Bishop Canevin’s Tyler Maddix was asked by a reporter Tuesday how his team was able to flip the script and comfortably beat a team which thumped the Crusaders twice during the regular season.
“I think it was our mindset. Just going in with nothing to lose. And just having fun knowing that …,” Maddix said before being cut-off as three teammates doused him with water.
After regaining his composure following the chilly celebration, a smiling Maddix finished his answer by saying, “Mindset, I guess.”
Having Maddix on its side certainly played a big part, too.
Maddix pitched six strong innings to earn the win on the mound while adding three hits and three RBIs, including a home run, to propel Canevin to its second consecutive WPIAL title and fourth overall following a 10-3 win against Eden Christian in the Class 1A championship at Wild Things Park.
Canevin (15-4), the No. 4 seed, stormed to its 12th win in 13 games against a team it fell to by lopsided scores of 9-1 and 11-1 on April 9-10. The Crusaders scored only two runs and collected five hits total in those two losses to Eden Christian (16-5), the No. 2 seed which beat out Canevin for the Section 3 title. But on Tuesday, the Crusaders, who scored 27 runs in three playoff wins, erupted for 10 runs and 12 hits. Nine of those runs came in the first three innings when the Crusaders built a commanding 9-1 advantage.
“I’m really surprised we did what we did, quite honestly,” Canevin coach Bill Varley said. “They have a hell of a staff. They have three or four good pitchers. I can’t say I expected that. I was more expecting like a 2-1 game, but it worked. We came to hit. We stayed out of the two-strike counts as much as possible. I think that helped.”
Maddix, a junior left-hander, had been tagged for seven runs in 4⅓ innings in a 9-1 loss to Eden Christian in April. But Maddix was sharp Tuesday as he improved to 2-0 in WPIAL championship starts — he was the winning pitcher last season, too — by giving up two runs and four hits while striking out six and walking six in six innings. Maddix got himself into trouble each of the first two innings, but gave up only one run. He then settled down, setting down Eden Christian in order in the third and fourth innings, before giving up a second run in the fifth.
“He’s been doing that all year,” Varley said. “The first two innings are tough, he pitches out of it, and he gets into a rhythm. And then he tires out at the end.”
Maddix’s brother, freshman Jackson Maddix, pitched the final inning. Jackson tossed a no-hitter against Western Beaver in the quarterfinals.
Tyler Maddix is also one of Canevin’s top hitters, and his offensive talents were on display as he went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, this after he registered two hits in last year’s final. Maddix hit a two-run triple in the second and singled in the third before hitting a towering home run to left with two outs in the fifth. It was his second home run of the season and the third of his career.
“I was on second when it left the stadium,” Maddix said. “I was just running. I don’t know. I couldn’t believe it made it that far.”
Eden Christian fell short of winning its first championship. The Warriors, who went 0-16 their first season in the WPIAL a decade ago, also finished as the runner-up in 2022. Senior lefty Enzo Natale got the start and lasted only 1⅓ innings after giving up five runs. Sophomore right-hander Brady Hull relieved Natale and didn’t have much luck, either, as he surrendered four runs over 1⅔ innings.
“We just knew we had to be more aggressive at the plate with one strike on us,” Varley said. “We didn’t want to get into two-strike counts.”
Canevin hitters drew four walks and were hit by pitches twice while taking advantage of the wildness of Eden Christian pitchers early on. Kellen Andruscik was plunked with the bases loaded to give Canevin the first run of the game and Quentin White and Lucas Golembiewski followed with run-scoring singles to put the Crusaders up, 3-0, in the first inning. Tyler Maddix then hit a two-run triple in the second to make it 5-0. After Brett Feldman put Eden Christian on the board in the bottom of the second with an RBI single, Canevin added four more runs in the third to blow the game open. Two of those runs came on a throwing error and the other on Dominic Varley’s two-run triple that increased the lead to 9-1.
Varley, son of the coach and the team’s lead-off hitter, finished 3 for 5 to continue his outstanding play. Varley now has seven consecutive multi-hit games, going 17 for 26 with 10 RBIs in that time.
“We just feed off of each other. That’s our thing,” Varley said.
Bill Varley got a little emotional when talking about his son’s hot bat.
“He’s hitting over .500 for the year,” Bill Varley said. “When he was a little kid, man, he could never hit.”
Feldman and Hull combined for all six of Eden Christian’s hits. Feldman had four and Hull two. Hull drove in two runs and Feldman scored two.
After winning the WPIAL championship a year ago on the same field, Maddix celebrated by attending his older brother’s graduation.
As for his plans this year?
“I get to go to dinner this time,” he said. “No graduation this time.”
Well, other than Canevin graduating to back-to-back WPIAL champions.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.