PIAA baseball championshp preview: Indiana, Avonworth and Eden Christian to take a swing at winning their first titles

Avonworth entered the season owning one PIAA baseball win in its history, and that came 32 years ago.

Likewise with Indiana, which picked up its only previous PIAA win just a season ago.

And then there’s Eden Christian, whose three state wins had all been collected in 2021.

But while extended PIAA success had eluded the three schools in the past, each has turned over a new leaf this spring and is now a win away from winning state titles for the first time.

Class 4A Indiana, Class 3A Avonworth and Class 1A Eden Christian will represent the WPIAL at the PIAA championships Thursday and Friday at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Since the PIAA moved to six classifications in 2017, a WPIAL team has won at least one title in all but one season (2019). WPIAL teams won their most titles in 2018 when they claimed three.

“It’s been amazing,” said Avonworth coach Jeff Bywalski, who is in his second season. “Let’s be honest, not too many people were picking us to get to this point of the season. The only people who believed in us were ourselves, and that’s all that mattered. It’s been great. Ever since the WPIAL semifinals we’ve played very relaxed and have been playing free because we have nothing to lose.”

Avonworth (19-8) is the only WPIAL champion to remain afloat in these playoffs. Two weeks after winning their second WPIAL title, the Antelopes will try to pair that crown with another when they face District 12 champion Neumann-Goretti (20-6) in the Class 3A final at 1:30 p.m. Friday. The Saints are seeking their third championship after winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.

Winners of nine in a row, Avonworth has been terrific at pulling out narrow victories. After stringing together three consecutive one-run wins in the WPIAL playoffs — a run that was capped by a 14-inning win against defending champion Riverside in the final — Avonworth has won games by one run and two runs in the PIAA playoffs, one being a nine-inning victory against Fairview in the quarterfinals.

Avonworth continues to lean on a strong pitching staff that has shown its depth in the postseason. Sophomore Cooper Scharding and senior Aidan Tinker have been the top throwers for most of the spring, but sophomore Carson Franc and senior Jacob Hanny have stepped up big in relief appearances in the PIAA playoffs. And with the status of Scharding and Tinker up in the air for Friday, the Antelopes might have to rely on Franc and Hanny —  and maybe others —  once again.

“We’re really trying to see how deep we can go, to be honest,” Bywalski said. “Our top two guys, both of them have sore arms right now, so we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do for the state finals.”

Offensively, Avonworth has been led by senior Brandon Sapolsky (.378, 24 runs), sophomore Jack Dolan (.378, 18 RBIs) and Scharding (.342, 20 RBIs).

Neumann-Goretti has given up a total of three runs in the PIAA playoffs as it features a strong 1-2 punch at pitcher in seniors Jayce Park (7-1, 1.28) and Santino Pharma (7-1, 1.84). Park, an Old Dominion recruit, has 78 strikeouts in 60⅓ innings. At the plate, senior Christian Cerone leads the Saints with a .433 average and 20 RBIs. Senior Evan McCoach (.286, 17 RBIs) is a Rutgers recruit.

“It would mean everything,” Bywalski said of Avonworth winning the title. “Think about it. This is the first state championship game for the baseball program in our history. To do even just that has been remarkable. To bring home the first state championship in any boys sport at Avonworth, it would mean a lot to this team and the community.”

Class 4A

Indiana (16-10) went just 10-9 in the regular season and entered the WPIAL playoffs as the No. 9 seed, but the WPIAL runner-up Little Indians have since gone on a big tear and will meet District 1 champion Holy Ghost Prep (17-8) in the final at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

“We just played the regular season trying to mix guys in. It’s a short season,” first-year Indiana coach Dan Petroff said. “Once we got to the playoffs, we started hitting the ball. Timely hits. I thought we were going to get this game. I knew we had the pitching. Hitting I just figured had to pick up a little bit and it did. We got hot at the right time.”

That Indiana offense is coming off of one of its better performances of the season as the Little Indians racked up 10 runs and 13 hits, including six doubles, in a 10-3 win against Fleetwood in the semifinals. Senior Ben Ryan, a Quinnipiac recruit, had an outstanding game, striking out nine on his way to the complete-game win while also adding a three-run double. Ryan leads the team in hitting (.413), home runs (6) and RBIs (27).

But it’s pitching that makes this team go. Petroff has said his team has the best staff of any Class 4A team in the state, and it’s tough to argue otherwise. In addition to Ryan, Indiana features juniors Ryan Okopal and Greg Minnick. Okopal leads the team in wins and Minnick is a Texas Tech recruit. Petroff said Minnick is the likely starter for the final.

Holy Ghost Prep, which has won 10 of its past 11 games, is making its second appearance in the title game. The Firebirds fell to another WPIAL opponent, Montour, by the score of 10-9 in a wild Class 4A final two seasons ago. Scoring has not been an issue for the Firebirds, who have plated 42 runs in three PIAA playoff games, including 20 in a first-round win against Constitution. Among the top performers have been sophomore Edwin Rosado (.443, 28 RBIs), sophomore Jake Keaser (.397) and senior Joey Amati (.292, 5 home runs, 26 RBIs). Keaser has committed to Virginia Tech. Senior Justin Lucas (5-1, 2.72) and junior Mathew Riendeau (4-1, 3.82) have been the top pitchers.

“At the beginning of the season we talked many times, we’re going to win state,” said Indiana sophomore Charlie Manzi, who has collected two hits in all three PIAA games. “We know last year we made it to the second round but ended up losing. But we knew this year we had something special, and now we’re just showing it off.”

Class 1A

The only one of the three WPIAL teams that doesn’t need directions to Penn State is Eden Christian (20-5), which will get a second chance at winning its first championship when it takes on unbeaten District 1 champion Faith Christian (22-0) at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Just three seasons ago, Eden Christian fell to Halifax, 9-1, in the final.

Beating the only remaining undefeated team in the state will obviously be a tall task for Eden Christian, whose only loss in the past month was to Bishop Canevin in the WPIAL championship. Faith Christian had only one PIAA win in its history entering the season, but has surged into the final following wins by scores of 1-0, 11-0 and 6-1. Getting outstanding pitching is nothing new for the Lions, though, as they have surrendered only 25 runs total on the season. They have shut out 11 opponents and held another eight to one or two runs. Leading the way have been senior Grayson Weikel (9-0, 1.72) and junior Reid Miller (7-0, 0.39). The two combined on a no-hitter in a 1-0 first-round win against Pottsville Nativity BVM.

That Faith Christian pitching staff will be tested by an Eden Christian lineup that averages 9.5 runs per game on the season and has collected 24 in the PIAA playoffs. A young Eden Christian squad has been paced offensively by sophomore Brady Hull (.514, 5 home runs, 41 RBIs), sophomore Brett Feldman (.478) and senior Caleb Emswiler (.443, 6 home runs, 40 RBIs). Emswiler is a Gardner-Webb recruit. Hull is 6 for 11 with a home run and six RBIs in the state playoffs. Senior Enzo Natale, Hull and sophomore Noah Emswiler are the primary pitchers.