Alexander leads Portage past Northern Cambria
May 20—PORTAGE — Portage senior Ty Alexander has received quite the workload lately.
The Delgado College commit went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate to guide his team to victory in Monday's WestPAC title game, and as the top-seeded Mustangs hosted No. 8 Northern Cambria Thursday in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals, his team once again leaned on him.
Alexander struck out 14 and battled his way out of two jams to lead Portage to a 4-2 victory.
"He just threw a gem today," Portage coach Larry McCabe said. "It was a typical day for him. When he's on, it gives us a chance to win any ball game."
Alexander pitched himself out of two logjams in the fourth and sixth innings.
With the game tied at 1 in the fourth, Northern Cambria (11-6) was able to load up the bases and its dugout was beaming with energy following a single from Isak Kudlawiec and two walks.
After taking a moment to speak with catcher Jace Irvin and recollect himself, Alexander caught Brad Valeria looking to end the inning unscathed.
The righty once again climbed out of a jam in the sixth with no outs in the sixth after Northern Cambria drew a walk and received a double from Evan Wiewiora.
McCabe and the Mustangs infield huddled together on the mound, and once Alexander was able to compose himself, he struck out three-consecutive batters to keep his team alive.
"In that moment, I kept telling myself that I just had to bear down and throw strikes," Alexander said.
"You have to stay in the game and be a dog out there. I just want to go out there and win for my team. It was all about the team."
Portage (19-0) had taken the lead just moments earlier following a huge crack of the bat from junior Andrew Miko.
Senior Adam Stauski reached base courtesy of a Colts error to open the bottom of the fifth, and Alexander was walked to put runners on base.
On a full 3-2 count, Miko crushed a double to left field that drove home two runs, which ended up being the game-winning play.
"Both teams were getting somebody on (base) every inning, but it seemed like nobody could really capitalize," said Miko, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. "We were finally able to string some of our hits together, and that was really the difference."
Senior Nate Moore produced an RBI single in the sixth to score Mason Kargo and extend the lead to three, but Northern Cambria continued to battle.
The Colts once again loaded the bases in the seventh inning and received a free run after senior Josh Miller was walked.
"Today was a hard-fought battle," Northern Cambria coach Brian Bougher said.
"Portage flat-out beat us. They had great pitching, and we couldn't capitalize on some of the opportunities we had."
The Colts had the tying run on second base, but with one out, Portage third baseman Issac Jubina and first baseman Adam Stauski connected on a double play to close out the game.
It was the second-straight year that Portage defeated Northern Cambria in the first round of the playoffs.
"This was a really tough pool to be in," Miko said. "Northern Cambria was the eight-seed, but they didn't play like it. That's a really good team over there, and this was a really good game."
Portage now advances to the District 6 Class 2A semifinals and is set to face Bishop Guilfoyle at home Tuesday.
The No. 5 Marauders earned an 8-3 victory over River Valley Thursday.
"We have to do the same thing we did today," Alexander said. "We had a good approach for the most part today, and we have to keep coming out and doing what we do best."
