PIAA Baseball Preview Capsule
Class AAA Semifinals
Abington Heights (17-3) vs. Pottsville (23-4)
When/Where: Today, 4 p.m., Easton High School
Tickets: $6 adults, $3 students
How they got here: District 2 champion Abington Heights downed District 4 champion Jersey Shore 1-0 and District 3 fourth-place finisher Manheim Central 6-1. District 11 champion Pottsville defeated District 3 runner-up Spring Grove 1-0 and District 3 third-place finisher Twin Valley 2-1.
About the Comets
Head coach: Bill Zalewski (8th season)
Projected lineup: SS Jimmy Fayocavitz, sr. (.373, 22 H, 23 R, 12 RBIs); 2B Zach Spangenberg, jr. (.338, 23 H, 14 R, 12 RBIs, 4 2B); C Zach Campbell, jr. (.394, 28 H, 14 R, 19 RBIs); P Tyler Ksiazek, sr. (.477, 31 H, 17 R, 12 RBIs, 6 2B; pitching — 8-0, 0.54 ERA, 71 Ks); LF Eric Salerno, sr. (.309, 21 H, 10 R, 10 RBIs); CF Colin McCreary, soph. (.326, 15 H, 11 RBIs); 3B Sam Arnold, jr. (.235, 12 H); 1B Matt McDonald, sr. (.319, 15 H, 11 R); RF Peter Nolan, jr./DH Zach Manasek, sr. (.226; pitching — 5-1, 1.09 ERA, 45 strikeouts)
Notes: Abington Heights won its third straight District 2 Class AAA crown by beating Lake-Lehman 10-0, Pittston Area 7-1, North Pocono 6-1 and Valley View 4-3. ... Comets are in the state semifinals for the second time in three years. In 2013, Comets defeated Jersey Shore 4-3 and Tamaqua 6-4 before losing to eventual state champion West York 5-4. Last year, Jersey Shore beat Abington Heights 4-3 in first round. ... Have won 14 straight games. Losses this season were to North Pocono, Scranton and Scranton Prep, all in Lackawanna League Division I play. ... Comets have outscored their seven postseason opponents 39-8. ... Abington Heights won the 2009 PIAA Class AAA championship. ... Ksiazek is 20-4 for his career with 181 strikeouts. He is committed to Monmouth University. ... Spangenberg is the younger brother of San Diego Padres infielder Cory Spangenberg. ... If Ksiazek doesn’t pitch, left-hander Manasek could get the start for Comets. Ksiazek tossed a complete-game, seven-hit shutout with two walks and four strikeouts in Wednesday’s win over Jersey Shore. Manasek allowed six hits and one unearned run in seven innings against Manheim Central, walking four and striking out 10. ... Five Comets have at least 20 hits this season, and seven have at least 15. Fayocavitz had two hits in both of Comets’ PIAA wins.
About the Crimson Tide
Head coach: Mike Welsh (5th season, 81-36)
Projected lineup: SS Travis Blankenhorn, sr. (.433, 39 H, 39 R, 27 RBIs, 6 2B, 6 3B, 6 HR, 13 SB), 2B Ty Painter, sr. (.337, 29 H, 25 R, 16 RBIs, 8 2B), CF Darion Jacoby, soph. (.368, 32 H, 30 R, 33 RBIs, 6 2B, 2 HR, 14 SB), P Eli Nabholz, sr. (.415, 34 H, 12 R, 30 RBIs, 7 2B; pitching — 11-0, 1.21 ERA, 94 Ks), C Connor Hinchliffe, sr. (.303, 23 H, 15 RBIs, 5 2B), LF Brandon Daubert, jr. (.267, 20 H, 12 R, 16 RBIs), 1B Mike O’Pake, jr./DH Gavin Hinchliffe, soph. (.273, 18 H, 17 R, 4 2B), RF Eric Wapinsky, soph. (.286, 16 H, 15 R, 11 RBIs), 3B Trent Barnes, jr. (.263, 10 H)
Notes: Pottsville enters game on 13-game win streak, with last loss coming April 28. ... Have outscored seven postseason opponents 36-10, 21-3 in District 11 and PIAA play. ... Fresh off his first-round PIAA no-hitter, Nabholz returns to hill looking for career win 24, one behind Jeff Yoder (25) for all-time mark. He has 239 strikeouts for his career, 12 behind uncle Chris Nabholz (251) for second in school history. Yoder (365) is first. ... Pottsville hitting just 9-for-41 (.220) in state playoffs, with Blankenhorn 0-for-5. ... Blankenhorn could be selected tonight in Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft. A total of 75 picks will be completed tonight. ... Crimson Tide looking to end Schuylkill League’s three-game losing streak to District 2 teams in Class AAA state playoffs, with Tamaqua falling to Abington Heights in 2013 quarterfinals and Blue Mountain losing to Tunkhannock (2011) and Berwick (2008) in state semifinals. ... A District 11 team hasn’t reached the Class AAA state final since 2002. Pottsville will look to end that streak, and get there for the first time in program history tonight.
Up next: Winner advances to Friday’s state championship game at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and will face the winner of the Donegal-Knoch game at 12:30 p.m.
— Compiled by Leroy Boyer