Golden Eagles ride pitching into finale
Trending
Purchasing tickets
Tickets for today's Tyrone-Oley Valley game, slated for 1:30 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College can be purchased at www.piaa.org. No tickets will be sold at the game.
The last time Tyrone defeated Central, the Golden Eagles were able to carry the momentum into victories over Altoona and Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic to win the Curve Classic.
Tyrone is hoping to hoist another trophy this afternoon after its PIAA Class 3A championship game against District 3 champion Oley Valley at University Park's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
"I don't think the seniors are going to allow for a letdown," Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner said. "They celebrated some on the field (after the win over Central in the semifinals), but by the time we were on the bus, they were already talking about being ready for the state championship game."
The Golden Eagles and Lynx each rode tremendous pitching performances from Rodney Shultz and Garret Blankenbiller, respectively, to semifinal wins but neither will be available on the mound this afternoon.
Tyrone will start left-handed junior Aiden Coleman, who will be pitching on the campus of his future collegiate team, Penn State. Coleman enters the game with an 8-1 record and 2.39 ERA. He's allowed just 26 hits in 52ª innings and struck out 88 batters but has walked a team-high 36 as well.
"They definitely have some pitching," Soellner said. "We're both down one pitcher. I think they are down their ace, and we're down Rodney (Shultz) of course. But they look like they put the ball in play and have a lot of hit batters, so I'm assuming they get up on the plate. They have some offense, so we're going to have to score some runs, but hopefully Aiden (Coleman) will be on, and hopefully he keeps doing what he's been doing."
Coleman was excellent in Tyrone's 8-1 victory over WPIAL champion Hopewell and struck out Devon Boyles for the final out to pick up a save in Monday's semifinal game.
"I'm going to go out there and try to mow them down," Coleman said. "I'll try to bring the mentality I had for every game. I'll just go right after them."
Not having Blankenbiller available will certainly be a blow for Oley Valley. He's thrown nearly double the number of innings as any other Lynx pitcher this season. It's likely they will pitch multiple players including senior Eddie Standhardt and junior Luke MacDonald.
"We have four or five guys that are eligible to pitch," Oley Valley coach Nate Reed said. "I have confidence in all of them to go out and do what they have done all year and keep us in the game."
Soellner agreed that it was unlikely both teams would get through today's game with just one pitcher each.
"I think it's probably going to come down to our third pitchers," said Soellner, who mentioned sophomore Ross Gampe as a relief option. "I think we're both going to have to use two pitchers, and they have three main guys. It's still going to come down to pitching and defense. Baseball always comes down to pitching and defense."
Oley Valley and Tyrone have both played a lot of close games this season and each team enters the game with 21 victories.
"I know (Tyrone has) a couple big arms, but I'm not a big scouting guy," Reed said. "I trust our commitment to our work ethic during the season that if we play our game, it will be a good game. I don't want to dictate too much of what we're doing based off of what the other team has."
The Golden Eagles will be trying to win their first PIAA baseball championship after entering this year's state playoff postseason with an all-time record of 0-2 accumulated in back-to-back seasons in 1992 and 1993.
This is Oley Valley's sixth trip to the PIAA championship game but first since 1989 when the Lynx beat Bellwood-Antis 1-0 in nine innings at Vets Field. They also won titles in 1984 and 1985 but lost the 1988 state final to Mount Union, 6-2. Oley Valley's only other game against a District 6 opponent in the state playoffs came in a 2-1 victory over Penns Valley in the 1979 semifinals. The Lynx are 25-9 all time in the PIAA playoffs.
"We have talked about the tradition that goes on with Oley baseball," Reed said. "Everybody the kids see around town tell them to bring the state championship back to town. Everyone has been supporting us, and it's a big deal to the community and for us to keep the tradition going.
"We have been very successful district and county-wise in the last 15 years, but to bring back a state championship would be next level."
Many of Tyrone's current group of seniors played a large role for the team in 2019 when the Golden Eagles were the top seed in the District 6 playoffs but were upset by eventual state champion Mount Union in the semifinals.
Like everyone else in Pennsylvania, that group didn't get a chance to play last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, they have one last chance to make history.
"This group of seniors, along with last year's group that graduated, has brought the program around a lot," Soellner said. "I'm so happy for them to get this experience, but it will mean more if we win this."