PIAA Class A baseball championship game preview: Eden Christian vs. Southern Fulton
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 6:47 PM
There have been 25 PIAA Class A baseball champions crowned since Camp Hill from District 3 won the inaugural classification championship in 1999.
Since then, there have been five state Class A champions from the WPIAL, including Vincentian Academy twice (2016 and 2018), Serra Catholic (2011), Neshannock (2004) and Greensburg Central Catholic (2002).
Only one District 4 team has won a PIAA Class A crown and that came 25 years ago when Southern Columbia won gold in 2000.
Here is a look at the first of six PIAA baseball championship games at Penn State that will get the ball rolling Thursday morning.
Class A
Eden Christian Academy (19-5) vs. Southern Fulton (24-1)
10:30 a.m. Thursday, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State
Coaches:Mark Feldman, Eden Christian Academy; Kent Hendershot, Southern Fulton
Broadcast: Video on PCN-TV
Path to Penn State: Eden Christian Academy defeated District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic, 4-0, in the first round; District 6 champion Homer-Center, 16-6, in five innings in the quarterfinals; District 9 runner-up Clarion, 12-1, in five innings in the semifinals. Southern Fulton knocked off District 6 runner-up Juniata Valley, 4-3, in the first round; District 4 champion Cowanesque Valley, 5-0, in the quarterfinals; District 11 champion Nativity BVM, 3-0, in the semifinals.
District postseason: Eden Christian Academy eliminated Avella, 6-0 in the quarterfinals; lost to Carmichaels, 4-3 in the semifinals; won over Greensburg Central Catholic, 10-2 in the WPIAL consolation game. Southern Fulton ousted Shanksville, 15-0, in four innings in the quarterfinals; Northern Bedford, 7-2, in the semifinals; Rockwood, 13-0, in five innings in the District 5 championship game
Players to watch
Eden Christian Academy
Junior Brady Hull leads the Warriors with a .565 batting average (39 for 69) with team highs in home runs with three and RBIs with 42. In the last two games, Hull is 5 for 7 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored and five RBIs. Junior Noah Emswiler is batting .479 with two homers and 32 RBIs while fellow 11th grader Brett Feldman is batting .432. One of only two seniors on the team is Jacob Janicki, who is hitting .362 with a home run and 19 RBIs. In the first round of the PIAA playoffs, Emswiler hit a home run and drove home three runs. He was also the winning pitcher for Eden in the first round and the semifinals of the state postseason.
Southern Fulton
Senior Jeff Burger leads the Indians with a .493 batting average (37 for 75) with two home runs and 31 RBIs. Junior Paul Hendershot is second with a .443 average (27 for 61) with 20 RBIs. Junion Austin Mann has a .355 batting average with two homers and 24 RBIs. Junior Owen Oakman has led the way on the mound with a 10-0 record and a 0.14 ERA in 50⅓ innings. He has allowed only one earned run with three walks and 61 Ks.
Streaks
Eden Christian Academy has won four straight games since losing to Carmichaels in the District 7 semifinals. The Warriors have won six of their last seven games. … Southern Fulton has won nine games in a row since suffering its only loss of the season to Fannett-Metal on May 7, 7-3. The Indians began the season by winning their first 15 games.
Quotable
“I think our team has been impressive all season considering we lost four starters from last year’s team,” Eden Christian Academy coach Mark Feldman said. “It has been fun to watch the team grow together along with watching some of the young players not only develop into starters, but significant contributors.”
Factoids
• Eden Christian Academy is now 9-3 all-time in the PIAA baseball playoffs in four appearances. The Warriors have qualified for the state playoffs every year this decade except in 2020 (no season) and 2023. They are 0-2 in PIAA championship games after losses to Halifax in 2021, 9-1, and to Faith Christian Academy in the 2024 state finals, 4-1.
• Southern Fulton has a 18-9 record in the PIAA playoffs all-time in this, the 10th season it has qualified. This will be the Indians’ second appearance in the baseball state finals. Southern Fulton fell to Vincentian Academy in the 2018 Class A state title game, 5-3.
• These teams met in the 2021 PIAA semifinals. Eden Christian Academy eliminated Southern Fulton, 8-3. The Warriors scored two runs each in the first, second, third and sixth innings. Raymond Stierer had two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs for Eden Christian. Ethan Powell had two hits in the loss for Southern Fulton. Caleb Emswiler was the winning pitcher, striking out six in six innings for the Warriors.
• The Warriors are 2-0 in the PIAA playoffs against District 5 teams. The Indians are 3-4 against WPIAL opponents in the state playoffs.
Tags: Eden Christian
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