HOMER CITY - Central's valiant bid for a second straight trip to the PIAA, Class AA state baseball championship game was curtailed by District 7 champion Riverside Monday evening.
And it was Riverside senior standout Ryan Finnegan who set up the biggest roadblock for the Scarlet Dragons.
Finngean slugged a two-run homer and started two crucial double plays from his shortstop position, then pitched the final two innings to lock down the save, as Riverside built a 5-0 lead and held off the gutsy Scarlet Dragons, 5-4 in a PIAA semifinal-round matchup at Homer City's First Commonwealth Field.
Article Photos
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Riverside’s Rob Hardy reacts after tagging Lucas Runk out at second base.
District 6 champion Central closed the books on an 18-6 season. By winning Monday, Riverside (19-5) advanced to Friday afternoon's PIAA, Class AA state championship game against District 11 champion Salisbury Township at University Park's Medlar Field.
After Finnegan's early heroics, Riverside appeared to be setting itself up for an easy victory Monday. But thanks to the determined Scarlet Dragons, Riverside needed Finnegan's late pitching heroics to hold on.
"It's tough to beat a team that doesn't give up, and we have some high-character kids,'' Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. "It would have been easy to give up once we were down, 5-0, but we kept on battling. Give Riverside credit, though - they made the plays.''
Particularly Finnegan, who turned the early momentum of the game in Riverside's favor.
The game was scoreless in the bottom of the third inning, when Central loaded the bases against starting and winning pitcher Rob Hardy (8-0 this season) with one out. Center fielder Lucas Runk rocketed a line drive that appeared headed over Finnegan's head at shortstop and into left field.
But the Riverside star left his feet and snagged the ball in mid-air, then threw to second base to complete an inning-ending double play.
"He hit it hard, and I just jumped up and stuck my glove out,'' Finnegan said. "As soon as I caught it, I knew I was going to get somebody off the base.''
Runk said that he "hit it really hard, but [Finnegan] timed it perfectly.''
Finnegan gave Riverside a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning by crushing a Tyler Ferguson pitch over the fence in left-center with Reese Howells, who had singled, aboard.
"I thought Tyler Ferguson did a great job,'' Hoenstine said of Central's ace lefthander.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Central loaded the bases with one out again before Finnegan moved to his left to snag designated hitter Luke Blattenberger's grounder up the middle. Finnegan stepped on second for a forceout, then threw to first base to complete the double play.
"I think we saw the ball well,'' Blattenberger said. "But they made the plays when they had to.''
Riverside made another big one in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the victory. With Finnegan pitching and Hardy having moved from the mound to shortstop, the speedy Runk attempted a steal of second base after a one-out walk. But catcher Royce Kranz's throw to Hardy at the bag was perfect, nipping Runk by a split-second.
"We kept [Runk] off-balance by throwing over to first base, and [Kranz] made a bullet throw,'' Riverside coach Dan Oliastro said. "That was huge. If their runner gets to second, I don't know what would have happened.''
Hoenstine had no qualms about his decision to roll the dice and send Runk - who had stolen over 20 bases this season without being caught - to second.
"He hasn't been caught stealing second all year,'' Hoenstine said. "The catcher made a good throw. I'd do it a million times.''
Ferguson pitched a complete game for Central, scattering nine hits, striking out seven batters, and drawing rave reviews from both coaches.
"I thought Tyler Ferguson did a great job,'' Hoenstine said of Central's ace lefthander.
Riverside bunched four hits to score three runs in the top of the sixth inning for a 5-0 lead, but Central clawed back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make for the suspenseful finish.
Runk started the rally by drilling a Hardy fast ball over the fence in dead center for a solo homer. After first baseman Jared Baird was hit by a pitch, catcher Kacy Hamm bounced a single into left field, moving Baird to second. Finnegan was summoned to replace Hardy on the mound, and after second baseman Trent Forshey's forceout moved Baird to third, Mason Longenecker scored him with a sacrifice fly to left field. Blattenberger then followed with a double that short-hopped the fence in right-center and scored Adam Kreider, who was running for Hamm. Left fielder Brandon Negley's single up the middle scored Blattenberger with the final run of the inning to make it a 5-4 game.
But that's how it ended, and Central's hopes for a second straight berth in the championship game ended with it. The Scarlet Dragons made it to last year's state title game but lost to Bermudian Springs at Blair County Ballpark.
"It's kind of hard to end your career like I did today, but all in all, it was fun,'' Blattenberger said.
RIVERSIDE (5): Howells cf 411, Wiley lf 402, Finnegan ss-p 321, Kelosky 2b 000, Falk dh 311, Hardy p-ss 301, Jones cr 010, Thellman 3b 302, Strosnider rf 301, Pollio 1b 300, Kranz c 300. Totals - 29-5-9.
CENTRAL (4): Schon rf 400, Cunningham ss 300, Runk cf 311, Baird 1b 310, Hamm c 302, A. Kreider cr 000, Forshey 2b 211, Longenecker 3b 100, Blattenberger dh 312, Ferguson p 000, Negley lf 301. Totals - 25-4-7.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Riverside000 203 0-5 9 0
Central000 004 0-4 7 1
E-Schon. DP-Riverside 2, Central. LOB-Riverside 5, Central 6. 2B-Blattenberger 2, Forshey. 3B-. HR-Finnegan, Runk. RBI-Finnegan 2, Strosnider, Runk, Longenecker. SF-Longenecker. SB-Blattenberger, Strosnider, Negley. CS-Runk.
PITCHING
Riverside: Hardy (W)-5 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 SO; Finnegan-2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 SO
Central: Ferguson-(L) 7 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 7 SO
Hardy pitched to three batters in the sixth.
HBP-By Hardy (Baird). WP-Ferguson. PB-Hamm. BK-Ferguson.
Team records: Riverside (19-5); Central (18-6).
Umpires: Glen Febig (plate), Joe Shick (first), Bob Boyer (second), Tim Mahoney (third).
