Falling just short: Fielding miscues hurt Tigers’ chances
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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Baseball can be a cruel game.
The defense that fueled Hollidaysburg's run to the PIAA Class 5A baseball championship game for the first time in school history briefly failed the Golden Tigers in between a pair of spectacular plays that kept them in Friday's game against Governor Mifflin.
Unfortunately, in the end, those miscues led to one officially unearned run and another that was aided by a misread in a 2-1 loss at Penn State University's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
"That's tough," Hollidaysburg coach Jon Szynal said. "They take pride in their defense, and most times you make that play. It's unfortunate that tonight it didn't go our way."
Hollidaysburg brought a crowd of nearly 1,000 fans to its feet in the top of the third inning when Bradey Michaels led off with a walk, moved to second on a Ty Szynal sacrifice bunt and came home on a Jake Hileman RBI single that made it 1-0.
"It was great," Hileman said. "My teammates put me in position to make a play, and I got a hit. It felt great."
But in the bottom of the inning, UConn commit Bryce Detwiler hit a one-out double that bounced over the fence off Hollidaysburg starting pitcher Paul Wedel. Branson Adams followed with a fly ball to center, but Hileman initially broke back on the ball and lost his footing when he tried to adjust and run in. Adams ended up at second and Detwiler moved to third. Travis Jenkins grounded out to first to bring Detwiler home and tie the game.
"I misread it, and I couldn't get there," Hileman said. "That's on me, but it happens and you have to bounce back."
Wedel, who pitched 5• innings in his first action since a complete-game win in the PIAA quarterfinals against Penn-Trafford, got out of the jam by getting opposing pitcher Ethan Grim to fly out.
"Paul was outstanding. He kept us right there," Szynal said. "We changed it toward the end to give them a different look with the third time through their lineup, but he pitched spectacular, and I knew he would."
Hollidaysburg's Cayden Gibbons worked a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, but courtesy runner Gavin Bell was called out at second on a close play after Drew Banks tried to bunt him into scoring position. Grim, who finished with 11 strikeouts in six innings, was able to get through the rest of the inning with a pop out and a strikeout.
"Both Ethan and Bryce (Detwiler, who pitched the final inning) are strikeout pitchers," Governor Mifflin coach Chris Hole said. "That does often alleviate the pressure on our defense. Tonight, the only time Grim got into trouble were the innings he allowed a leadoff walk. Otherwise, he navigated a really tough lineup. Having those two guys is a pretty special thing for our program."
Dylan Barrett led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a routine ground ball to second, but Keagan Hockey's throw to first pulled Ethan Karageanes off the bag.
Matt Koehler laid down a sacrifice bunt to get pinch runner Ryan Lehman to second, but Wedel got Joey Berg to pop out. With two down, R.J. Weaver hit a high chopper to third, and Drew Banks lost his balance when fielding it. He tried to tag Lehman out at third and nearly did, but Lehman was called safe on a play that was ruled a single.
Four pitches later, Bryce Wunderlich singled to center to score Lehman. Weaver, who had stolen second, was thrown out at the plate by Hileman to limit the damage.
"That was a great throw that I made, and Cayden (Gibbons) had a great tag at home," Hileman said. "As soon as I threw it, I saw it was on target. I trusted him to be able to make that tag, and he made a great play."
Hileman made another great defensive play leading off the bottom of the fifth when he made a running catch over his shoulder near the wall on a deep drive by Detwiler to rob him of extra bases.
Seven of Hollidaysburg's final nine outs came by strikeout, and Karageanes was the only player to reach base for the Golden Tigers after they fell behind when he led off the sixth with a walk. Grim got two fly outs and a strikeout on his 110th pitch of the night to get out of that mini-jam.
Prior to Friday's game, Hollidaysburg had only made one error in the state playoffs and none in the last two rounds.
"It wasn't our day," Wedel said. "Any other day, we field those balls. I'm just proud of our team."
