North Star baseball continues turnaround under Klukaszewski, advances to D5 title game
BOSWELL — First-year North Star baseball coach Jake Klukaszewski wanted his club to be peaking at the right time of the season. The Cougars did just that.
They entered Wednesday's District 5 Class 2A semifinal matchup against Windber, winners of eight straight along with a forfeit in their finale.
Behind sophomore ace pitcher Cayden Turner, No. 2 seed North Star topped No. 3 Windber for the third time this season with a 3-1 victory to punch its ticket to the championship game.
"It kind of came full circle," said Klukaszewski. "We were supposed to play (Conemaugh) Township for a few days, there. My first real memory of these guys was last year at Windber when they beat us in the playoffs. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder coming in and I wanted us to do the same thing.
"So, for it to come full circle and us be able to do that is really special. We didn't envision it, but for it to actually happen is really special."
What it means
North Star (15-4) will play top seed Everett (17-2), an 8-0 winner over No. 4 Conemaugh Township, in the title game next Tuesday.
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Key moments
North Star struck for two runs in the bottom of the second inning off Windber junior starter Joey Reynolds, who was 4-0 in seven appearances entering the game.
Sophomore Braden Livingston hit a leadoff single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Vance Kimmel. No. 8 hitter Jeremy Mack delivered an RBI single to score Glendon Griffith, who walked earlier in the inning.
Turner, who pitched 6⅓ innings, allowing no runs on six hits, two walks and striking out five, kept Windber off balance for much of the game. The Ramblers put balls in play, but they were tracked down for long outs.
"He's our true ace," Klukaszewski said of Turner. "We've thrown him against some of the top competition this year –Forest Hills, Portage – and he's really grown as a player from this skinny, little kid last year to coming in and putting work in the weight room. We feel totally confident every time he is on the mound. It was a no-doubter that he was going to be our guy today."
Turner was stellar against the Ramblers. He was confident after already picking up a win against Windber this season. Turner also delivered an RBI in the fifth inning to give the Cougars a 3-0 advantage.
"I was mostly relying on my fastball location on the outside corner," Turner said. "They sometimes couldn't hit it. Then, just getting my changeup located low and away, it just significantly helped me today."
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By the numbers
Windber (11-9) had six hits in the game. Anthony Domineck tallied a pair of hits, including an RBI single in the seventh, while Jake Vargo, John Shuster, Reynolds and Cole Strick each had one hit. Strick was the only player to have an extra-base hit.
Reynolds pitched five innings and allowed three runs on four hits, two walks while striking out three.
"Both (starting) pitchers really went at it today," Windber coach Dan Clark said. "A ton of strikes on both sides of the ball. You can't give enough credit to Joey and Andrew (Scalia) and Cayden. I think there was a lot of good defense played as well. The balls that were put in play were put in play pretty hard, but there were a lot of nice defensive plays made around. In tight games like these, it's going to be the team that blinks first."
Unsung heroes
Mack entered the semis hitting .179 but came up clutch with an RBI to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the second. Kimmel went deep in center field to make some grabs near the warning track and kept the Ramblers off the scoreboard and the bases.
What's next
This will be the Cougars' first District 5 Class 2A title game appearance since 2018. North Star will look to capture its first district crown since 2013, when they square off with the Warriors.
"We're trying to just hit our stride at the ride time," Klukaszewski said. "At the beginning of the year, it was mainly the top of the lineup and the bottom of the lineup would have some timely hitting here or there. (Andy) Retassie's really grown up this year, and Vance Kimmel.
"For us just to put it together from top to bottom in the lineup and then have our pitchers throwing strikes and play good defense, when you play fundamental baseball, that's when you win games and that's what we're trying to do."
Adam Ripple is the Daily American sports editor. He can be reached at 814-444-5926. Follow him on Twitter @ARipple_DAsport. Follow Daily American Sports on Facebook and @dailyamericanmedia on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: North Star upends Windber in District 5 Class 2A semifinal
