Fairview baseball team set for PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals

The Martinsburg Central baseball team's 25-0 record should have spoken for itself.

Or so Joe Spinelli thought.

Fairview's baseball coach and his assistants then dissected the District 6 power's season ahead of Thursday's PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal. First pitch between the Tigers (17-3) and the Dragons is noon at Seneca Valley High School in Harmony.

That's when Spinelli learned how potent the Blair County team's offense has been this season.

Central has finished games early and often since its March 29 debut. The Dragons' 11-1, five-inning victory vs. Penn Cambria that day was the first of their 19 wins in which the PIAA's mercy rules were invoked.

Only five times has a Central game lasted seven innings. The Dragons required just five innings for their 13-3 elimination victory against District 7's Mohawk during Monday's first round of the state tournament.

That final score was tame compared to others recorded by the 2022 Dragons. Their most extreme were a 27-3, three-inning win vs. Greater Johnstown and a 20-0, four-inning victory over Bedford.

“They've got some batting numbers that I describe as video game numbers,” Spinelli said. “They know how to hit the ball, so we've got to do our due diligence on the mound and on defense (Thursday).”

Tighter wins for Tigers

Fairview's double-digit victory margins are sparse compared to Central. The Tigers won only three times by 10 runs or more.

However, the amount of competitive and close games the Tigers have experienced also aided them en route to the Region 4 and District 10 Class 3A titles they claimed.

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Fairview arrives at Seneca Valley on a six-game winning streak. Five of those six victories were by three runs or less.

Winning such games is one plus in the Tigers' favor, according to Spinelli.

“We've got to make (Central) play a full seven,” he said. “Let's see what happens if we play them in a close game because we've been in plenty.”

Fairview's latest snug finish was Monday's 3-2 victory over Hopewell at Mercyhurst University. Aiden Rubilotta's two-run double in the fifth inning was the difference en route to the Tigers' first PIAA win in the history of the program.

Rubilotta's RBIs upped his team-high total to 21. Collin Bolla is next with 15 and Ed Dolansky with 12.

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Bolla drove in Fairview's initial run against Hopewell. He also was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Sean Houston.

Rubilotta said the Tigers shouldn't become tense if Thursday's playoff evolves into their latest one-run game.“But I do think we need to come out strong against (the Dragons),” he said. “If we're able to jump on them early, it might put the monkey on their shoulder a little bit since they've been destroying teams. That would be huge if we could do that like we did early in (Fairview's District 10 3A final) against Franklin.”

Kling the king for Dragons

Paxton Kling is a significant reason for Central's various routs.

The senior outfielder (.575 average and six home runs) leads the Dragons' regular players in every major offensive category except RBIs. Even there, his 35 are only two fewer than sophomore Hunter Smith (37).

Central senior Devon Boyles also has driven in 36.

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Kling has signed a national letter of intent to play for Louisiana State University. However, his expressed desire to compete for the six-time College World Series champion might not happen depending on when he's chosen during next month's Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Kling is listed as the 102nd overall prospect, according mlb.com. He's also 43rd among the high school players.

While Spinelli watched Kling on video in recent days, Rubilotta has witnessed the Dragons' star compete in person.

“I got to play against him a couple years ago at an invite-only tournament at West Virginia (University),” Rubilotta said. “You could tell even back then he was good, and he's only gotten better. But I like playing against high-caliber guys like that and against teams that are good competition.”

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Dream scenario for District 10

Should the Tigers' unprecedented season continue with an upset of the undefeated Dragons, they'd advance to next Monday's PIAA 3A semifinals.

Franklin (15-7) will face District 9 Punxsutawney (15-5) in the Thursday's other quarterfinal in the state bracket's bottom half. That game has a 5 p.m. start at Slippery Rock University's Jack Critchfield Park.

If the Knights and Tigers each win, it would set up a rare state semifinal between northwestern Pennsylvania baseball teams.

First for Fairview, though, is Central.

“We're excited to play the number one team in the state in 3A,” Spinelli said. “It's one game at a time now. It's baseball.”

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Fairview to face potent Central offense in PIAA baseball quarterfinals