Top 15 baseball finals in 15 years at Wild Things Park: Hopewell edges Moon in 2010

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 18, 2018 | 3:00 PM

The TribLive High School Sports Network is counting down the Top 15 WPIAL baseball championship games held over the past 15 years at Wild Things Park.

Catch all the postseason action on the exclusive broadcast home of the WPIAL baseball playoffs, the TribLive High School Sports Network.

Here's a look at No. 11:

2010 Class AAA championship: Hopewell 2, Moon 1

The battery combination of pitcher Scott Dierdorf and catcher Matt Rubino proved to be a dynamic duo both on the field and at the plate for Hopewell as the Vikings knocked out defending champion Moon at Consol Energy Field in the 2010 WPIAL Class AAA championship game.

Hopewell and Moon were co-champs in Section 3-AAA with a combined overall record of 41-8. The two split their regular-season contests, with the Vikings winning at home 10-7 and the Tigers also triumphant on their home field by a score of 7-1.

The WPIAL thought so highly of these two western rivals that they seeded Hopewell No. 1 and Moon No. 2.

Neither disappointed as both teams enjoyed a first-round bye and won two close games in the quarterfinals and semifinals to set up the rubber game for district gold.

Hopewell's Dierdorf and Moon starter Bradley Schnelle kept the game scoreless through three innings until the Vikings' battery went to work at the plate.

Dierdorf smacked a curveball over the left-field fence and was followed by Rubino, who crushed another off-speed pitch over the scoreboard in right-center field to give the Vikings all they would need with a 2-0 lead.

Moon finally scratched home a run in the sixth when Brett Hoffman's sacrifice fly scored Zak Schmidt.

The Tigers got a leadoff single by Daniel Jeffreys in the seventh, but after a sacrifice bunt moved the tying run into scoring position, Dierdorf struck out the final two batters to end the game.

Dierdorf allowed six hits and struck out nine in picking up the golden victory that helped ease the pain of the previous year's loss to the Tigers, 13-11, in a WPIAL semifinals game.

Both teams ended up losing in the PIAA quarterfinals.

The WPIAL title was the third in the illustrious career of WPIAL Hall of Fame coach Joe Colella. It would also be his final championship. He coached one more year before passing away in September of 2011 at the age of 80.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Hopewell, Moon