The District 9 Class 1A and 2A baseball championship games are set after semifinal contests Thursday with Oswayo Valley meeting DuBois Central Catholic in Class 1A and Brockway taking on Johnsonburg in Class 2A.
(Photo of Zane Puhala of Brockway. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
Also, the Elk County Catholic softball team advanced to the D9 1A semifinals with a win Thursday.
Here is a look at the action:
BASEBALL
DISTRICT 9 CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS
Johnsonburg 3, Redbank Valley 2, 8 Innings
JOHNSONBURG, Pa. – Johnny Mitchell’s grounder with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning wasn’t fielded cleanly, and top-seeded Johnsonburg beat fifth-seeded Redbank Valley, 3-2, to advance to Wednesday’s District 9 title game.
Kacey Raubenstrauch started the inning with a double to left, and Austin Green singled him to third. Redbank Valley then walked Neil MacDonald, who had already homered in the game, to bring up Mitchell, who hit a grounder to second against the drawn-in infield. But an error by Cameron Travis allowed Raubenstrauch to score the game-winning run.
Redbank Valley led 2-0 in the third thanks to an RBI single by Bryan Layton and a run-scoring double by Kobe Bonanno.
But Johnsonburg tied the game in the fourth when Green led off with a double and MacDonald followed with a two-run home run to left.
MacDonald was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored with Green going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Layton was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Redbank Valley with Blaney Brooks and Travis both going 2-for-4. One of Travis’ hits was a double. Bonanno was also 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
Gabe Watts got the win in relief of Mitchell going four innings allowing four hits and a walk while striking out six. Mitchell pitched four innings giving up two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Layton went 5 ⅓ innings for Redbank Valley but needed 104 pitches to do so. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out nine. Blaney Brooks took the loss allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk in 1 ⅔ innings of work.
Johnsonburg will play Brockway in the District title game at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at Showers Field in DuBois.
Brockway 7, Brookville 5
BROOKVILLE, Pa. -Seventh-seeded Brockway is headed back to the District 9 title game for the second straight year after taking advantage of five Brookville errors to knock off the third-seeded and defending champion Raiders, 7-5, at McKinley Field in Brookville.
Five of Brockway’s seven runs were unearned in the game.
Zane Puhala had a nice contest for the Rovers going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
He talked about getting the win over a Brookville squad that had won five in a row against Brockway, including in last year’s title game.
Puhala’s two-run single in the sixth with two outs after an Aaron Park throwing error, one of four committed by the Brookville third baseman, broke a 3-all tie.
Tyler Serafini added a 1-for-2 day with a walk, a run scored and an RBI for the Rovers.
Brady Caylor was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, an RBI and a run scored. Cole Labenne added a 2-for-4 day with an RBI, while Trent Gilhousen was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Tino Inzana got the win in relief going three innings allowing two runs on six hits and a hit batsman. Five of those hits came in the seventh inning when five of the six batters for Brookville had hits but the Raiders, who were down 7-3 to start the inning, found a way to only score two runs thanks to a double play and a baserunning mistake that ended the game.
Seth Dunkle took the loss in relief pitching three innings allowing four runs, one earned, on four hits and three walks while striking out three.
Brockway will play top-seeded Johnsonburg in the title game at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at Showers Field in DuBois.
DISTRICT 9 CLASS 1A SEMIFINALS
Oswayo Valley 10, North Clarion 0, 5 innings
SHINGLEHOUSE, Pa. – A seven-run third inning helped lift Oswayo Valley back to the District 9 title game for the fourth straight season with a 10-0, five-inning win over visiting North Clarion.
Already up 3-0 after three-run second, the top-seeded Green Wave 11 men to the plate in the third with eight in a row reaching after one out.
Theo Henry had an RBI single, an error scored a second run, another error scored a third run, a fourth run came home on a bases-loaded walk to Camden Graves, one of three walks issued in the inning by North Clarion, Garren Black roped a two-run double to center and Gavin Babcock hit a sac fly to close out the scoring.
