Bellwood-Antis celebrates its upset win over No. 1 seed Bishop McCort. Photo for the Mirror by Roger Kerekes

JOHNSTOWN — The Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils rode a four-run second inning all the way to the District 6 Class 2A championship game, defeating the No. 1 seed Bishop McCort Crushers, 4-3, on Thursday in a semifinal matchup at Point Stadium.

Bellwood-Antis will take on the Mount Union Trojans, the defending champions, in the title game next Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

“This is great. We haven’t been to the playoffs in five or six years,” Blue Devils coach Adam Plummer said. “We’ve been there before and lost. About 20 years ago is the last time we’ve won a district title.”

The Blue Devils’ offense started clicking early in thesecond inning. Brady McConnell drove in the first run of the game with a single up the middle. B-A followed with a sacrifice bunt, putting two runners in scoring position for Alex McCartney.

On a 1-1 pitch, McCartney smoked a ball down the third-base line for a double, plating two more runs. Shortly after, Caleb Plummer laid down a perfect bunt and beat out the throw, moving McCartney to third.

Then, Plummer got picked off but stayed in a rundown long enough for McCartney to score, making it 4-0.

“We made some mistakes and didn’t handle the first-and-third situation correctly,” Bishop McCort coach Chris Pfeil said. “That was a big run for them to push across.”

In their next at bat, the Crushers led off the frame with two singles. Two outs later, Brady Page stepped up and responded with a run-scoring single.

Bishop McCort nearly brought home another run when Jonathan Delia smacked a single to left field, but Bradyn Partner threw a bullet to home plate to get the runner out at home.

The Crushers’ offense stayed hot in the bottom of the third, getting their first two batters on for Nate Denhard.

He smacked a single to bring home their second run. Shortly after, Mason Dugan hit a groundball to third base, but a Bellwood-Antis error gave the Crushers another run.

The Blue Devils’ starter, Killian Worthing, was able to escape that jam with the lead still intact.

From there, Worthing and the Crushers’ starting pitcher, Denhard, went back-and-forth with scoreless innings. Worthing finished the fifth inning and Curtis Shedlock took over from there.

Denhard nearly pitched a complete game, but was pulled after 6ª innings.

“We’ve got a talented group right there that believes. They came together towards the second half of the season,” Coach Plummer said. “They’ve been playing great baseball. It’s the best time to play your best baseball and that’s what they are doing now.”

Shedlock didn’t allow a baserunner and closed it out for Bellwood, earning the save and sending the Blue Devils to the championship in an attempt to knock off the Trojans.

“We’ve just got to play our game,” coach Plummer said. “We can’t worry about who’s going to be on the field from the other side. Obviously, Mount Union year-in, year-out is a great program and it’s been that way for years. We know we are going to get a battle we’ve got to be ready to play.”

Bellwood-Antis (4): Ca. Plummer rf 301, Dorminy cf 300, Swigger c 300, Ch. Plummer ss 311, Sneath 3b 311, McConnell 2b 311, McCall dh 100, Worthing p 000, Shedlock p 000, McCartney 1b 311, Partner lf 300, Totals – 25-4-5

Bishop McCort (3): Delia 3b 401, Radkowski 2b 412, Lieb c 402, Britt pr 010, Denhard p/3b 401, Lewis 1b 411, Dugan ss 301, Fetzko dh 300, Sakmar rf 000, Gallucci cf 200, Page lf 301, Totals – 31-3-9

SCORE BY INNINGS

Bellwood-Antis 040 000 0 — 4 5 3

Bishop McCort 012 000 0 — 3 9 1

E–McConnell, Sneath; Delia. 2B–McCartney, Sneath. 3B–None. HR–None. RBI–McCartney 2, McConnell; Denhard, Dugan, Page. WP–Worthing. LP–Denhard. SO–Worthing 3, Shedlock 1; Denhard 5. BB–Worthing 1.

Records: Bellwood-Antis (12-9); Bishop McCort (13-8).