Freshman Tim Connelly Fires No Hitter, Baseball Advances to National Semi-final
Penn State Greater Allegheny used a no-hitter from Freshman starting pitcher Tim Connelly (Woodland Hills) to defeat 7th-seeded Robert Morris-Springfield (IL) by a score of 7-0.
Greater Allegheny got the offense going right away it the bottom of the 1st, when Freshman Scott Dierordorf (Hopewell) followed Junior second baseman Ted Fricke's (Carrick) single with a 2-run homer to right field. Back up in the bottom of the second inning, Sophomore right fielder Mike Visloski (West Allegheny) doubled in 2 more GA runs, and then scored on a single by Fricke. Leading 5-0 in the bottom of the 5th inning, Senior catcher Nate Raffle (GCC) and Sophomore left fielder Matt Bradburn (Baldwin) each knocked in a run with RBI singles. Tim Connelly ended his no-hitter in style, by striking out the final batter in the top of the 7th inning, solidifying the win for Greater Allegheny.
Five different Greater Allegheny batters recorded RBi's. Mike Visloski and Scott Dierdorf each had 2, while Ted Fricke, Nate Raffle, and Matt Bradburn each had 1. Starting pitcher Tim Connelly stole the show on the mound for GA, keeping the Robert Morris-Springfield (IL) hitters off balance. Stellar all game, Connelly struck out 5 batters with no walks, while completing the no-hitter.
With the victory, Penn State Greater Allegheny (30-12-1) advances on to play Briarcliffe (NY) in an 11:00 AM tilt tomorrow morning, May, 18. The winner will advance to the National Championship against Southern Virginia.