now,” coach Otterman said.

“For some, it’s their first go-around in Legion baseball and first time hitting with a wooden bat. The new kids on the team who have joined with the returning guys are trying to make their own waves. There is a standard here that has been set that they’re aware of. The team is concerned with getting through each day and hoping that enough good things add up to more good things in the playoffs. It’s just a lot of fun to watch them battle.”

Sterner, who is at second base when he’s not pitching, drove in five runs and scored three more over the team’s first five games and led the team in slugging.

“He’s an intense competitor and a great teammate, especially with the younger players,” Otterman said.

Sterner, with a fastball Otterman said has been clocked in the low 80s, also was 1-1 on the mound to go along with his save against Fox Chapel.

In addition to a majority of the players who attend Gateway and Dumbrowski from Serra Catholic, Monroeville is home to players who attend Central Catholic, Woodland Hills and Norwin and live in communities where Junior Legion baseball is not offered.

Also on this year’s team are rising junior Luke Demchak; rising sophomore DeVaughn Earl-Hayden; rising ninth graders Joe Cheripka, Ryan Deselich, Tyler Sapida, Joseph Margiotta, Ethan McMullen and Gunner Raymer; and rising eighth graders Shane Demchak and Colin Graves.

McMullen led the team in batting average through five games, while Otterman fronted the team in on-base percentage, runs scored and stolen bases.

“We’re younger this year, but there is a lot of really good, talented players on this team,” Sterner said.

“We’re getting better with each practice and game. I definitely feel we’re going to get to where we want to be.”