May 24, 2007 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

ROSTRAVER TWP. – California junior Travis VanOlst had a career day Wednesday and carried the Trojans back to where they wanted to go: Falconi Field. The Trojans beat Serra Catholic, 10-5, in the WPIAL Class A playoff semifinals to send the defending champs back to the WPIAL title game. This is California’s fourth consecutive trip to the Class A title game, where they won their second championship a year ago over Geibel Catholic.

VanOlst was a busy young man. Not only did he provide 4 2/3 innings of sparkling relief pitching to earn the win, but also he drove in five runs with a two-run double and a three-run homer.

“I’d say I enjoyed the pitching more, but the home run was fine, too,” VanOlst said. “We really needed the runs.”

Actually, the Trojans didn’t need any of the three runs he drove in with his liner that bounced under the centerfielder’s glove in the top of the seventh inning. They didn’t need them because VanOlst went out and finished the game by preserving what became a 10-5 lead.

VanOlst’s homer capped a six-run outburst for the Trojans in the seventh inning. California trailed, 5-4, heading into the seventh and had been mostly stymied by Serra Catholic pitcher Cam Olsen.

“We’re an old team,” VanOlst said. “And their pitcher was throwing real well. We just had to be patient at the plate and hit the pitches we wanted to hit.”

Olsen had two strikeouts in each of the first four innings and finished with 10, but the Trojans blew him out of the box in the seventh inning. Zac Edminston opened with a walk before Mike Galis drove in pinch runner Waugh Carter for the tying run. Matt Hartman, who was ineffective as the starting pitcher, atoned with an RBI single that chased Olsen.

“We thought about taking him out going into the seventh, but our next pitcher was a freshman and we didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on him,” said Serra Catholic coach Brian Dzurenda.

That freshman, Brian Henze, came in and walked two batters. He also allowed Hartman to score on a wild pitch before being relieved. VanOlst greeted Mike Kochman with his shot to centerfield and the game was all but over.

Trojans coach Don Hartman, who is likely to cry at a high school graduation in a few weeks, was able to smile for his daughter’s pre-school graduation later Wednesday. He deferred interview requests to pitching coach Shaun Rice.

“These guys really had to come through today and they did for the second playoff game in a row,” Rice said. “We didn’t have many games like this during the season, so I think these kinds of games are good for us.

“The great thing about this team is that we have such a deep pitching staff. You could flip a coin and pick our starter. Today, we decided to go with Matt, but he didn’t have it. Travis came in and really threw well. It turned out it was Travis’s day.”

“I was talking to Matt earlier today and I told him all I wanted to do was win,” VanOlst said. “He told me the same thing, then he said, ‘If I don’t do it, you’ll have to.'”

Suffice to say, VanOlst came through on that one.

California (20-2) will face Springdale, a 6-1 winner over Laurel in the other semifinal, either Tuesday or Wednesday for the Class A title. Serra Catholic (18-4) meets Laurel for the third and final PIAA berth either Tuesday or Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.