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MIFFLINTOWN -- With a chance to advance to the District 6 Class 4A final, Penn Cambria just couldn't crack Juniata's Dawson Harper.
Harper pitched a two-hitter as the Indians defeated Penn Cambria, 2-0, in a District 6 Class 4A semifinal baseball game on Monday.
Juniata is now 13-7 and will be heading to PNG Field in Altoona to face top-seeded Bellefonte. Coach Nick Beward is not sugar-coating the battle that lays ahead for him and his team this Friday.
"We know what lies ahead, we know how good Bellefonte is," Beward said. "But, we're going to go there with absolutely nothing to lose. They're the number one seed, they're 16-3, they're expected to hammer us. We don't have pressure exactly like they do. They don't want to get upset. So, we want to play the best game that we can play and not worry about what they do."
Penn Cambria's season has come to an end with a record of 8-12, but Poldiak is already excited for next season and is ready to get back at it and make another run.
"Just the seniors, the few that we lose, the group that we have coming back, very eager for next season to start," Poldiak said.
The game was scoreless through 3¢ innings, but then the Indians drove in a run.
Grant Reinhold led off with a single before eventually finding himself at second base with two outs. Then, Ben Fry came to the plate and on the first pitch smacked a single up the middle which scored Reinhold and gave Juniata a 1-0 lead.
The Indians added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth as Danny Freed was on second base and Harper lined a shot to center field for a single and scored Freed, but the ball slipped past the center fielder which allowed Harper to move to second.
Later in the inning, the Panthers found themselves in a jam as the bases were loaded. But with two outs, pitcher Vinny Chirdon got Jordan Dickinson to fly out to left field to prevent anymore runs from scoring.
Through the first three innings of the game, it could only be described as a pitchers' duel between Harper and Chirdon. For Juniata, Harper looked unhittable for his first two innings of work before Luke Shuagis singled in the top of the third inning. However, the Indians came up big defensively as Jon Zernick tried to lay down a bunt that popped right up to Harper who then proceeded to throw out Shuagis at first for a double play.
"We didn't put the ball in play, we struck out 12 times and that was the difference," Poldiak said. "Both pitchers threw well, we eliminated walks, we limited errors, we just didn't put the ball in play enough and that was the difference."
On the flip side, through the first three innings, Chirdon was bringing the heat on the mound. Anytime Juniata had a chance to score, Chirdon quickly shut the Indians down.
One play in particular, in the bottom half of the second, Dickinson led off the frame with a single before Fry grounded out to shortstop Easton Semelsberger who turned it into a 6-4-3 double play.
Chirdon pitched six innings for the Panthers and collected six strikeouts and only walked two batters for the evening.
"He was lights out tonight, he's a pitcher, he's not a thrower and he does an outstanding job," Poldiak said. "He threw his heart out tonight, tough pill to swallow, but we will be gearing up for next year. We return just about everybody."
Despite fatigue setting in, Harper managed to finish off all seven innings for the Indians by getting all three outs via a strikeout in the frame to close out the game.
"He was dominant, I mean two weeks ago he had a really good, solid week," Beward said. "He shut down Susquenita and EJ, threw very, very well."
Harper gave up no runs and one hit and had 12 strikeouts for the whole game while walking three batters.
"I felt really comfortable," Harper said. "It wasn't bad. I got real tired at the end, but it wasn't bad at all."
SCORE BY INNINGS
Penn Cambria 000 000 0--0 2 2
Juniata 000 110 x--2 5 3
WP: Dawson Harper. LP: Vinny Chirdon. SO: Harper 12 (J); Chirdon 6 (PC). BB: Harper 3 (J); Chirdon 2 (PC). RBI: Harper, Ben Fry (J).