Pitching, timely hitting leads Rockwood past Berlin in District 5 Class 1A semis

ROCKWOOD — For a while it seemed as though Rockwood coach Steve Barto might not have to use his entire pitching staff against Berlin Brothersvalley in the District 5 Class 1A baseball semifinals on Thursday.

Senior southpaw Carson Modrak was dealing, allowing just one run through four innings, but when he got into trouble in the seventh, Barto knew what to do.

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Already one run in with the bases loaded and just one out, Rockwood’s Jack Pletcher came on and slammed the door shut with back-to-back strikeouts to preserve a 6-2 victory and send the Rockets to the district championship game.

“We had a game plan going in that my pitchers were not going to see more than one time through the batting order,” Barto said. “Carson did an excellent job, stayed a little longer. My whole plan was to use all three. I had Jack in the back of my mind to come in and close it. He did a phenomenal job.”

What it means

Rockwood secured its second district final appearance in the last three seasons with its third win over Berlin. Their last trip to the title game in 2019 ended in a disappointing 9-inning loss to Forbes Road.

This time around, the top-seeded Rockets will meet perennial power Southern Fulton, which defeated Fannett-Metal 7-1, next Wednesday at Everett at a time to be determined.

Berlin wrapped up an 11-9 season. Second-year coach Zac Cooney has the Mountaineers trending in the right direction moving forward.

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“We definitely have some guys coming back that we can build with next year,” said Cooney. “These seniors and even the seniors last year paved a path for these guys, kind of getting Berlin baseball back on track. It definitely is a promising future for these guys.”

Key plays

Rockwood’s Luke Beahr, who started and threw two scoreless innings, worked out of a jam in the top of the first.

After a leadoff double by Berlin’s Pace Prosser, Beahr induced a ground ball to the shortstop Pletcher who threw to third baseman Aaron Show to nab Prosser trying to take an extra base. Later, with two runners on, Beahr got Carson Webreck to fly out to squash the threat.

Jonathan Felesky singled home Pletcher with two outs to put the Rockets on the board in the home half of the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Felesky walked with two outs and pulled into third on a double into the right center gap by Carson Brown. Sophomore Hunter Whipkey followed with a timely 2-RBI single that just got under the glove of Berlin’s diving left fielder, Cale Kosic.

The Rockets added what ended up being three crucial insurance runs in the sixth. After Modrak’s RBI groundout to first scored Show, Pletcher blasted a 2-run home run over the left field fence to put Rockwood up 6-1.

“Every game we’ve played them (the Mountaineers) has been a quality game,” said Barto. “We knew we had to put a couple extra on the board because they don’t quit. Those (runs) were huge.”

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By the numbers

Brown finished 3-for-4 with a run scored. Pletcher, Felesky and Whipkey all had two hits apiece. Andrew Weaver and Show both had a hit.

Webreck, who had an RBI and scored a run, was the only Mountaineer with a multi-hit day. Prosser, Craig Jarvis, Cory Jose, Hayden Hutzell and Cooper Huston all recorded a hit for Berlin.

Jarvis took the loss for the Mountaineers, throwing all six innings, giving up six runs on 11 hits.

Unsung heroes

Modrak threw 4 ⅓ innings, surrendering two runs, one earned, on four hits with four strikeouts and only two walks.

“My three pitchers, they gave their hearts out there today,” Barto said.

What’s next

The district title matchup will be between two teams on opposite spectrums when it comes to winning championships.

Rockwood has never won a District 5 championship, while Southern Fulton has won two out of the previous three.

But that means very little to the Rockets, who are eager to break through and make history.

“It was heartbreaking my freshman year,” said Pletcher, who is one of four seniors who experienced that loss in 2019. “Rockwood’s never had a baseball title. We have a break until next Wednesday, and we’re going to bring it all.”

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