PIAA finals: State College hoping to cap run
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) – When the high school baseball season started, State College High School coach Bill Tussey thought his team had a chance to go a long way, as long as a couple things fell into place – things such as pitching, hitting and defense. “We had eight players graduate from last year’s team, so we had a lot of holes to fill and we had concerns,” said Tussey, who is in his second year as State College’s head coach.
That’s no longer the case. State College (20-3) is scheduled to meet Penn Manor (22-7) at 7 p.m. Friday at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona for the PIAA Class AAAA title. The winner will make some history since this is the first year the PIAA has gone to four classifications in baseball and softball.
In other championship games Friday at the home of the Altoona Curve, Peters Township (21-5) meets Lampeter-Starsburg (25-4) at 1 p.m.; Riverside (23-2), the District 7 runner-up, plays Halifax (23-3) at 4:30 p.m. and Homer-Center (18-5) takes on Christopher Dock (16-6) at 10:30 a.m.
Solid pitching and timely hitting, and a defense that has not made an error in three playoff games, are the reasons State College is in a baseball final for the first time since 1997. State College comes off an impressive 6-2 semifinal victory against highly touted North Allegheny.
In that game, State College scored five of its six runs with two outs.
“That’s how it has been for us all season,” Tussey said. “We’ve had a lot of guys come through for us. If you ask me who are the players who were most responsible for us getting this far, I’d have to name just about everybody.” Right-handed pitcher Erik Kempton limited North Allegheny, which hit .337 as a team during the regular season, to just six hits.
Kempton (7-1) could start against Penn Manor, which comes off a 5-0 victory against West Chester East. Tussey isn’t sure whether he’ll go with Kempton or left-hander Matt Moberg (4-0).
Penn Manor will probably start senior Jared Yecker, who is 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds. His fastball has been clocked in the low 90 mph range this season. He has been offered a scholarship to UNC Charlotte, but has not committed to a college.
Coach Jim Zander could opt to come back with Josh Squatrito, who tossed a four-hitter at West Chester East, striking out eight. He is headed to Southeastern Louisiana.
And, like State College, Penn Manor knows all about timely hitting. All of its runs against West Chester East came with two outs.
Peters Township finds itself back in the Class AAA title game. The Indians, who lost to Chambersburg, 12-5, in last year’s final, have had hot bats the past two games. They knocked off Moon, 11-1, in a quarterfinal, and Punxsutawney, 12-2, in five innings in the semifinals.
Lampeter-Strasburg is in a baseball title game for the first time since 1995 when it lost to Mt. Union, 5-0, in Class AA. In 1994, Lampeter-Strasburg defeated West Allegheny, 1-0, for the Class AA title.
In the Class A game, District 1 champion Christopher Dock has shutout opponents the past two games by identical 4-0 scores. It defeated Tri Valley in the quarterfinals and Reading Central Catholic in the semifinals. Christopher Dock is in the baseball finals for the first time, although it made it to the semifinals last year before losing to Muncy, 13-3.
Homer-Center, the District 6 champion, is also in the final for the first time and comes off a 5-4 victory against Chartiers-Houston. Pitcher Chris Sobota has 88 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings for Homer-Center and could be the starter against Christopher Dock.
The PIAA softball finals will be held Friday at Shippensburg University’s Robb Field.
In the Class AAAA game at noon, Shaler (22-4) will try to defend its PIAA title against Pennsbury (24-1). Two of Pennsbury’s players are Alyssa and Leah Francona, the daughters of Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona. Alyssa is a senior; Leah, a freshman.
In Class AAA, Ambridge (23-2) plays Shippensburg (23-5) at 5 p.m.
In Class AA, Bald Eagle Area (23-3) meets Brandywine Heights (22-4) at 10 a.m.
In Class A, Chartiers-Houston (21-1) plays Minerville (23-2) at 3 p.m.