Governor Mifflin, which finished 24-5, won its first PIAA championship. The Mustangs, like Hollidaysburg, had never won a state playoff game in school history before this season and entered the state playoffs as the District 3 runner-up after losing to Mechanicsburg in the district title game.
"The belief," Hole said. "We were finally able to win that first one, and so were they. All of a sudden, you start believing. That belief and that growth gets you to this point. Tonight, two very good teams battled. We came out on top, but it was still a very good 2-1 game. Such a credit to them. They battled and did not go away. They were as tough as we expected them to be."
Carson Kensinger, who was the starting pitcher for four of Hollidaysburg's five postseason games before Friday, came on in relief in the sixth inning and retired the only two batters he faced. Kensinger was in a walking boot at practice this week after throwing 105 pitches in a win over Monsignor Bonner in the PIAA semifinals on Monday and suffering a foot injury when he was hit by a pitch in that game.
"With Carson throwing as much as he did the other day, we didn't want to start him," Szynal said. "We weren't sure about his injuries. We found out that he was fine to go, but we wanted to run Paul out there as long as we could until we needed to give them a different look."
Wedel, a junior, said he had plenty of notice he was going to start Friday's game.
"I found out on Tuesday," Wedel said. "I felt good out there. Everything was working. The curveball was the best for me as it has been all season. I'm just glad I left it all on the field."
Banks, Kensinger, Hileman, Michaels, Karageanes, Hockey and Justin Herman made up the Hollidaysburg senior class that helped the Golden Tigers play deeper into the season than any before them.
"It was a historic season for us and Hollidaysburg, and it's something we'll never forget," Hileman said. "I'm so blessed that we had this opportunity, and I thank God and all of our fans who were here for us and experienced this with us together."
Kensinger, who will continue his baseball career at Frostburg State, finished the season 10-0 on the mound with an ERA hovering around one run allowed per game.
"We have a really special group, and I'll remember every single one of these guys," Kensinger said. "I'll look back on this and be very happy with it. Obviously, the outcome wasn't what we wanted, and it hurts. We were a really special class and had a great bond. For 13 years, we have been together. It's been so special, and I wish all these guys the best."
HOLLIDAYSBURG (1): Hileman cf 301, Karageanes 1b 200, Wedel p 000, Kensinger dh-p 300, Gibbons c 200, Bell cr 000, Banks 3b 300, Steiner ss 301, Hockey 2b 300, Michaels rf 210, Szynal lf 100. Totals--22-1-2.
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN (2): Detwiler ss-p 311, Adams lf 302, Jenkins c 300, Grim p-2b 300, Reiter 2b 000, Barrett dh 301, Lehman pr 010, Montgomery pr 000, Koehler 3b 200, Berg rf 201, Hohl ph 100, Weaver 1b 201, Wunderlich cf 201. Totals--24-2-7.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Hollidaysburg 001 000 0 — 1 2 2
Governor Mifflin 001 100 X — 2 7 0
E--Hileman, Hockey. LOB--Hollidaysburg 4, Governor Mifflin 5. 2B--Detwiler. SAC--Szynal, Koehler. SB--Berg, Weaver. RBI--Hileman, Jenkins, Wunderlich.
PITCHING
Hollidaysburg: Wedel (L)--5 1/3IP, 7H, 0BB, 1K, 2R, 1ER, 72 pitches. Kensinger--2/3IP, 0H, 0BB, 1K, 0R, 0ER, 10 pitches.
Governor Mifflin: Grim (W)--6IP, 2H, 3BB, 11K, 1R, 1ER, 110 pitches. Detwiler (S)--1IP, 0H, 0BB, 3K, 0R, 0ER, 14 pitches.
Umpires: Lenny Leiper, Norm Scarberry, Dave Longo, Mike Hogan.
Records: Hollidaysburg (17-7); Governor Mifflin (24-5).