EVERETT - Northern Bedford had less than 24 hours to recover from completing a five-run rally against McConnellsburg that got the Panthers into the District 5 Class A semifinals.
The Panthers didn't have enough magic left in the tank on Friday.
Fifth-seeded Conemaugh Township capitalized on a combination of clutch hitting, walks and errors by Northern Bedford as the Indians upset the top-seeded Panthers, 7-2, at Everett Elementary Field.
Conemaugh Township coach Sam Zambanini warned his players about Norther Bedford's ability to come back.
"We knew that it was a pretty good baseball team we were playing," he said. "We certainly weren't going to sit around. We told our guys we got to tack on."
The Indians took their coach's words to heart and got to work after three scoreless innings for both teams.
Justin Shroyer scored on a wild pitch by Northern Bedford starting pitcher Eric Grace in the top of the fourth. Grant Speigle managed to drive in two runs on a two-out, two-run error by first baseman Logan Fluke to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.
Northern Bedford made sure it didn't go away silently.
In the bottom of the inning, Grace reached on a one-out single and eventually scored on an RBI single by third baseman Wes Foor. Catcher Cory Furry belted a double, scoring Fluke to cut the deficit to one.
The Indians' starting pitcher, sophomore Bruno Rosa, managed to stymie the Panther offense from that point on. On the day, Rosa gave up two runs on five hits in five innings.
Dan Zambanini, who was 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs, managed to pitch two scoreless innings to complete the victory.
"I just figured I had to throw strikes," he said. "We were throwing strikes all day and were working ahead in the count."
The Indians managed to put the game away in the top of the fifth.
Adam Naugle belted a sacrifice fly to Garret England in left field, which scored Indian leadoff hitter Dillon Boyer. The four-run inning was capped off by a two-run single by Dan Zambanini to make the score, 7-2.
"It's one of those things that happen in the playoffs, you get the better teams," Northern Bedford coach Dave McIlnay said. "Give credit [to Conemaugh Township], they played a great game."
The future finds the Panthers replacing four starters. The list of losses includes senior pitcher-outfielder Logan Fluke, pitcher-infielder Jake Stern, catcher Cory Furry and outfielder Matt Sollenberger.
"They're all leaders," McIlnay said. "Three [players] are four-year starters, [and] the young guys looked at them like role models."
CONEMAUGH TOWNSHIP (7): Boyer ss 311, Naugle 3b-c 400, Stroyer cf 220, Zambanini c-p 312, Rosa p-3b 210, Speigle rf 300, Burger lf 300, Shaw 1b 300, McConnell cr 010, Sanders 311. Totals: 26-7-4.
NORTHERN BEDFORD (2): J. Stern ss-p 400, Sollenberger cf 200, I. Stern 400, Grace p-1b 411, Fluke 1b-rf 211, England lf 300, Furry c 201, Diehl cr 000, Frederick rf-2b 301. Totals: 28-2-5.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Cone. Township000 340 0 -7 4 2
Northern Bedford000 200 0 - 2 5 2
E-Fluke, Furry. RBI-Naugle, Zambanini 2, Speigle 2, Sanders.
PITCHING
CONEMAUGH TOWNSHIP - Rosa (W) 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB; Zambanini (L) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB.
NORTHERN BEDFORD - Grace (L) 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; J. Stern 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 0 BB.
Umpires: Mike Whitcomb (home); Doug Hengst (1st), Jake Clark (3rd)
Records: Conemaugh Township (15-7); Northern Bedford (18-3).
