Season on the line for Wilson, Fleetwood in PIAA qualifiers
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Wilson and Fleetwood are each one win away from berth in the PIAA Tournament – or one loss away from the end of its season.
The Bulldogs, in Class 6A, and the Tigers, in Class 4A, play to keep their season alive Tuesday in District 3 third-place baseball games.
Fourth-seeded Wilson (18-7) plays at home at 4:30, at Wilson West, against seventh-seeded Waynesboro (15-6). The Bulldogs were turned back in the semifinals by Ephrata, 2-1.
The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Wilson, which swept through the Berks League playoffs and beat Gov. Mifflin 10-3 for the championship.
With five days between the semifinals and the final round all pitchers will be on full rest and eligible to throw Tuesday. That means the Bulldogs will send out Penn State recruit Matt VanOstenbridge, who struck out 10 in a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Manheim Township May 20.
The All-Berks left-hander is 5-1 with a 1.02 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings.
Wilson, the District 3 runner-up a year ago, made the PIAA Tournament last year but lost to Central Bucks West 3-0 in the first round.
Fleetwood last made the state tournament two years ago; it lost to Bonner & Prendergast 8-1 in the opening round.
The sixth-seeded Tigers (13-8) opened districts with a 3-0 win over third-seeded Northern Lebanon before losing 3-2 to East Pennsboro in the semifinals.
The Tigers will be back on the road Tuesday to play at fourth-seeded James Buchanan (14-7) at 5. They will likely hand the ball to senior Liam Hilburt, who is 7-1 with a 1.51 ERA. He has allowed just 34 hits and 10 walks over 46 1/3 innings.
Hilburt went the distance against Northern Lebanon, allowing four hits and one walk; he struck out nine. Prior to that he beat Muhlenberg 1-0 in the Berks quarterfinals.
Muhlenberg saw its season end Thursday with a 5-4 loss to Lower Dauphin in a Class 5A playback game.
Kutztown was eliminated by virtue of its 7-1 loss to Delone Catholic in the Class 2A championship game; only the district champ advances to the state tournament.
Tuesday’s championship games
| Class 6A championship | ||||
| (2) Hempfield | vs. | (9) Ephrata | 4:30 | FirstEnergy Stadium |
| Class 5A championship | ||||
| (1) Gov. Mifflin | vs. | (2) Mechanicsburg | 6:30 | FirstEnergy Stadium |
| Class 4A championship | ||||
| (2) East Pennsboro | vs. | (8) Elco | 4:30 | Wenger Field |
| Class 3A championship | ||||
| (1) Camp Hill | vs. | (2) Trinity | 6:30 | Wenger Field |
Championship results
| Class 2A | |||
| (2) Delone Catholic | 7 | (4) Kutztown | 1 |
| Class 1A | |||
| (2) Mount Calvary | 5 | (4) Lancaster Co. Christian | 0 |
