Nicco Desanto (23) and Quinn Ranck (3) of Montoursville celebrate their team’s 9-0 win over Canton in Montoursville Monday afternoon. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Did you blink? If so, it feels like one could have missed the high school baseball season go by.
Early-season rain left most teams completing the bulk of their season within a few weeks and now the district playoffs already are upon us. Three of the four district tournaments start today and the following is a look at three of those fields.
The Class A tournament includes just two teams, both out of the coverage area as Millville (13-6) faces defending champion Northeast Bradford (11-8). Millville is the pick here although this pretty much is a coin flip call.
Class AAAA
(5 teams, champion advances to states)
Jersey Shore and Milton are both playoff-bound for the first time since 2018. Both have been in playoff-mode for a while, each celebrating playoff clinching wins earlier this week. It seems fitting then that they square off in today’s lone 4A game with the Bulldogs hosting Milton.
Jersey Shore (10-10) earned its berth in dramatic fashion Thursday, scoring two ninth inning runs after erasing a five-run deficit and defeating Midd-West, 7-5. The Bulldogs have made a five-win improvement from last year and split two games with their HAC-I rival. Jerrin Loomis will pitch at Lock Haven next fall and is 5-1 with a 2.59 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 54 innings. Zach Myers has flourished down the stretch, throwing 4 1/3 scoreless innings against Midd-West and both Hunter Enders and Brady DePasqua also have delivered in key moments. Gage Martzall helps spark the offense, hitting .368 with eight doubles and Myers hit the clutch two-run single against Midd-West in the ninth inning.
Milton bucked the odds, rallying from a 3-8 start to reach districts. Included in that stretch was a 6-0 victory at Jersey Shore after the Bulldogs had taken the first round, 9-4. Milton won three straight elimination games against playoff-bound teams, defeating Mount Carmel, Warrior Run and Montgomery to qualify.
Luke Goodwin threw a one-hit complete game in Tuesday’s clinching win at Montgomery, while Logan Shrawder came up big against Warrior Run and threw a six-hit shutout in the Jersey Shore victory. Senior Peyton Rearick has made a big impact in his first year playing high school baseball, leading the team in RBIs and hitting .360.
The Milton-Jersey Shore winner will face top-seeded Danville. The Ironmen (15-4) rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat Milton, 9-6 early in the season and split league games with both No. 2 Montoursville and No. 3 Mifflinburg. Danville features a deep offense which is hitting a collective .333. Senior Reece McCarthy is at .500 with 15 extra-base hits and 29 RBIs, while Wyatt Shultz has 31 RBIs. Shultz, Cole Duff and Garrett Hoffman also have pitched well.
Montoursville has reached consecutive state quarterfinals and will be playing Mifflinburg in Tuesday’s semifinals at Montgomery in a rematch of last year’s final which Mifflinburg won. The Warriors (13-4) are one of the field’s youngest teams but have built on the program’s tradition, splitting two games with Danville and also defeating Jersey Shore. Logan Kirby threw a shutout in last year’s semifinals and is 4-1 with two saves, while Royce Bowes, Brayden McCourt, Zack Neill, Brody Aldendefer and Jonah Heddings have thrown well in their first extended seasons of varsity pitching.
Heddings is one of three full-time starters hitting .354 or higher and Aldenderfer and Quinn Ranck both have 17 RBIs. Mifflinburg (13-5) is led by Wake Forest-bound pitcher Troy Dressler who is 5-0 with a 3.55 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings. Zeb Hufnagle has comeback from an injury and also brings big-time heat, while Mason Schneck and Cyruss Schovlin also have thrown well. Hufnagle and Dressler both are hitting above .400 and five players have at least 12 RBIs.
Tournament sleeper–Milton: Honestly, one can insert Jersey Shore here, too. Basically whoever wins today’s quarterfinal is dangerous. The committee gives Milton the nod here because it surged so much down the stretch and basically has been in must-win mindset for nearly a month.
Projected semifinals: Danville over Milton; Mifflinburg over Montoursville. Projected final: Mifflinburg over Danville
Class AAA
(5 teams, champion advances)
Hughesville graduated most of the starters from last year’s district champion but a new hungry group has kept the program going strong. The Spartans (15-3) earned the top seed again, while also repeating as HAC-III champions and putting together winning streaks of nine and five games.
This basically is an entirely new pitching staff with the top three aces having graduated but a lot of players have excelled in big situations, including freshman Graden Dohl, Nate Bieber, Aiden Barlett and Trent Wetzel. The offense has been balanced as well with eight current starters hitting .321 or higher. Equally impressive has been the team’s resiliency. Despite being hit hard by injuries, Hughesville has never flinched, frequently rallying from behind to win games and winning three in its final at-bat.
Hughesville will face the winner of today’s No. 5 Warrior Run at No. 4 North Penn-Mansfield quarterfinal. The Defenders (12-8) reached last year’s semifinals as a fifth seed and split two games with Hughesville, each being a thriller. Warrior Run is young in terms of underclassmen starting, but long in experience since most of them also started last year. Warrior Run closed the regular season with a flourish, winning five of its last six games and smashing five home runs in a finale win at Muncy. Sophom*ores Landon Polcyn and Griffen Harrington have been dialed in down the stretch as has senior Owen Reese and Stone Allison hit two home runs at Muncy.
