Mont Alto, Pa. - Through a seven inning battle with Penn State Beaver, the Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team earned the title of Penn State University Athletic Conference champions as they powered over, 9-4.
Senior right-handed pitcher Eddie Emes (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) struck out the top three batters to lead Greater Allegheny to their first at bats of the day. Both junior third baseman Clay Groff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) and senior shortstop Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) walked to fill the first two bases. Senior right-fielder Gianmarco Concepcion (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Mercyhurst North East) singled to bat in both McGee and Groff, GA leading 2-0.
Beaver evened the tally at two in the top of the second before they put up two more in the top of the fourth, giving Beaver a 4-2 advantage.
The bottom of the fourth began with a sophomore second baseman Adam Jacko (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) triple to lead up to Groff's first homerun of the season, earning himself a pair of RBIs. McGee walked to first base before he stole second. Senior catcher Troy Ambros (Pembroke Pines, Fla./West Broward) doubled to push McGee to score, GA 5-4.
Sophomore designated hitter Francisco Del Rio (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) walked before freshman center-fielder Terance Wroniak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick) singled to score Del Rio. With a Groff double, Wroniak scored to elevate Greater Allegheny's tally to 7-4 over Penn State Beaver.
McGee, now pitching, sat down two of the three batters in the top of the sixth on strike-outs, paving the way to the Greater Allegheny batter's box. Ambros walked before Concepcion doubled. Sophomore first baseman Joshua Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) grounded out to bat in Ambros as Concepcion also scored. The Greater Allegheny capped off the scoring drive for the game with GA in the driver's seat, 9-4.
With the victory, the 2014-15 Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team has been crowned Penn State University Athletic Conference Champions with a overall record of 29-6, 19-0 PSUAC. This is the fourth time in five years the men have earned the title of PSUAC Champions, the first time under new head coach Mark Jackson.
McGee earned his fifth win on the mound for Greater Allegheny with the win, as the senior saw 21 batters over five innings. He sat own five on strike-out as he allowed just two runs to score. Concepcion went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored as Groff went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Ambros finished the game going 2-of-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Jacko went 1-for-2 with one run scored while Wroniak hit 1-of-2 with one run batted in and one run scored himself.
Next on the Greater Allegheny horizon is the United States Collegiate Athletic Association World Series, where GA holds the second seed in the tournament. The games are hosted by The Apprentice School and the Peninsula Pilots Hampton, Virginia.
