ORWIGSBURG — Tri-Valley’s Hunter Herb stepped out of the batter’s box to collect himself.
The bases were loaded, two strikes, two outs and his team looking to add to a three-run lead.
A big hit would break the game open.
“The first two pitches were borderline pitches and they weren’t my pitch,” Herb said. “I stepped out, re-focused and sat fastball. That’s what I got. I swung as hard as I could.”
Herb roped a 1-2 fastball into the left-center field gap for a three-run triple, delivering the knock-out blow in Tri-Valley’s 8-2 victory over Marian in Saturday’s District 11 Class A semifinal at Allen Greenawalt Field.
Herb finished the day 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two triples and three RBIs as the Dawgs advanced to the District 11 title game for the fifth straight season.
Tri-Valley (14-8) will face Pius X, a 9-4 winner over Nativity, at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
“Since my freshman year, we’ve been in the district final every single year,” Herb said. “We have a whole group of young kids, and I wanted to make sure they got to experience it.”
Tri-Valley starts five freshmen, but it was a pair of seniors — Herb and Hunter Bordner — who were the leaders Saturday.
While Herb excelled at the plate, Bordner dominated on the hill, quieting a Marian attack for most of the game.
The senior right-hander was more precise early on, moving pitches around and trying to get the Colts to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.
Once the Dawgs built their huge lead Bordner went right after the Marian hitters, recording six of his seven strikeouts over the final four innings.
Marian scored two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Robbie Hinkle and a run-scoring groundout by K.J. Snerr, but Bordner was in control for nearly the entire contest.
He retired the last six Marian hitters he faced after Mason Evitts led off the sixth with a single.
“He was hitting his spots more,” Tri-Valley coach Bob Felty Sr. said of Bordner. “We told him they’re a good fastball-hitting team and he couldn’t just throw it right down the middle of the plate. After we got it to 6, I told him to go right after them and make them hit the ball.
“In the fifth inning, I told our next two pitchers to go get loose and get ready,” Felty continued. “Hunter heard me tell them and he came to me and said ‘Coach, they don’t need to get loose. I want this one.’ He reached back and did a heck of a job.”
Tri-Valley took control early by capitalizing on a couple of Marian errors.
The top-seeded Colts (17-4) made three errors, and all three miscues led to Tri-Valley runs.
In the first, Tyler Lucas walked, took second on a passed ball and scored when Bordner’s grounder went through the shortstop’s legs into left field.
A throwing error by the second baseman jump-started Tri-Valley’s six-run fourth inning that gave the Dawgs a 7-0 lead. Tri-Valley’s final run came in the seventh when Herb tripled and then scored when a throw from the catcher to third base bounced into left field.
Marian pitchers Joe Nahas and Dante Salerno combined to strike out 14 Tri-Valley hitters, but the fielding miscues behind them were too much to overcome.
“Too many playoff games can get away from you when you give good teams outs and don’t take advantage of what they give you,” Marian coach Tony Radocha said.
“One little stumble can make the whole house fall down. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but she sure crumbled in 30 minutes.”
The Colts were looking to reach the District 11 title game for the first time since winning it all in 2001.
Instead it’s the Dawgs who will go to Coca-Cola Park looking to win the program’s 10th District 11 crown since 1980.
“We have a couple of leaders who have been there a couple of times before,” Felty said. “It’s a total team effort. These kids come to practice and they work hard. I’m very pleased with them.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class A Semifinal
At Allen Greenawalt Field
TRI-VALLEY (8) — Schwalm ss 3 1 0 0, Lucas cf 3 1 0 0, Bordner p 3 0 1 1, Herb 1b 3 2 3 3, Yoder c 4 0 1 0, Carado 2b 4 0 1 0, Boltz cr-pr 0 1 0 0, Buchanan rf 0 1 0 0, Klinger dh 3 0 0 0, Masser 3b 4 0 1 0, Harner pr 0 1 0 0, Poletti cr-pr 0 0 0 0, Kimmel lf 4 1 0 0. Totals 31 8 7 4.
MARIAN (2) — Salerno 3b-p 3 1 1 0, Hinkle 2b 3 0 1 1, Snerr c 3 0 1 1, Inama 3b 0 0 0 0, Keer dh 3 0 0 0, Evitts ss 3 0 1 0, Maskornick cf 3 0 0 0, Nahas p-3b 3 0 1 0, Collevechio cr 0 0 0 0, Kubishin rf 3 0 0 0, DeAngelo lf 3 1 2 0. Totals 27 2 7 2.
Tri-Valley (14-8) 100 600 1 — 8
Marian (17-4) 000 020 0 — 2
E — Tri-Valley 1, Marian 3. DP — None. LOB — Tri-Valley 7, Marian 6. 3B — Herb 2. SB — Collevechio, DeAngelo. CS — Lucas. S — Hinkle.
Tri-Valley IP H R ER BB K
Bordner W,9-2 7 7 2 2 1 7
Marian IP H R ER BB K
Nahas L,3-3 4 4 7 0 5 9
Salerno 3 3 1 0 0 5
WP — Nahas, Bordner 2. PB — Snerr. T — 2:10.