Prep Baseball Report

Instant Classic: No. 1 Blackhawk 1, Thomas Jefferson 0 (9 innings)



You should have been there.  Most people in Western Pennsylvania will claim they were.  In nine innings, No. 1 Blackhawk topped Thomas Jefferson 1-0 to move on to the WPIAL Class AAA Championship game next week.

The game was decided in the top of the ninth inning when Blackhawk senior Brandon Mansell led of with a single up the middle.  Brendan Kearney followed with a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Thomas Jefferson pitcher Greg Schneider, but in the process of fielding the ball he lost his footing.  Schneider made a hurried throw from the seat of his pants to first base that ended up sailing down the first base line allowing Mansell to score all the way from first with the only run of the game.

The story of the game however was the pitching display that was put on by Schneider, a Pitt commit, and the No. 2 ranked player in the class of 2014, Brendan McKay.  For eight full innings the two pitchers matched each other pitch for pitch. Schneider carried a no-hitter into the 9th inning, but was tagged with the loss.

Following are the pitching lines for this remarkable pitching performance by two of the best pitchers in the state:

Greg Schneider  (RHP - 2012) 9 IP, 1 BB, 15 K's, 2 hits, 1 unearned run (topped out at 89MPH)
Greg Schneider


Brendan McKay (LHP - 2014) 9 IP, 0 BB, 15 K's, 2 hits, 0 earned runs (topped out at 86MPH)
Brendan McKay