DUBOIS — When the Coudersport baseball team reflects on its appearance in the District 9 Class AA championship game, a few things will stick out to the Falcons.

The Falcons (15-4) will recall a delayed start due to inclement weather, plus a pair of rain delays and a lightning delay. The Falcons will also recall the electricity in the stadium going out, causing a 30-minute stoppage.

Most of all, though, the Falcons will recall a missed opportunity after squandering an early 4-0 lead and another impressive pair of pitching performances from Blake Burgett and Kolby VanWhy, due in large part to a third inning that featured three Coudy errors which allowed Moniteau (17-5) to tie the game back up.

That 4-4 deadlock remained until the seventh inning, when Warrior catcher Jared Lominski jacked a solo homer to give Moniteau its first lead of the game at 5-4, which it held onto for the District 9 Class AA championship. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Coudy.

“We feel like we gave that championship away,” Coudersport coach Doug McClintic said. “We had everything going for us, and everything was going the way we wanted to, but we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.”

The Falcons raced out to a quick 3-0 lead after the first inning on a two-RBI triple from Kullen Crosby and an RBI single from Jackson Glover.

VanWhy added another run on an RBI double in the second frame, but that would be it for the Falcon offense. Over the final five innings, Coudersport recorded just two hits and failed to score another run.

The closest Coudersport came to breaking the tie was a leadoff double from VanWhy in the bottom of the fifth, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Eli Ayers to move him to third. But the next two Falcon batters struck out to end the inning.

“We still had some good hits, and we had some line drives at guys,” McClintic said. “We weren’t overpowered or overmatched at all, but I think the errors got in our heads a bit… We had an opportunity there in the fifth but came up just a bit short.”

McClintic also pointed out the resiliency of Moniteau starting pitcher Hunter Fitzingo, who settled in after the rough first two innings to pitch a complete game. He finished with 10 strikeouts and just two walks.

In addition to the rough start, Fitzingo had to overcome a pair of delays in the fourth inning while he was on the mound, and then an extended delay for the power outage that kept him off the mound for nearly 45 minutes.

“Hunter is a senior who’s been there and done that. He’s appeared in three District championship games for us,” Moniteau coach Ross Martin said of Fitzingo. “He just went out there and competed, and he has high expectations for himself.”

The Falcon defense, meanwhile, faltered in the third to allow Moniteau back into the game, 4-4, keyed by a two-RBI double by Gage Neal.

The inning also sent Burgett’s pitch count skyrocketing, and he was forced to exit the game in the fourth inning after 3.1 innings pitched. He finished with three strikeouts and four walks and gave up four runs on five hits.

VanWhy entered the game with one out and runners on second and third, but managed to get out of the jam.

Then, he and Fitzingo settled into a pitcher’s duel that lasted until Lominski blasted his solo shot over the centerfield fence on a two-strike pitch to give Moniteau its first and only lead of the game, 5-4.

“That wasn’t necessarily shortening up with two strikes, but he definitely got the job done,” Martin said of Lominski, who finished with two RBI.

With the win, Moniteau has now won seven straight as it gears up for the PIAA state playoffs. The Warriors play Monday against the runner-up from District 7.

Coudersport, meanwhile, now plays in a consolation bracket against the runners-up from Districts 6 and 4. The Falcons will first face the runner-up team from District 6, and then the winner of that game will face the runner-up of District 4 for a spot in the PIAA state playoffs.

“We just have to turn the page on it now,” McClintic said of the game and the quick turnaround.

With the short turnaround, Burgett will be unavailable for pitching duties for the Falcons, and VanWhy will be limited in his duties.

“We’ll have to get some other guys to step up,” McClintic said. “District 6 will be in the same boat, so we’ll get after it.”

The game against the District 6 runner-up, originally scheduled for today, will now be played Thursday, according to McClintic. Game time has not been set.

AT DUBOIS

                                   R H E

Moniteau      004 000 1 5 6 1

Coudersport 310 000 0 4 6 3

Hunter Fitzingo (10 SO, 2 BB) and Jared Lominski

Blake Burgett (3 SO, 4 BB), Kolby VanWhy (4) (4 SO, 0 BB) and Hunter Redmond

HR: Lominski (M)