Baseball

Central’s depth on display

Younger Snowberger delivers for Dragons

HARMONY -- Baseball is a game full of superstitions.

Sometimes players don't step on the foul line coming on and off the field. No one talks to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, and if a team or player is on a successful streak, they try and change as little as possible.

That includes tinkering with the lineup of an undefeated team, but sometimes consistent excellent performances can sway even the most careful coaches.

Central's Griff Snowberger had been doing just that by hitting close to .500 at the bottom of the order, prompting a late-season move up the lineup to the No. 5 spot. The super sophomore came through again Thursday in the Scarlet Dragons' 7-1 victory over Fairview in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals at Seneca Valley High School when he blooped in a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs that made it 5-0 and all but sealed the victory in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"He was doing great batting ninth, and I'm an extremely superstitious person," Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. "I didn't move him, because we had not lost a game, but we talked and decided maybe we should bat him fifth. (Senior) Jonah Snowberger was batting fifth at the time, and I talked to him about it, and he said 'sure, put him there,' and I think that shows the selflessness of Jonah having his little brother take that spot, because he knew it was best for the team."

Paxton Kling and Jeff Hoenstine had back-to-back one-out singles before Hunter Smith was intentionally walked in front of Snowberger with two outs.

"There's a little more pressure, but it's a good opportunity," said Snowberger, who now has 29 RBIs this season. "A lot of times, I come up with guys on base and in scoring position with the chance to drive in runs. I was able to put it in the right spot, and it felt good after they intentionally walked Hunter."

Snowberger followed his single with a selfless play of his own, purposely getting caught in a rundown going for second base so that courtesy runner Baron Dionis could score from third to make it 6-0.

That was more than enough runs for Radford commit Devon Boyles, who pitched six strong innings, allowed just one run and struck out eight. With the victory, Central is back in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals, a position in which the Dragons fell to eventual state champion Tyrone last season.

"The defense backed me up today," Boyles said. "It feels good to get back to where we lost last year. Now we can try and change it and have a different outcome than last year."

Central, which improved to 25-0, will play District 9 champ Punxsutawney -- a 6-4 winner over Franklin -- on Monday at a place and time to be determined for the right to play at University Park's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Friday, June 17 at 1:30 p.m. for the state championship.

"Feels good, but we still have a lot of work to do," Hoenstine said. "I told the guys we'll see how arms are on Monday. I'm not sure who is going to throw yet, but we'll have a good weekend practice, and we'll be happy to go wherever we have to go to play. I said we'd be happy to go to California to play. It's tough on our fans, but the community support means a lot to these kids, and we always have a great showing."

Under normal circumstances, it's likely that Jonah Snowberger would get the call on the mound, but he left his last start with elbow pain. He batted seventh Thursday as the designated hitter, and Hoenstine said there's still a possibility he could end up pitching.

"I believe so," Hoenstine said. "We'll see what the trainer says, but he felt good swinging the bat today. We'll see, but he's got a long-term future too, and we don't want to do anything stupid. I know he'll want to throw Monday, but we'll play it by ear."

For the second straight state playoff game, Central started hot. The Scarlet Dragons took advantage of three walks and two Fairview errors in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Jeff Hoenstine had an RBI single that scored Kling, and Ty Helsel drove in two with a hit down the third-base line.

"It was a great way to set the tone for the game," Jeff Hoenstine said. "I was just trying to do my job, and that was to advance Paxton in any way possible. I think it's important to set the tone early and get a decent lead. We remember last year. It's in the back of our minds, and it really motivates us to get the job done this time."

Fairview coach Joe Spinelli talked before Thursday's game about the importance of not creating opportunities for an already prolific offense and was disappointed with the way his team started the game.

"We weren't as good as we needed to be in the first inning," Spinelli said. "We knew that was an important inning, and we kind of got off to a rough start there. That lineup is really rugged. They have a heck of a lineup. There are no holes in the lineup, and if you make a mistake or two, you pay."

Kling and Griff Snowberger both worked walks after long counts, and Snowberger's two-run single in the fourth inning came with two strikes.

"We practice that, and I think a lot of our guys hit better with two strikes," Coach Hoenstine said. "They take that to heart. We like to think that there's no one tougher with two strikes, and we take pride in that. We have a slogan this year that the first two strikes belong to you and the third is the team's. They believe in that."

Fairview, which fell to 1-6 all-time in the state playoffs after picking up its first win ever on Monday, finished 17-4.

"We hung around a little bit," Spinelli said. "It was 3-0 in the fourth, and we had guys on second and third a couple times and the bases loaded, but we never got a big hit. They are very good. Their pitcher did a good job. That could be the state champion team, we'll see."

FAIRVIEW (1): Fox ss 301, Rubilotta rf 301, Dolansky c 400, Fiolek 2b-p 300, King cf 100, Houston p-1b 300, Stafford 1b 000, Fessler dh 100, Kliem 2b 010, Campoli lf 301, Baker 3b 100, Benford ph 000. Totals--22-1-3.

CENTRAL (7): Kling cf 221, Hoenstine ss 412, Boyles p-1b 301, Fisher cr 020, Smith c 300, Dionis cr 020, G. Snowberger 3b 301, Helsel 1b-p 201, Biesinger rf 000, J. Snowberger dh 200, Gregg lf 301, Metzger 2b 300. Totals--25-7-7.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Fairview 000 010 0--1 3 3

Central 300 301 X--7 7 1

E--Baker 2, Stafford, Hoenstine. 2B--Rubilotta, Campoli. 3B--Boyles. RBI--Campoli, G. Snowberger 2, Helsel 2, Hoenstine.

PITCHING

Fairview: Houston (L)--3IP, 2H, 1K, 6BB, 3R, 2ER, 71 pitches. Fiolek--3IP, 5H, 1K, 1BB, 4R, 3ER, 75 pitches.

Central: Boyles (W)--6IP, 2H, 8K, 5BB, 1HBP, 1R, 1ER, 97 pitches. Helsel--1IP, 1H, 0K, 1BB, 0R, 0ER, 23 pitches.

Umpires: John Elion (plate); Dave McHenry (1B), Aaron Pritchard (2B), Bill Chruscial (3B).

Records: Fairview (17-4); Central (25-0).