Pfeil, Bishop McCort Catholic blank Claysburg-Kimmel to reach D6-1A semifinal

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Mason Pfeil has been around the Bishop McCort Catholic baseball program for as long as he can remember.

His father, Chris Pfeil, took over the coaching job back in 2011, and a younger Mason Pfeil was often spotted in the dugout at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point, serving as the team’s batboy.

Things have come full circle for the younger Pfeil, now a senior for the Crimson Crushers. He pitched brilliantly in Monday’s District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal against Claysburg-Kimmel, leading his team to a 2-0 win.

Mason Pfeil pitched a complete game and surrendered only three hits. He did not allow a walk and blew away the eighth-seeded Bulldogs with 12 strikeouts. He now has 209 career strikeouts, making him just the second pitcher in Bishop McCort to top that number, joining 2001 graduate Jabbar Brown.

“It means a lot,” Mason Pfeil said of passing the milestone. “Growing up, I watched guys like Jesse Cooper and Brad Coleman dominate on the mound, and as a little kid and as a batboy, I always aspired to be just like them.”

As a coach who has overseen seven district titles, three state title game appearances and a 2012 PIAA championship, Chris Pfeil can certainly appreciate what his son has accomplished.

“Two hundred strikeouts in high school is a very difficult thing to do,” Chris Pfeil said of his son’s milestone. “Obviously, as a coach, you’re proud of him, and a little bit extra-special as a dad to be able to experience that with him.

“The kid has never been about personal stats. He grew up in this dugout and watched this program win a lot of championships, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The top-seeded Crimson Crushers are one step closer to reaching that goal, and will square off Friday against Moshannon Valley in a semifinal.

The win against Claysburg-Kimmel was not a comfortable one, as the Bulldogs got a stellar pitching performance as well. Sophomore right-hander Brayden Haney went all six innings, yielded only four hits and fanned five batters.

“He pitched a heck of a game,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Ross Helsel said of Haney. “He hung in there and really wanted the game, and he knows that he’s a good pitcher. He’s a smart kid and threw well. I’m proud of him, proud of the whole team.”

The Crimson Crushers struck in the bottom of the first, which proved to be a hectic inning. Bishop McCort sent seven to the plate without recording a hit, but only produced one run.

Brock Beppler led off the frame with a walk, and stole two bases to get to third. He eventually came home on a Lucas Turner RBI groundout to make it 1-0.

Bishop McCort produced another run in the second. Brayden Jarvis singled, stole second and came home on a bloop double by Mason Pfeil to make it 2-0, a score that held for the remainder of the game.

“He did a good job of keeping us off-balance,” Chris Pfeil said of Haney. ”I know you’ve got to give him a lot of credit. I thought we were a little tentative at the plate and didn’t go after some of the pitches we needed to and spray the ball like we have been in the last couple of games.”

Two runs was plenty for Mason Pfeil, however. He rarely had traffic on the bases, but a late push in the top of the sixth perhaps showed his personal growth as a pitcher. Claysburg-Kimmel’s Zach Campagna reached on a dropped third strike and moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt.

The Bulldogs’ top hitter, sophomore Mason Campagna, was at the plate. He entered the game batting over .500 for the season. As the pressure mounted, Mason Pfeil calmly struck him out to end the threat.

His father attributed that to experience.

“He just has confidence in himself,” Chris Pfeil said of that late-game sequence. “When he was a freshman, he was thrust into an unexpected role to be our No. 1 when we had an injury. He’s just had an opportunity to pitch in big games, and he was confident in the pitches we needed him to make.”