That was plenty of runs for Black, who yielded just two hits in getting the win for the defending champions.
He went five innings walking one and striking out seven.
Sam Minich had a double and Matson Higgins a single for the fifth-seeded Wolves who were trying to pull an upset for the second day in a row after beating Elk County Catholic Wednesday.
Zander Hargenrader took the loss going 2 ⅓ innings giving up 10 runs, eight earned, on six hits and five walks while striking out two. Devon Walters pitched ⅔ of an inning allowing a hit, and Zyler Hargenrader pitched a scoreless fourth.
Oswayo Valley will face DuBois Central Catholic in the title game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Showers Field in DuBois. The Cardinals beat Oswayo Valley for the D9 1A title two years ago. Oswayo Valley also clinched a PIAA playoff berth with the win.
North Clarion will face Clarion-Limestone in the consolation game at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Showers Field. The winner of that game will then face the winner of the District 10 title game between Kennedy Catholic and Jamestown Thursday, May 31, for a PIAA playoff berth.
DuBois Central Catholic 11, Clarion-Limestone 1, 5 innings
DUBOIS, Pa. – Behind a 3-for-3 day from Damon Foster, DuBois Central Catholic returned to the District 9 championship game for the second time in three seasons with an 11-1, five-inning win over visiting Clarion-Limestone at Showers Field in DuBois.
Foster had a double, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Cardinals, who had 15 hits in the game off of two Lions pitchers.
Justin Miknis was also 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs for second-seeded DCC with Tyler McIntosh going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Anthony Kness added a pair of hits and a run scored for the Cardinals.
Noah Bloom and Kness combined on a two-hitter with Bloom getting the win going three innings allowing an unearned run on two hits and three walks while striking out one. Kness allowed a walk in his two innings of relief.
Ian Hawthorn and Cam Hankey had the hits for sixth-seeded C-L, which was playing for the second time in 24 hours on the road after upsetting Clarion Wednesday. Drew Beichner walked and scored a run for the Lions.
Curvin Goheen took the loss going four innings allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits and a hit batter. Christian Smith went ⅔ of an inning giving up six runs, four earned, on six hits and a walk while striking out one.
DCC will face Oswayo Valley for the second time in three years in the title game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Showers Field in DuBois. DCC beat Oswayo Valley for the title in 2016. With the win, the Cardinals also secure a PIAA playoff berth.
C-L will take on North Clarion in the consolation game at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Showers Field. The winner of that game will then face the winner of the District 10 title game between Kennedy Catholic and Jamestown Thursday, May 31, for a PIAA playoff berth.
SOFTBALL
DISTRICT 9 CLASS 1A QUARTERFINALS
Elk County Catholic 10, Otto-Eldred 3
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Fourth-seeded Elk County Catholic used a five-run sixth inning to break open a one-run game and get a 10-3 win over fifth-seeded Otto-Eldred at Benzinger Park in St. Marys.
The Lady Crusaders led 4-3 going to the sixth before putting the game away thanks in part to a two-run double by Jenna Weisner, who was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs in the game.
Rosina Nero also homered for ECC while driving in three runs with Brandi Clyde going 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, Josie Smith 2-for-4 with a run scored and Hannah Barnett 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Camryn Thomas had a single and two RBIs for Otto-Eldred with Emilee Smith and Alyssa Shelander both collecting doubles. Shelander also scored a run.
Michelle Gerber got the win going seven innings allowing three unearned runs on six hits while striking out seven.
Shelander took the loss surrendering 10 runs, nine earned, on 11 hits and three walks while striking out three in four innings. Thomas went two scoreless innings of relief allowing two hits and a walk while striking out one.
ECC will face DuBois Central Catholic in the semifinals at Noon Saturday, May 26, at Brockway High School.
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