Faith Christian stops Freedom’s surprise playoff run in state title game

By: Michael Love
Friday, June 13, 2025 | 3:08 PM

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UNIVERSITY PARK – It was not the start Freedom hoped for Friday morning in the PIAA Class 2A baseball championship game against District 1 champion Faith Christian at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

The Lions collected three hits and took advantage of a pair of Bulldogs errors in the opening frame to put three runs on the board.

Faith Christian didn’t stop there.

The Lions collected 14 hits and scored in five of the seven innings en route to a 13-1 victory and the program’s second state title in as many seasons.

“We faced a very good team today,” Freedom coach Dan O’Leary said. “They put up a lot more crooked numbers than we did. We had some dropsies with six errors. And we K’d 11 times, and that is not going to win you many games.”

But despite the loss, O’Leary heaped much praise on his players for their drive to go from the No. 8 seed in the WPIAL playoffs to a WPIAL title and then to the state championship game.

The Bulldogs, who were playing in their first state title contest in the program’s third all-time PIAA appearance, had won eight straight games before Friday’s loss.

“Nobody expected this,” O’Leary said about his team’s run through the postseason. “It’s been incredible.”

O’Leary said his team showed a great deal of resiliency all season.

“Up until the last out, I believed we had a shot,” he said. “We proved that all year. We were not out of any game.

“We’re going to have a target on our backs for next year. We’ll set a target for us, and it is above where we are right now.”

Freedom capped its season at 18-8.

“It was an amazing ride,” O’Leary said. “It’s such a great group. I am going to miss the seniors, but I have a great group of guys I’ve got to start grooming for next season.”

Faith Christian moved up to Class 2A after claiming last year’s Class A state title at Penn State with a win over Eden Christian.

The Lions finished 22-2 and capped the season with nine straight wins.

Now, Faith Christian looks ahead to see if it can three-peat.

“We’re ready for the challenge, and let’s see what next year brings,” Lions coach Nick Koffel said.

Every hitter in the Faith Christian starting lineup finished with at least one hit, and seven of the nine tallied at least one RBI against Freedom junior starter Boden Hilliard and junior reliever Xavier Robbins.

Hilliard and Faith Christian starter Reid Miller both took to the mound on three days rest after pitching their teams to semifinal victories Monday.

Hilliard exited the game after the fifth inning as he threw 106 pitches.

Bulldogs freshman catcher Logan Labs led the way with three hits, while Miller, sophomore shortstop Collin Kim, and junior left fielder Noah Wilson collected two hits apiece.

Kim knocked in three runs with a sacrifice fly in the first and a double in the seventh.

Miller, also Faith Christian’s winning pitcher in last year’s title-game victory, was strong for the Lions. He retired the final 12 batters he faced and gave up just three hits. The final out in the seventh was his 11th strikeout of the game.

“When Reid is on the mound, we only need two or three runs, but I will take (13) any day of the week,” Koffel said.

“When we got into district play, we started talking about (him pitching on three days rest). He started preparing at the beginning and middle of May. We knew we had the potential to repeat, and he’s our ace. We rode him when it mattered at the end. I can’t say enough about him.”

O’Leary said: “(Miller) had a good mix of pitches. We just weren’t on today. No discredit to him. He threw a great game. But three hits? That’s not us.”

Freedom tallied its lone run in the bottom of the first.

Bulldogs sophomore shortstop Mason O’Donnell reached on a fielder’s choice with one out. He moved to second when Hilliard was hit by a pitch and scored when Kim misplayed a grounder off the bat of Robbins.

Freedom has a strong rally attempt thwarted by a double play in the bottom of the fourth.

The first two batters of the inning reached, Robbins with a single and junior right fielder Zach Kuntz on an infield fielding error. Both then moved up on a passed ball.

Junior second baseman Colten Blank lifted a fly ball to center. Faith’s Jagger Verbit came in and lunged to make the catch. Kuntz took off for third as the ball sailed into the outfield.

The throw in from Verbit to second base was well within time to double Kuntz up to end the inning.

Senior catcher Tommy Ward led Freedom with two hits in three at-bats.

Freedom fans traveled well as several hundred of them filled the stands to support the Bulldogs players.

“It was that way all year, en masse,” O’Leary said. “There has been great support from the community. This (trophy) is nice to go in the trophy case, but we’re not done. We’ll be back.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freedom