Indiana High has waited a year for another chance at the state Quad-A baseball championship, and the day has finally arrived. This afternoon at Penn State’s Medlar Field, coach Dan Petroff’s Indians take on Montoursville, the District 4 champions. Petroff expects a tough battle.
Indiana is 25-1 and has played six games in the postseason, four of them going extra innings. The most recent of those was the 17-inning, two-day classic against East Pennsboro, which they won 6-5 on Tuesday.
20-4 Montoursville has had an easier time getting to the championship game, with two easy wins to get their district title, then wins by scores of 18-0, 6-4, and 6-0 in the state tournament.
Expect Jimmy Mussina, the nephew of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Mike Mussina, to start for the Warriors. Petroff can go with Ryan Okopal or Greg Minnick as his starter, but both will likely see action.
Indiana senior Tim Birch anticipates a good pitching matchup.
(Birch referencing the knee injury that will force Indiana third baseman Charlie Manzi to miss the game.)
Just days after catching all seventeen innings – thankfully spread out over two days – Indiana catcher Ethan Shank says he’ll be ready to go as long as necessary today.
Despite his knee injury, Charlie Manzi will be there to support his teammates as they go for the state title.
It’s Indiana’s second appearance in a state title game after last year’s heartbreaking loss to Holy Ghost Prep. Mountoursville will be in its sixth championship game. They’ve won two. Gametime is 1:30. We’re on the air on WDAD radio at 1 o’clock with the Indiana Total Therapy Pregame Show.
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