North Penn-Mansfield (13-7) has made a five-win improvement this season and received super pitching during a busy three games in three day stretch earlier this week, allowing just eight hits in 22 innings. That included Cooper Shaw and Karson Dominick combining on a two-hitter over 9 1/3 innings in a 2-1, 10-inning loss at South Williamsport. Alex Davis also has pitched well and is hitting .393, while Easton Cleveland-Pequignot has been one of the area’s hottest hitters during the season’s second half.
No. 2 Mount Carmel and No. 3 Central Columbia will be meeting in the semifinals for a third straight year with Central winning the previous games. Drew Yagodzinskie is one of the field’s best pitchers and is 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 32 innings. Jonas Bettleyon allowed just one run in 11 innings during consecutive wins against Loyalsock and Warrior Ru and Clark Cartwright averages nearly a strikeout per inning. Four starters are hitting .320 or higher and standout catcher Gavin Lasko is batting .400 with two home runs and 15 RBIs.
Tournament sleeper–Central Columbia: Central (11-8) thunders into the semifinals having won five straight games, including extra-inning thrillers against Hughesville and Mifflinburg. The Blue Jays have played in three straight championships, winning the 2022 crown. The offense is surging and has scored at least eight runs in each game during its winning streak.
Projected semifinals: Hughesville over Warrior Run; Mount Carmel over Central. Projected final: Mount Carmel over Hughesville
Class AA
(8 teams, finalists advance)
This is a meat grinder of a bracket with all eight teams capable of doing damage, so it’s fitting that two teams move on to states. Montgomery (17-2) earned the top seed and hosts Mid-Penn rival Northwest (11-6) in a rematch of a game Montgomery rallied to win 4-2 earlier this season.
Montgomery is the field’s youngest team but its players have played in a lot of big games at other levels over the years and captured the program’s first Mid-Penn championship since 2006, going undefeated in league play. Briar Persing, Parker Bennett, Parker Persing and Brady Pease all have pitched well and five starters are hitting above .500, including freshman Trace Furman has who 16 RBIs.
The Northwest-Montgomery winner faces either Canton or defending champion Wyalusing. No. 4 Canton (15-5) repeated as NTL-II champion and sophom*ore Holden Ward is tied with Briar Persing for the area lead in wins, going 8-1. Ward has 64 strikeouts in 49 innings and Zack Colton has an area-high four saves. Colton is one of four players who has collected more than 20 RBIs, driving in a team-high 24 with freshman Bailey Gardner and senior Hudson Ward next up with 23.
Wyalusing (14-6) edged Canton 4-2 in eight innings a week ago and won a hard-fought semifinal against it last year. The Rams won 10 of 12 games at one point and rallied from a 10-run deficit to defeat No. 3 South Williamsport, 11-10. Trehnon Hugo and Hunter House form a strong pitching duo and also help spark a deep offense.
South (13-6) has faced Wyalusing in consecutive tournaments, splitting those games. The Mounties are one of the field’s most battle-tested teams and have reached the state quarterfinals two straight years. South built momentum for today’s showdown against rival Muncy after winning close games against Benton and North Penn-Mansfield. Noah Turner, Kaiser Kistner and Caleb Neidig all have thrown gems in the last week and Kaden Shay is among the area’s leaders in on-base percentage (.644).
Muncy (13-6) is a hit or play away from having a few more wins, losing walk-off heartbreakers at Montgomery, South and Northwest. The Indians have reached the final and semifinals in consecutive seasons and have not let multiple injuries to pitchers keep them down. Four-year starter Noah Confer has eclipsed 100 career hits, Kadyn Berry is another four-year starter who has excelled at the plate, in the field and on the mound and Nick Delany is hitting .407 with 21 RBIs. Braydon Kamerer is an outstanding catcher who limits the running game and who has a team-best 25 RBIs.
The Muncy-South winner faces either No. 2 Troy (14-5) or No. 7 Southern Columbia (11-7). Troy split two games with Wyalusing and has won five straight games, producing 79 runs in those games. The Trojans are hitting a collective .402 and all nine starters have at least 13 RBIs.
Southern has won 10 of its last 13 games after starting 1-4, generating quality wins against Midd-West, Loyalsock and Central. Underclassmen have thrown all but three innings and sophom*ore Caden Hooper is 5-3 with a 1.20 ERA, striking out 49 in 40 2/3 innings. Freshman Levi Everitt has allowed just 10 hits in 21 2/3 innings, while striking out 30 and Hunter Sharrow has 20 RBIs, along with five doubles.
Tournament sleeper–Northwest: The Rangers gave Montgomery a battle the first time around and also rallied for an exciting win against Muncy. Dominic Cavuto is hitting .500 with three home runs and 15 RBIs and Jake Noss and Garrett Bau form a quality pitching tandem.
Best quarterfinal–Muncy at South: This is tough since all four games are good ones, but considering Muncy and South are meeting for a third straight year in the postseason and so often playing exciting contests, it gets the call. South has won two of the last three games over the past two seasons in its final at-bat and the other in the sixth inning in last year’s riveting semifinal. Muncy rallied from four down late to tie it in the seventh inning before South walked off with a 6-5 win a few weeks ago. Expect another fun battle between these two proud programs.
Projected semifinals: Wyalusing over Montgomery; Southern over South. Projected final: Wyalusing over Southern
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