PIAA Class A baseball championship preview: Eden Christian vs. Halifax

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 | 4:44 PM

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History is being made in Happy Valley this week as the WPIAL sends a record 10 baseball and softball teams to Penn State to compete in the PIAA championships.

This is the fourth year the PIAA has crowned six championships in both baseball and softball.

In 2017, the WPIAL sent seven teams to the finals, and the number grew to eight in 2018. Only five WPIAL baseball or softball teams reached the state finals in 2019.

Eden Christian (20-5) vs. Halifax (14-11)

10:30 a.m. Thursday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Penn State

The path to Penn State

• WPIAL third-place team Eden Christian defeated District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic, 8-7; District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic, 12-5; and District 5 champion Southern Fulton, 8-3.

• District 3 runner-up Halifax defeated District 1 champion Delco Christian, 12-1; District 11 champion Tri Valley, 2-1; and District 6 champion Juniata Valley, 4-3.

District Postseason

• Eden Christian defeated West Greene, 12-2; lost to Union in semifinals, 12-1; and defeated Jefferson-Morgan in consolation game, 9-2.

• Halifax defeated High Point Baptist, 17-2; lost to Greenwood in the championship, 1-0, to finish as runner-up in District 3.

Performers to Watch

Eden Christian

Senior Jacob Fisher will likely get the start for the Warriors with a 4-0 record and a 1.05 ERA. Senior Luke Vittone is batting .455, junior Eli Szenyen is batting .420, senior David Kelly is hitting .415 and senior Andrew Prouty has a .403 batting average. Kelly leads the Warriors with 31 RBIs.

Halifax

Sophomore Judah Miller was the winning pitcher in each of the Wildcats’ three state playoff games. Miller is second on the team with a .440 batting average and leads the team with 24 RBIs. Senior Ryan Stahl is hitting .481 for Halifax while another senior, Carson Buffington, is batting .359 with six triples.

Streaks

Eden Christian has a four-game winning streak while Halifax has won three straight games.

Factoids

• Eden Christian has a perfect 3-0 record in the PIAA playoffs. This is the Warriors’ first appearance in a baseball state championship game, in large part because the program never played in a baseball state playoff game before this season.

• Halifax has an 8-3 record in the PIAA playoffs. This will be the Wildcats’ second appearance in the baseball state finals. Halifax lost to Riverside of the WPIAL in the 2005 finals, 8-0.

• The most recent WPIAL team to win a PIAA Class A baseball title was Vincentian Academy in 2018. The last District 3 team to win a state Class A baseball crown was Lancaster County Christian in 2015.

Tags: Eden Christian