ST. MARYS – You need a lot of talent and maybe a little bit of
luck to advance to a state title game.
Johnsonburg possessed both commodities as the Rams rallied for a
2-1 victory over Cameron County in the PIAA Class A baseball
western final at a jam-packed Berwind Park on Monday.
Ace hurler Calvin Grumley survived a shaky start to throw a
complete-game four-hitter and freshman Vince Vavala snuck the
game-winning hit through the infield in the sixth inning to send
the District 9 champs into Friday’s 11 a.m. championship contest.
The 21-1 Rams will face Minersville out of District 11 at Blair
County Field in Altoona.
“This is off the wall,” said Jeff Peterson, Johnsonburg head
coach. “We’re living a fairy tale right now. The way we’ve been
pulling games out, we’re destined to be in Altoona and that’s where
we’re going.”
Grumley didn’t look sharp at the outset as the Red Raiders
loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first on singles to
right field by Garrett Hornung and Jordan Crane, and a walk to
David Lyon.
After Grumley induced a forceout at home, Sean McManigle singled
to center to score Crane. Grumley, who is headed for Penn State on
a baseball scholarship, then struck out the next two batters to
leave the bases loaded as Cameron County head coach Dick Harrier
was left with a glass-half-empty feeling.
“One run wasn’t going to win that game,” Harrier admitted. “We
knew Grumley was going to be tough.”
Crane toed the rubber for the Red Raiders in the bottom of the
frame and fanned the initial two hitters. Tobias Streich then
doubled down the left field line and Seth Streich was intentionally
walked, but Crane whiffed the next batter to maroon the duo at
first and second.
With a runner at first and two outs in the second, Grumley was
aided by a fine running catch in rightcenter by second baseman
Jesse Dennis to end the frame.
“That was good hustle by Jesse (Dennis),” Peterson noted. “He
has a lot of range and is a good ballplayer. That was a big
out.”
Craned whiffed the side in the second and allowed a harmless
infield base hit to Dennis in the third, but then ran into peril in
the fourth.
Seth Streich singled to right, but a relay throw from McManigle
to Hornung to shortstop Cory Reed nailed Streich at second.
“We practice that (relay) every day,” Harrier stated. “Sean
McManigle has a real strong arm, and Garrett (Hornung) and Cory
(Reed) work well together.”
The defensive gem proved to be huge as an infield error and
Craig Carrow’s single to left placed two more Rams on base, but
Crane escaped the dilemma with two groundouts.
Meanwhile, Grumley had retired 10 straight until the senior
southpaw relinquished a two-out walk in the top of the sixth.
“He (Grumley) was a little tight at the beginning of the game,”
Peterson confessed. “Calvin settled down and found his groove after
the first inning.”
Harrier said the key early was laying off Grumley’s high heat,
but admitted his hard-hitting squad had trouble with the
bender.
“We didn’t go after Grumley’s high fastball, but he was getting
us with his curve,” Harrier declared. “All-in-all we were hitting
the ball and later on he got a little bit stronger.”
In the bottom of the sixth Tobias Streich led off with a base
hit and then the West Virginia Mountaineer recruit advanced to
second on a wild pitch. Once again Seth Streich was intentionally
waved to first and both runners moved into scoring position on Seth
Peterson’s high-bouncing groundout to short.
Carrow also grounded to short and Reed threw out Tobias Streich
at the dish as Lyon survived the impending collision and hung onto
the ball for the second out.
Then on a 3-2 count to Dylan Nelson, the next offering by Crane
careened off the backstop as Seth Streich scored the game-tying
run.
Vavala then dribbled a grounder toward second, but the ball
inexplicably scooted to the right like a white mouse across a
meadow and Carrow raced in from second with the eventual
game-winner.
“Garrett (Hornung) has played a solid second base all season, so
I have to believe it was a bad hop,” Harrier said of Vavala’s
single. “One ball was hit to the outfield and everything else
wasn’t hit hard enough so we could field it.”
In the opposing dugout, Peterson saw the inning unfold in the
same manner.
“We were hitting dinkers,” Peterson admitted. “But we’ll take’em
anyway we can get ’em.”
Now pitching with a 2-1 lead, Grumley struck out the first
hopeful in the seventh and then center fielder Paul Imbrogno
switched on his GPS to locate a fly ball in rightcenter.
After a six-pitch free pass to Hornung, Grumley sent the J-Burg
fans into a frenzy with a fastball on the inside corner for a
culminating called third strike.
Grumley punched out 11 and allowed three hits in the first
inning, one in the second and then none after that. Crane fanned
eight and relinquished six hits.
“Crane threw an outstanding game,” Peterson noted. “He threw
everything over the plate and was locking us up.”
Cameron County, who started eight juniors and a sophomore, ends
the season at 19-5 as three of the losses were to the Rams.
“We’ll be back next year – bigger and stronger,” Harrier
boasted. “I’m pleased with the year we had.”
