Ice water in their veins: Red Raiders claim PIAA title

UNIVERSITY PARK — Just because the Bellefonte Red Raiders’ baseball game against Susquehanna Township on June 17 at Medlar Park was for the Pennsylvania Class AAA State Baseball Championship doesn’t mean the Raiders looked or played any differently.

They didn’t. In fact, the game was not unlike any of the others in Bellefonte’s incredible run through the District 6 and the state playoffs. Biggest game of the year or not, the Raiders simply stuck with what they knew best.

Dom Masullo pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout; the Raider defense was a stone wall again —despite two errors — and third baseman Tyler Kreger knocked in the winning run with an RBI single in the third inning against Susquehanna starter Dan Warshawsky. Kreger’s RBI was the only one in the game and, for that matter, the only earned run.

The pitching-defense-timely hitting equation held together one final time, only this 2-0 win brought home Bellefonte baseball’s first ever state championship and the first ever in a boys’ sport at Bellefonte High School.

“To run the table here at the end in high school baseball is really tough to do in the state of Pennsylvania,” Bellefonte head coach Dan Fravel said. “There are a lot of teams. You have to travel all over. You have to win seven games, so to do that is awesome.

“I always knew there was a formula for success — pitching and defense. You cannot waver on those two things. The boys bought in, and where Dom (Masullo) finished the year compared to the beginning of the year is a 180, 360, 720. He was a completely different ball player trusting his defense. I would love to pitch with the defense that’s in place here.

“… Put a stamp on the concept that pitching and defense wins. It doesn’t have to be a slugfest. It’s never a slugfest at the end of the year. Stick to those core values, and that’s what it takes to win.”

This two-run victory over the Indians matched the Raiders’ biggest winning margin since the 10-run romp over Greater Johnstown in the first round of the D6 tournament.

Bellefonte beat Somerset and Hollidaysburg by two runs as it advanced to the state tournament, but all the other wins were by a single run.

Like all close wins, moreover, this one had its share of trepidation for the winners as well.

The Raiders’ first run crossed in the blink of an eye in the third inning. With Warshawsky yet to give up a hit, Bellefonte’s Greg Watson worked a walk with two outs. Watson promptly stole second and then scored when Kreger lined a single into left-center field. It was Bellefonte’s first hit of the game and one of only four all day, but it still put up the only run Masullo would need.

“He (Warshawsky) threw me a strike to begin with,” Kreger said, “and then he threw one outside. So I was looking for my pitch. I knew he would come back inside because that’s how he pitched me my first at bat, and I was looking for one to drive. I got it above the shortstop’s head and knew Watson was going to score, so I was pretty pumped.”

Bellefonte extended its lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the fifth. Garrett Reiter opened the inning with a single and then moved to second on a balk by Susquehanna reliever Austin Dressler. Dylan Deitrich then attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Susquehanna threw the ball past first base and allowed Reiter to come around and score the Raiders’ second run.

Bellefonte would not score again, so the lead was in the hands of Masullo and the Raider defense.

And the Indians far from being done.

Susquehanna had its share of come-back wins too, and it threatened to do so again by loading the bases with one out in both the fifth and sixth innings.

In the fifth, pinch hitter Jeremy Gismondi reached on an infield single with one out. Masullo then hit Jordan Caruso with a pitch and walked Joel Watts to load the bases. Masullo was up to the challenge, however, and he forced both Eli Weikert and Jacoby Pate to fly out and end the threat.

The Indians were at it again in the sixth. This time, consecutive hits by Dressler and Jake Pae, along with an infield error, loaded the bases once more with one out.

At this point, the Raiders called time out and Fravel came to the mound.

“It was just this simple,” Fravel said about his trip to the mound, “and I knew the answer. ‘You alright, Dom?’

“‘Yeah.’

“So then we just set our defense. Roll up in the middle looking for a double play, corners whatever way the ball takes them. Calm it down a little bit, remind them that it’s just one catch and one throw that we need at that point.”

Turned out, the Raiders didn’t need any catches or throws. Masullo struck out Warshawsky and Caruso to end the inning and put his team three outs away from the title.

“I wasn’t really too worried, honestly,” Masullo said. “I’ve gotten into jams all through my baseball career, and once they had the bases loaded, I just pitched the way I know I can pitch. Get the guys behind me to do their work and get the outs.

“I knew I could not do this alone. I had the best defense in the state behind me and the best catcher in front of me. Let them hit the ball and make the outs.”

In the seventh, as the large and enthusiastic Bellefonte crowd grew more animated, Masullo retired the first two hitters.

A sliver of hope opened for Susquehanna when Pate singled and Chris Ciotti reached on Bellefonte’s second error of the game.

A team isn’t going to live waiting for Raider errors, however, and the subsequent grounder by Dressler was smothered by Reiter at second base. The game ended when Reiter threw him out at first base, and the celebration — on the field and in the stands — began in earnest.

“I mean the goal all year has been to win the last game of the year,” Masullo said, “and that’s what we just did. When we were 1-7, alright we’ll win the last regular-season game. Then we got into the playoffs, and everybody started to get hot at the same time. And here we are at the last game of the year with the state championship.”