Dice baseball strikes out city league competition once again

Dice baseball strikes out city league competition once again

Friday, June 08, 2007

By Nick Camerlengo, Allderdice High School (City of Pittsburgh Schools)

City League dominance is becoming the norm for the Allderdice baseball team. After being bounced from last year’s PIAA tournament in the first round by Mt. Lebanon, the Dragons opened the 2007 season with a nine-game win streak. The Dragons finished the regular season ranked first in the City League, with an 11-2 record, losing only one conference game.

“Our hope is to get to the City League championship game again. I want to go deeper in the state playoffs,” head coach Don Nania told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The young pitching staff the Dragons had this year allowed for most of the regular season dominance. The staff was headed by sophomore sensation J.R. Leonardi. Leonardi was dominant last year as a freshman, and he picked up right were he left off last season. His supporting cast included juniors Gil Malek and Greg Mesko, with senior Ross Miller rounding out the main hurlers.

While the pitching of the Dragons really stands out, the team was able to hit the ball as well. As of May 29th, the team had scored 122 runs while allowing only 26, and scored over twenty runs on two separate occasions. During one fifteen-day stand, in which the Dragons won four games, they allowed no runs.

Their defensive success can be credited to their experience in the field. The infield consists of three seniors: Teddy Katz, Bob Notovitz, and Jonah Rosenthal. With junior Eric Branter behind the plate, the outfield consists of juniors Ron Kleopfer, Mesko, Craig Williams, and Miller, three of whom all have at least two years varsity experience. These players, along with pitcher/outfielder/third baseman Nate Kimel, have the team allowing an average of 2 runs a game and scoring about 9.4 a game.

These numbers all seemed to add up to yet another championship for the Dragons. However, the team’s season came to an end on May 24th, when it was upset by Brashear 6-3, at Herschel Field, in its first City League play-off game. “I feel like this is the most talent we’ve had in years, and it is definitely a disappointment to not even make it to the championship game,” Kimel said. While the team graduates key players, it seems poised to take the City with a vengeance next year, and hopefully its regular season dominance will carry over into the 2008 postseason.