Monday evening against Hollidaysburg in the PIAA Class 5A baseball semifinals at First Commonwealth Bank Field, he was on the verge of one.

Farrell walked Golden Tigers leadoff man Josh Banks on seven pitches before Mason Mierley reached on a fielder’s choice when DuBois second baseman Brody Knouse hesitated before throwing to second too late to get Banks. Ty McGough followed with a sacrifice bunt that Beavers first baseman Adam Drahushak mishandled — loading the bases with no outs.

Cole Hartman stepped to the plate next and ripped a ball to the right of DuBois shortstop Samson Deeb, who made a diving stop and threw to second for a force out.

A run scored, but the out calmed Farrell, who struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Tanner Rossman reacts after a caught foul tip.

Hollidaysburg never threatened again and did not collect its first hit until Farrell departed the game after six innings and 105 pitches in a 4-1 Beavers victory that put them into the state championship game for the second time in school history.

“Their shortstop made a good play,” Banks said. “If that gets through, that might have scored two. But he made a great play. (Farrell) was good. Our main goal was just to battle and get him out. With those types of pitchers, that’s all you can really do, and we just couldn’t get it done.”

Hollidaysburg finished the season 21-3.

“This was a group of kids who believed in what we wanted them to believe in,” Hollidaysburg coach Jon Szynal said. “They believe in this program and how we do things. They bought into the culture. They won a lot of big games and had a great season winning the Laurel Highlands and probably setting a school record for wins. There were a lot of positives to come out of this season. It’s just a shame someone had to lose this game.”

DuBois will take on Greencastle-Antrim, which scored 11 unanswered runs after falling behind early in an 11-5 win over West Chester Rustin in the other semifinal game, in Friday’s state championship at State College’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at 4:30 p.m.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Nathan Phillips is forced out by DuBois shortstop Samson Deeb on a fielders choice for the first out in the seventh inning.

“We’re very excited,” DuBois coach Josh Johnson said. “This is a special group of guys. It was a long year with practices, but they started to believe this a couple weeks ago when we beat (Taylor Allderdice). After that, it seemed like we went to another level. I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Farrell began hitting 92 miles per hour consistently on his fastball in the second inning and retired Hollidaysburg in order.

Knouse made Hollidaysburg starting pitcher Vince Boland pay for a hanging curveball to begin the bottom of the second when he hit a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center.

“With Brody, yesterday we were talking about his hands,” Johnson said. “Look what he did today. Gave us a spark and got us going.”

In the bottom of the third inning, Trey Wingard worked a one-out walk on a full count, and Mason Dinkfelt, who entered the game leading the Beavers with seven home runs, hit his eighth to make it 3-1 after fouling off a pitch earlier in the count.

“He was trying to pull a pitch that was away,” Johnson said. “The next pitch, he just went with it and took it out to center. That was an adjustment he made on the fly, and that’s what he’s been doing all year.”

Back-to-back singles and a wild pitch put runners at second and third for DuBois. Boland got a strikeout, but Drahushak was strong enough to muscle a ball he was jammed on over the third baseman’s head for an RBI single that made it 4-1 through three innings.

From that point, the only question was whether Farrell was going to be able to pitch deep enough into the game with the PIAA playoff pitch-count limit of 105 to maintain the lead.

In the top of the sixth inning, Cole Hartman — who came on in relief of Boland in the fourth and did not allow a baserunner the rest of the way — had a seven-pitch at bat to get Farrell to 99 pitches before the DuBois hurler struck out Tanner Rossman on his 105th pitch, meaning the Beavers had to go to the bullpen for the top of the seventh.

“He’s had nine-pitch innings, but he’s going to have some 20-pitch innings,” Johnson said. “The downside to how good his stuff is it takes guys a few pitches to get balls in play against him. You’re not going to have many quick innings with him, so for him to start pounding the zone after that first inning to keep his pitches limited was huge.”

