Central Cambria bumps off top-seeded Forest Hills in District 6-3A baseball semifinals

SIDMAN – After minimizing his pitch count and quickly sweeping through the Forest Hills lineup, Central Cambria pitcher Owen Harringer appeared to be on the outs in the fourth inning of Thursday’s District 6 Class 3A baseball semifinals.

The top-seeded Rangers responded after three scoreless innings with four straight hits and a two-run bomb from Bryce Roberts to draw the score to within one, but Harringer bounced back in emphatic fashion.

Harringer pitched himself out of the jam and never allowed another run to guide No. 4 Central Cambria to the title game with a 7-3 triumph.

“We had a tough journey to get here,” said Harringer, who gave up only one walk and fanned four. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and it’s a great feeling to be able to play for a district championship.”

It’s the first time in program history that the Red Devils will dance for a district title.

Central Cambria also broke its program record for wins in a season as it improved to 14-8.

“I’m unbelievably proud of these guys,” Red Devils second-year coach Dan Beyer said. “Everyone on this team bought into what we wanted to do. They’ve busted their tails since October, and they’ve earned this.”

Harringer had plenty in his arsenal and was mixing up his delivery to the plate, but the southpaw’s fastball was especially strong as he pitched to contact.

“The tail really seemed to be working today,” Harringer said. “It helps to catch them off balance and force them to room over a little. I was just trying to get it down and somewhere it could be put into play.”

Harringer had plenty of stress lifted off his shoulders after the Red Devils took advantage of two Forest Hills errors and jumped to a 3-0 advantage in the first inning.

Logan Black and Joe Iacono recorded RBI singles on back-to-back plays, and after forcing the Rangers into a bases-loaded jam, Brayden Blasko drew a walk to bring in another run.

In the first inning alone, Forest Hills ace Chase Williamson threw 47 pitches to Harringer’s seven. Two of Central Cambria’s runs were unearned.

“We just had a tough first inning,” Rangers coach Joe Carpenter said. “We cleaned things up from there, but that first inning is always key. We just didn’t get off on the right foot.”

Forest Hills (13-6) eventually struck back in the fourth inning after it rattled off four-straight base hits and scored two runs off a bomb to center field by Roberts.

Xander Richardson later scored on a single from Gage Ruddek, but after a meeting at the mound between Beyer and Harringer, the junior lefty posted three straight outs to escape the inning.

“We had momentum there, but kudos to (Central Cambria),” Carpenter said. “They never let us get completely back into it.

“There were two good lefties playing today between Chase (Williamson) and Harringer. I give CC a lot of credit. They’re a scrappy team.”

The Red Devils added a trio of insurance runs in the sixth inning.

With one out and Ben Howard at second base, Carpenter opted to take the bat out of Grady Snyder’s hands as he was intentionally walked.

A wild pitch allowed Howard to double the advantage, and with additional runners in scoring position, Iacono crushed a double down the left field line to score two more and extend the lead to four.

“When my man Grady Snyder gets intentionally walked, you got to show up for the rest of the batters,” Iacono said.

“I took an inside fastball, and I think that’s the best you can do in that type of situation.”

The Rangers had the tying run on deck with one out, but a double play sparked between Connor Serenko and Blake Coposky punched Central Cambria’s ticket to the finals.

The Red Devils will advance to Wednesday’s title game against second-seeded Central, which was a 10-0 victor against Huntingdon.

“This has changed everything for our program and our school, but we’re not done yet,” Iacono said. “We want to win it all.”