Fairview beats Franklin in dramatic District 10 Class 3A baseball final

SLIPPERY ROCK ― The bases were loaded with the tying and go-ahead runs.

There were no outs and it was the last inning of a postseason game.

Fairview's Sean Houston pitched himself into that classic scenario during the top of the seventh inning of Monday's District 10 Class 3A baseball title game.

Then, just as dramatically, Houston pitched himself out of it. He stranded those Franklin base runners with strikeouts of the Knights' last three batters.

The senior then found himself under a massive infield pile of Tigers while they celebrated their tense 6-4 victory at Slippery Rock University's Jack Critchfield Park.

“It felt good knowing that (Fairview coach Joe Spinelli) trusted me to do my thing, even though I started out (the seventh) pretty poorly,” Houston said. “He allowed me to keep going and finally find my groove.”

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Each team was assured of advancing to next week's PIAA 3A tournament regardless of Monday's outcome.

However, Fairview (16-3) will face District 7's third seed closer to home in the first round of state play on June 6. The Knights (14-7) must travel to the Pittsburgh area that same day and face the WPIAL champion.

Frantic finish

Franklin, which trailed 6-3 going into the top of the seventh, needed only two batters to pull within two and chase Fairview reliever Logan Fiolek.

Carson Wible reached on an infield single, moved to second on a throwing error and then to third on Fiolek's wild pitch. He easily trotted home with the Knights' fourth run when Noah Kockler lined a single to center.

That's when Spinelli summoned Houston, who pitched a four-hit shutout when the Tigers beat Mercyhurst Prep 4-0 during Thursday's district semifinals.

“We had him loose in the bullpen, so we thought he was ready,” Spinelli said. “We wanted to start (the seventh) with Logan and see what would happen. (Houston) had trouble finding the strike zone a little bit, but then he found it. And when he found it, that was it.

GAME STATS:District 10 Class 3A championship game

"Sean's a strikeout pitcher, and that's exactly what you need with the bases loaded.”

Houston, despite his two walks, still recorded a save with the strikeouts of Cole Harmon, Alex Wible and Ethan Nightingale.

That final out held extra urgency for Fairview. Had Franklin's No. 9 hitter reached base, the Knights at the least would have pulled within one run of tying the score and also returned to the top of their batting order.

“Man, it's hard to win in baseball,” Spinelli said. “There were a lot of good teams in our classification, but we had enough left in the tank there in the seventh to get the D-10 title.”

Aari Fox, Ed Dolansky and Preston King each had two hits for Fairview, which never trailed after its three-run first inning.

Franklin ace bypassed

Spinelli said he was surprised Fairview's batters didn't have to deal with Luke Guth, the Knights' star pitcher and a Vanderbilt University recruit.

Guth was eligible to pitch at least a portion of the game based on the PIAA rules regarding pitch counts and time between appearances.

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However, Franklin coach Brian Schmidt opted to start Guth at shortstop and put him atop the batting order. He obliged with an infield single and an RBI.

Schmidt said he definitely would have pitched Guth had Monday's loser not been guaranteed of moving on to PIAA action. He didn't want to pitch him at all, although that plan would have been scrapped had the Knights tied or taken the lead in the top of the seventh.

“We had our guy ready to go in the bottom of the seventh,” Schmidt said, “but it just didn't work out that way.”

West Middlesex 6, Sharpsville 0

At Slippery Rock University, the sandwich game at the Rock saw the Big Reds have a big inning to clinch first place in the district's Class 2A tournament.

West Middlesex added four insurance runs to its lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. They helped make a winner of right-hander Richie Preston, who pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout.

GAME STATS: District 10 Class 2A championship game

The Big Reds advanced to next week's PIAA tournament at 16-6, while Sharpsville's season ended at 17-5.

Bowen Briggs and Giovanni Rococi, the No. 7 and 9 hitters in West Middlesex's order, each finished with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Sharpsville's Stephen Tarnoci and James Thomas had the only hits off Preston.

Saegertown 11, Kennedy Catholic 1

At Slippery Rock University, the Panthers shortened the Class 1A opener of Monday's tripleheader to five innings.

Henry Shaffer was the main reason for that abridged title victory. The junior gave up the Golden Eagles' lone run in the first inning as Saegertown's pitcher, and then didn't allow any of their base runners to advance beyond over the next four.

GAME STATS: District 10 Class 1A championship game

Shaffer was even better at the plate for the Panthers, who will take an 18-2 record into next week's PIAA 1A tournament. He tripled once and doubled twice for three RBIs.

Anthony Hernandez, Saegertown's No. 8 hitter, also recorded a two-run single amid the victors' 13 hits.

Kennedy Catholic's season concluded at 8-14. The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles upset No. 3 Cochranton and No. 2 Rocky Grove ahead of Monday's final.

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

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Fairview holds off Franklin in dramatic District 10 3A baseball final