PIAA Baseball Class AA Championship Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, June 13, 2013 | 3:33 PM

The scholastic sports season winds down with the PIAA Baseball and Softball Championships at Penn State University coming up on Friday. After a quick start for District 7 in this years state baseball playoffs, 2013 WPIAL champion Beaver is the lone district baseball team to navigate the Path to Penn State. Here is a preview of the PIAA Class AA baseball championship game, which can be heard right here on the MSA Sports Network.

CLASS AA BASEBALL:  BEAVER BOBCATS (20-3) VS. LOYALSOCK TOWNSHIP LANCERS (21-3) 3:30PM ON WBVP 1230-AM AND MSASPORTS.NET with Bob Barrickman and Bruce Frey

The Bobcats make their second trip to the state title game. The only other trip was in 1983 when Beaver was led by soon to be major leaguer John Burkett.

Beaver disposed of Karns City 10-0, Mount Union 1-0 and Quaker Valley 7-0 on the path to Penn State, they have won 11 straight games.

The Bobcats will have a huge advantage as they will have both of their pitchers available since they played the semi-finals on Monday. Austin Ross, who was the winning pitcher in the WPIAL championship game will get the start. Senior Austin Logan will also be available, having picked up the win over QV to send the Bobcats on the road to Penn State. Logan fanned 17 batters in a WPIAL quarterfinal victory over Laurel. Ross and Logan has shut down the opposition, not allowing a run in PIAA play.

Catcher Ben Herstine was named the Class AA Player of the Year by the WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association, he hit five homers on the season, including a stretch in four straight at bats. Both Herstine and Nick Hineman hit over .500 during the regular season. Logan batted .488. Speedy Jalen Lawson can get around the bases and covers ground in left field. Jordan Yates mans center field, he threw out the tying run at the plate to end the Mount Union game.

Infield defense has also been a key for the Bobcats. Ross and Hineman share time at first, with Hineman moving to third when Logan pitches. Matt Rose, Logan and Alex Rowse also have contributed greatly to the playoff run.

The Lancers set down Lakeland 3-0, Delone Catholic 9-5 and Salisbury 8-1 to make it back to the title game. Loyalsock looks for their second baseball title, winning in 2008.

It’s a young lineup for Coach Jeremy Eck, he starts only one senior in the ten man lineup, with six sophomores, including starting pitcher Kyle Datres. Datres tossed five scoreless innings in the quarterfinal win over Delone Catholic. That game was stretched out over three days. The PIAA tried to get the game in on Thursday with Delone leading 5-4 in the fourth inning, but Loyalsock scored five unanswered runs.

Luke Glavin pitched the semi final game, he went the distance on a five hitter, he fanned only one. Glavin is not able to pitch in the title game, the sophomore has indicated that he will attend Duke University.

Loyalsock Township fell to Hughesville in the District 4 title game 7-5 in nine innings. The Lancers trailed 5-1 entering the seventh, but scored four to keep the game alive.

The Lancers were a preseason pick to make a championship run. The team had shirts made up with the letters QC and the numbers 68.8. The letters stood for Quiet Confidence and the numbers the distance between home plate at Loyalsock, which is outside Williamsport and home plate at Medlar Field.

Loyalsock will play a fourth consecutive district champion in Beaver. The Lancers last three wins have come against teams with a combined record of 61-8. The core of this team nearly won the state Little League title and won a state title on the 13-15 age level. They entered a Lancers program that now has made the state semifinals in four of the last six seasons.
 

Tags: Beaver