Grady Galiczynski pitched the seventh for DuBois, and Nate Phillips greeted him with Hollidaysburg’s first hit. Donald Miller hit a pop fly to right which fell in between the second baseman and outfielder, but Luke Reed threw out Phillips, who was in no-man’s land unable to go far from first with the pop up near the bag, for the force out at second.

Galiczynski finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts, leaving top Hollidaysburg hitter Banks on deck.

“We had a great season, and I thought our guys battled throughout every game,” Banks said. “I’ll have great memories of winning districts and a lot of state playoff games. I’m just so blessed to have been part of it.”

Banks, Hartman, Rossman and Miller played their final game for Golden Tigers.

“I’ll remember all the practices, all my friends. These were the best years of my life here,” Hartman said. “I’m always going to remember these guys. Every game from the Curve Classic to this one, those memories will always be with me.”

Hartman threw nearly 50 innings in his senior season and walked just three batters, and none in Monday’s relief outing.

“He did his normal stuff. He came in and threw strikes and kept them off balance,” Szynal said. “He kept the game in striking distance. I have never seen the type of control he has at any level I have been in baseball. It’s just amazing, and two of those were in the last game. He went two months with one walk. Just an awesome job by him being able to throw any pitch for a strike.”

Hartman said his control was learned through reps and keeping his father happy.

“I guess it comes from my dad,” Hartman said. “He hates walks, so over the years, I learned that I don’t throw the hardest and learned to put it where I had to.”

Miller led the team in doubles, and Rossman had two home runs and drove in 12 runs this season.

“I told those four guys they have a lot to be proud of and to keep their heads up,” Szynal said. “They have done a lot for Golden Tiger baseball during their time here. Their best days are ahead of them, just as people, not even talking about sports. They are all such good kids, and they will be successful no matter what they do.”

Banks, the Mirror’s Male co-Athlete of the Year, hit a team-best .527 with four home runs and 24 RBIs and has been Hollidaysburg’s leadoff hitter for several years. He has accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play football at Penn State.

“When he got the football offer, we were hoping and praying he would still come out,” Szynal said. “He came out and had a spectacular season and will certainly be missed at that leadoff spot.”

The loss was the Golden Tigers’ third of the season and first in more than a month.

“It’s a great group. It’s a shame it had to end like this, but I’m really proud of all of us,” Hartman said. “These guys have been my friends my entire life. I feel like we set a precedent for the rest of the groups to follow, and hopefully someday one of them brings a state title home.”

HOLLIDAYSBURG (1): Banks rf 110, Mierley ss 300, McGough 2b 200, Hartman 1b 200, Rossman 1b 300, Phillips cf 301, Miller 3b 300, Layton lf 300, Hatch c 300. Totals — 23-1-1.

DuBOIS (4): Deeb ss 400, Wingard c 111, Dinkfelt 3b 211, Farrell p 302, Clark dh 301, Knouse 2b 311, Drahushak 1b 301, Thomas lf 300, Kail cf 300. Totals — 25-4-7.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Hollidaysburg 100 000 0–1 1 1

DuBois 013 000 X–4 7 1

E–Drahushak, Banks. HR–Knouse, Dinkfelt. RBI–Dinkfelt 2, Knouse, Drahushak, Hartman.

PITCHING

Hollidaysburg: Boland (L) — 3 2/3IP, 7H, 4K, 3BB, 4R, 3ER, 77 pitches; Hartman — 2 1/3IP, 0H, 1K, 0BB, 0R, 0ER, 25 pitches.

DuBois: Farrell (W) — 6IP, 0H, 10K, 3BB, 1R, 0ER, 105 pitches; Galiczynski (S) — 1IP, 2H, 2K, 0BB, 0R, 0ER, 22 pitches.

Records: Hollidaysburg (21-3); DuBois (21-4).

Umpires: Jason Faulkner (HP), James Ryan (1B), Ryan Marchione (2B), Gregory Allen (3B).