Frewsburg’s Garrett Brink dives safely into home as Pine Valley catcher George Kruszka and umpire Bruce Johnson look on during Friday’s CCAA Division 2 game at Frewsburg’s RHJ Athletic Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Although Pine Valley junior George Kruszka struck out in his middle two at-bats Friday against Frewsburg, he convinced his coach that he knew what he was doing wrong.

He proved it in his fourth at-bat.

Kruszka hit a two-run single to center field plating the go-ahead runs as the Panthers beat the Bears 4-2 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 action at the Robert H. Jackson Athletic Complex.

“His bat’s been quiet,” Pine Valley head coach Chris Buczek said.

“He had a couple of opportunities so that was a huge hit. Once he struck out, he came back to the dugout and said ‘I got it, I think I know what I did. I want another shot at it.'”

The teams were tied 2-2 entering the top of the sixth inning when Pine Valley senior Bryce Sercu hit a one-out double to left field, his third two-bagger of the afternoon.

“The third time up, he had some sort of a moxie about him, a confidence. That’s maybe the first time I’ve seen that confidence,” Buczek said. ” … I think he was just locked in today at the plate and he took what they gave him.”

Donovan Guglielmi followed with an infield single to the shortstop. Sercu and Guglielmi executed a double-steal during the next at-bat, but a strikeout left the inning up to Kruszka. The left-handed catcher then ripped a line-drive single up the middle to plate the eventual winning runs.

“Sometimes he gets mechanical and gets in his head,” Buczek said. “It was right up the middle. He hit it perfect.”

Senior Trent Bjork led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single for Frewsburg, but was picked off third to end the frame, leaving the Bears’ last chance up to their Nos. 7-9 hitters.

“Our luck sometimes hasn’t gone in that way. I was nervous when (Bjork) got to third. That meant that Donnie (Guglielmi) had to to go the No. 1 hitter,” Buczek said. “Once we got him out at third … I didn’t think we’d see Nos. 1, 2, 3. … That’s when I thought it could work out for Donnie.”

But senior Toby Gifford singled with two outs in the seventh and sophomore leadoff hitter Garrett Brink walked to spell the end of the afternoon for Guglielmi, who had reached his pitch-count limit.

Sercu entered and walked Chase Haglund after the freshman No. 2 hitter fouled off several pitches to keep the at-bat alive. Sercu eventually struck out Frewsburg’s No. 3 hitter with the bases loaded to end the game.

“Bryce is a really great kid. He can throw right-handed or left-handed. I’ve been forcing him to use his left hand,” Buczek said. “The last couple of days he’s been working on his right hand. … He looked at me when I said, ‘Are you ready to go?’ and he asked ‘Can I use my right hand?'”

“We absolutely had an opportunity to make it work,” first-year Frewsburg head coach Eric Haglund said of the final inning.

The Bears used their athleticism to jump on top in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Payton Dustin singled with two outs and Bjork reached on an error before Dustin stole third. With freshman Mason Eckman at the plate, Bjork stole second and Dustin raced home on the play for a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers answered immediately as junior Jaiden Miller doubled to lead off the top of the second inning and scored on a two-out double from Sercu.

Frewsburg took a 2-1 lead in its half of the third inning when Brink reached on a one-out bunt single and went to second on a bad throw. With Haglund at the plate, Brink scored on an errant pickoff throw to second base.

Pine Valley tied the game in the top of the fourth inning as sophomore Nick Seabolt walked with one out, moved to third on a double by junior Darwin Westlund and scored on another double by Sercu. That chased Haglund from the mound for the Bears and he was replaced by junior Mitchell Lee, who kept the Panthers at bay until the sixth.

“We’re trying not to play forward to next week when we have five games,” Coach Haglund said. “We’re just trying to play one game at a time.”

Frewsburg’s best chance to take the lead came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gifford reached on an error with one out and Brink walked before a double-steal put runners at second and third. But Guglielmi got out of the inning by striking out the Bears’ Nos. 2 and 3 hitters.

“Donnie is kind of our leader on the team, he’s the vocal guy. … I think he’s been waiting for a big start like that,” Buczek said. “To have him keep going and going deep into the game, I think it was really awesome for him. He kept going over the pitch count and it seemed like he was more excited each time because he knew he could finish this game.”

“We have to hit a little bit better,” Coach Haglund said. “We left like eight people stranded on base and maybe half were in scoring position.”

Pine Valley (3-2, 1-1) will look to win its second straight this morning when it hosts Clymer/Sherman/Panama in Gowanda while Frewsburg is scheduled to travel to Chautauqua Lake on Monday.

NOTES: Guglielmi struck out eight and walked two while allowing five hits for the Panthers. … Haglund struck out five and walked three while allowing six hits; Lee struck out five and walked one while allowing three hits; and Dustin struck out two for the Bears.