ST. MARYS – District 9 was guaranteed a representative in the
PIAA Class A baseball western final and that team is Cameron County
as the Red Raiders posted an 11-4 victory over Elk County Catholic
at Berwind Park on Thursday.

Now D-9 is also assured of a berth in next Friday’s state
championship game in Altoona as Cameron County will take on
Johnsonburg in the western final back in St. Marys on Monday at 4
p.m.

The Rams, who are the top seed out of District 9, defeated
California 4-3 in Slippery Rock in Thursday’s other regional
semifinal game.

At the outset it looked like it might be the third-seeded
Crusaders who would be advancing as ECC opened a 3-0 lead in the
top of the first off Red Raider starter Cameron Clingan.

Tom Schneider walked, Jesse Bosnik was hit by a pitch and Nick
Brennan singled to right to load the bases with no outs. Following
a force out at home, Kyle Horchen and Tom Jovenitti singled home
runs, and then Josh Lovenduski plated the third run with a
groundout.

“We started off really well,” said Herman Lenze, ECC head coach.
“Cameron County came back and then we battled back.”

Bosnik then took the hill in the bottom of the first and the Red
Raiders started dialing long distance off the St. Bonaventure
University-bound right-hander as David Lyon lined a two-run homer
over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Abram Zoschg then singled to open the second and Garrett Hornung
sent a blast halfway to Ridgway to give Cameron its first lead. Two
batters later, Lyon connected with his second dinger of the game
for a 5-3 advantage.

“We hit the long ball just like we did the other night against
Claysburg Kimmel and their field was a little bigger than this
field,” said Dick Harrier, Cameron County head coach. “We were
ready to hit again tonight.”

Then in the third, Clingan was the beneficiary of two Sports
Center-quality plays in the outfield. Left fielder Mike Baker made
a sliding catch in leftcenter and then right fielder Sean McManigle
dug a ball out of the corner and threw out Dan Hawkins at second
base to retire the side.

“Mike Baker made a whale of a play on that line drive,” Harrier
recalled. “McManigle has a great arm and can throw them out.”

The Red Raiders’ defense wasn’t so fortunate in the fourth as a
walk and three errors allowed the Crusaders to pull within one,
5-4.

Bosnik settled down and had retired nine straight, including the
first two hitters in the sixth, before Matt Kriner snuck a base hit
just inside the third base bag. Hornung followed with a safety and
Jordan Crane singled to center to cash in Kriner.

Lyon walked to fill the sacks and another free pass to Clingan
forced in a run. McManigle reached on an error to make it 8-4 and
then Baker emptied the bases with a three-run double down the left
field line.

“Matt Kriner came through with two outs,” Harrier stated. “He’s
my No. 9 batter and squeaked that one down to third. That turned
our lineup over and then later Baker cleared the bases. We were
only ahead by one and then I felt good up by two, but I felt even
better up by seven.”

Andy Herbstritt relieved Bosnik and finally pulled the plug on
the merry-go-round with a grounder to third.

“Adrenaline had him in trouble early on and he was trying to
throw a lot of pitches by people,” Lenze said of Bosnik, who led
ECC to the PIAA Class A basketball title his junior year. “He’s a
smart kid, found his groove and did really well in going a lot
further than we had asked him to. He got a little tired at the end,
but it was a great performance.”

Clingan also found his niche in the latter frames in setting
down seven straight until a walk and an infield miscue put runners
at first and second in the seventh. The junior southpaw then
induced a pop out to Crane in foul territory and the 18-4 Red
Raiders were headed to the western final.

“I think he (Clingan) gave up six hits in the first three
innings and then nothing after that,” Harrier declared. “He didn’t
have his best stuff today, but he had enough to win.”

ECC ends the season at 11-11.

“We had a great playoff run and these kids really came
together,” Lenze emphasized. “We went from the 11th seed in
District 9 to the western semifinals.”