Freedom outduels OLSH to win 1st WPIAL 2A championship

By: Matthew Purucker
Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | 4:08 PM

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Second-seeded Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and No. 8 Freedom entered Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 2A championship game at EQT Park in Washington looking to win their first WPIAL baseball title.

They had both been to the title game before, but this time, the lowest seed to make a WPIAL final in all classifications, the Freedom Bulldogs, emerged victorious in a 1-0 game.

Freedom pitcher Boden Hilliard tossed a complete-game two-hitter with two walks and five strikeouts to lead the Bulldogs to victory. He also knocked in the winning run in the sixth inning.

“We battled. No one believed in us but us, and (we) stuck together,” Freedom coach Dan O’Leary said. “They fought hard, they worked hard (and) they practiced every day. … No word about us the whole year, and now here we are.”

Hits were few and far between early on for the Bulldogs (15-7) and the Chargers (15-8), who managed four combined in the first five innings. However, free passes were aplenty.

As the game went longer, the more likely it seemed the first run to score would be the winning run, and that first and only run came from Freedom freshman center fielder Nick Fessler in the top of the sixth. He reached on an error by OLSH shortstop Gino Williams. That was the third time Fessler was on base without a hit.

Freedom catcher Tommy Ward followed with a bloop single to shallow left field, and after OLSH pitcher Iseia Fields-Schulz struck out shortstop Mason O’Donnell, Hilliard got himself the win by hitting a ground ball single up the middle to score Fessler.

“Honestly, I think I’ll remember just pitching that whole game, just remembering everything that went through my head,” Hilliard said.

Check out the highlights of Freedom's 1-0 victory in the #WPIAL Class 2A Championship Game, its first title in program history#HSSN pic.twitter.com/XKMBkFf8tD

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 28, 2025

Fields-Schulz allowed one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings with two walks and 11 strikeouts and crossed the 100-strikeout mark on the season for OLSH in the loss. He reached the 105-pitch limit in striking out the last batter he faced. After the Hilliard RBI, Sean Hudac moved from third base to pitch and induced a pop out to end the sixth inning with runners on first and third.

Despite the strong showing from Fields-Schulz, he was disappointed he could not make all of the plays he needed to force the game into extra innings.

“To be honest, I just had to shake off the nerves a little bit,” Fields-Schulz said, referencing the first couple of innings, in which he accrued most of his pitches. “I started the first couple of innings slow. I was just trying to (be) efficient for my team, get through all seven. … I came up a little short.”

The best chance for OLSH to score occurred in the bottom of the third inning. Gino Williams hit a line drive to right-center field for a two-out triple, but Hudac struck out to end the threat. After that point, Hilliard and the Bulldogs did not allow another hit.

“Well, I think their pitcher threw a heck of a game,” OLSH coach Phil McCarren said. “He really was dialed in. He was hitting his spots. He was changing speed. Hats off to him. He threw a great game today, and he got the W.”

Both teams advance to the PIAA tournament Monday, and O’Leary knows Freedom will be prepared for the challenge, returning home with a historic WPIAL championship after avenging a 10-inning loss to California, 3-1, the last time it made the title game in 2017.

“Next game: we’re ready. They’ll celebrate tonight, and we might give them tomorrow off,” O’Leary said. “We’ll be back at it, practicing, working hard, getting better.”

Tags: Freedom, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart