For the third consecutive season, Indiana High will play in the PIAA Quad-A baseball championship game, this afternoon at Medlar Field at Penn State University.
Indiana beat Montoursville last season, working out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the seventh inning to hold off a late charge for a 5-4 win. But two years ago, they lost to Holy Ghost Prep, 6-5 in the title game, and this afternoon they will get another chance against the Firebirds.
Holy Ghost comes into the game 16-9. Indiana is 21-4. The Firebirds have outscored their opponents 39-4 in the postseason while Indiana started the playoffs with five straight shutouts, defeating Knoch 1-0, Derry 3-0, and Elizabeth Forward 4-0 in their WPIAL championship run, then blanking Somerset 10-0 and Hopewell 9-0 in the first two rounds of the PIAA tournament, before clubbing Archbishop Wood 10-4 in the semifinals on Monday.
On our postgame show on Monday, Indiana senior Ethan Shank summed it all up perfectly.
Both teams bring a lot of experience into the game (Holy Ghost Prep starts eight players who started as sophomores in ’24). Indiana coach Dan Petroff hasn’t named his starter today, but he did say Monday that Brady Oakes will pitch, and Charlie Manzi will be ready when called upon. Holy Ghost Prep will go with Mat Riendeau, whose walk-off double two years ago won the game over Indiana.
Because of PIAA restrictions, we do not have TV rights for Renda Digital TV today, but Doug Steve kicks off our coverage with Inside the Diamond, presented on Facebook Live by Fast Times Screen Printing & Sign Company at 12:30. The pregame airs on WDAD at one o’clock with Pat Dougherty and Jake Slebodnick, and first pitch is at 1:30, with the call of the game on WDAD co-presented by Force Turf Solutions and Marcus & Mack. Postgame, Doug is back with more Facebook Live coverage on Inside the Diamond, alongside the radio postgame on WDAD.
