ST. MARYS — A Clarion fan queried before the District 9 Class A baseball championship on Thursday, “Where is Shinglehouse?”
The peaceful Potter County borough was no doubt in a raucous and celebratory mood after Oswayo Valley High School captured its first-ever D-9 title with a 10-0 six-inning victory over Clarion at Berwind Park.
And where is Shinglehouse?
“I say that sometimes and I live there,” said Brad Buchholz, Green Wave head coach. “You can’t get there from here.”
Buchholz then paused and perhaps fought back a tear or two as he continued, “The support we’ve had in this town was real special. We now have 20 wins (20-2) on the season and that’s the most in school history.”
Was it the key hits that produced the 10 hits on this occasion, the six shutout innings posted by freshman Garren Black or was it the flawless defense that the Green Wave have displayed throughout the 2015 campaign?
“It all showed up today,” coach Buchholz stated.
In the top of the first Black commenced with a 3-0 count to the lead-off hitter, but the frosh phenom excised the butterflies to register a strikeout and a groundout. Then senior shortstop Kent Costello backhanded a grounder and first baseman Brandon Brabham snagged the ball and a glove full of dirt to retire the side.
“The defense has been that way all year,” coach Buchholz declared. “If somebody makes a little mistake there’s always somebody to pick them up.”
In the home half Costello and Brabham drew consecutive walks and both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by Clarion starter Adrian Weber, and then Dylan Buchholz drilled a two-run double down the left field line.
“Dylan was struggling the last few weeks but he’s one of the clutch players we have,” coach Buchholz offered.
After another free pass to Coby Krajewski, Reed Anthony relieved Weber and relinquished an RBI sacrifice bunt to Grant West for a 3-0 lead after one.
Oswayo tacked on two more in the second on a run-scoring single by Costello and another two-bagger from Buchholz for a 5-0 margin.
Both hurlers recorded perfect frames in the third and then in the fourth the Green Wave opened a seven-run cushion with two outs and the bases clear on a two-run single that gave Black 38 RBIs on the year.
“Our RBI machine in Buchholz (30) and Black showed up and they’re close to 70 RBIs this year,” coach Buchholz remarked. “Dylan’s early RBI doubles were huge to get us going.”
Meanwhile Black utilized eight pitches in the fourth and six more offerings in the fifth as the southpaw would eventually throw just 65 pitches in the contest.
“I knew his (Black’s) total had to be low,” coach Buchholz said. “We don’t have that mid-80s guy. We want good rhythm and we want strikes.”
The third-seeded Green Wave manufactured a run in the fifth on a walk to West, a base hit from Alex Bernard, a sac bunt by Theo Henry and a run-producing grounder from Gage Babcock.
After Black had set the fourth-seeded Bobcats (14-4) down in orderly fashion in the sixth, Oswayo invoked the 10-run rule on a free pass to Brabham, a single by Black and a two-run error.
The Green Wave are the 9-1 representative in the PIAA Class A tournament round and will face 7-2 Califorinia at Showers Field in DuBois on Monday (5 p.m.).
“One of the other reporters told me Cal is good,” coach Buchholz confessed. “At this level this all new for us.”
