Big-hitting Cedar Cliff attack stuns Wilson in District 3 championship game
Shellshocked.
That’s the word Wilson baseball coach Bill Underwood used to describe his players after they watched Cedar Cliff knock around Bulldogs ace Matt VanOstenbridge for five runs in the second inning Tuesday in the District 3 Class 6A championship game.
The junior left-hander hadn’t allowed more than five hits in any outing this season. The Colts collected six hits in one inning.
“That hasn’t happened,” Underwood said after the seventh-seeded Bulldogs fell to the fifth-seeded Colts 7-1 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Colts opened the second inning with four straight hits. They spit at VanOstenbridge’s oft-devastating curveball, waited for the fastball, then jumped on it.
“We had quality at-bats and produced,” said Cedar Cliff coach Justin Secrest. “We just knew we had to be patient, make him come to us, sit on the fastball and just drive it, and our boys did a great job at the plate.”
VanOstenbridge has been dominant this season, especially in the postseason. He pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings in two appearances in the District 3 Tournament, winning both games, the first out of the bullpen when Wilson had to go nine innings to get past Penn Manor in the opening round, 5-4.
He entered Tuesday’s game with a 1.60 ERA and having allowed just 35 hits over 61 1/3 innings.
The Bulldogs (19-8) are supremely confident when he’s on the mound, and for good reason.
That air of confidence disapated quickly when third baseman Carter Enders, a .227 hitter, pounded a bases-loaded double to left to plate the first two runs.
One out later shortstop and leadoff hitter Sam Grube singled to left to make it 3-0. After a walk loaded the bases, catcher Bennett Secrest hit a scorching grounder that went off shortstop Trevor Bilodeau’s glove for an RBI single.
First base Cayden Bender got his team-leading 22nd RBI by backing left fielder Nick Fiorini to the warning track for a sacrifice fly that made it 5-0.
When VanOstenbridge yielded back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fourth to make it 7-0 Underwood came to the mound to get the ball.
“There weren’t a lot of cheap hits,” Underwood said. “It’s a bit of a shellshock (to see that). (Matt) hadn’t been in that situation before.”
The fifth-seeded Colts (18-6) collected 11 hits, 10 off VanOstenbridge. They batted .336 over the four-game tournament with 10 extra-base hits and 26 runs.
“One thru nine these guys can all hit,” said Justin Secrest, “and when it starts clicking like it did tonight big things are gonna happen.”
The seventh-seeded Bulldogs (19-8) did not get their first hit until center fielder Rafael Fernandez led off the fifth with a bloop into right field, just beyond first base.
Freshman Jack Gabel followed with a single and when pinch-hitter Nick Crocona was hit by a pitch Wilson suddenly had the bases loaded. Starter Jordan Negley wiggled out of the jam and took his shutout into the seventh.
He was removed after allowing a pair of singles. Reliever Brady Wagner walked a pair of batters, the second, Evan Gabaldon, with the bases loaded to end the shutout bid.
The late rally died there when Christo Hunsicker grounded out, setting off a Cedar Cliff celebration.
Despite the lopsided final score the Bulldogs were a couple swings away from making it a competitive game. They left the bases loaded twice over the final four innings and left eight runners on base overall.
“We didn’t do a great job of getting timely hits and putting pressure on,” Underwood said. “Coming back from 7-0 is a daunting task. If we could’ve tacked on a couple runs in the fourth when we had the bases loaded, that would’ve been a different ballgame at the end.”
Wilson will open the PIAA Tournament June 5 against the District 1 champion, which won’t be determined until Thursday. Cedar Cliff will open the tournament against the sixth-place finisher from District 1.
Wilson was bidding for its first district championship since 2021 and fourth overall. The title was the fifth for Cedar Cliff.
“At the beginning of the year the guys had aspirations of (playing for) these championships,” said Underwood of the BCIAA and District 3 Tournaments. “They had a belief that they would be there, and we got there.
“You can’t lose sight of the fact that we were in two championships, and we had a chance to win two championships where a lot of teams don’t. And we still have a chance to win the big championship. Four in a row is not a big task; we’ve done that all year. We have a chance to do that. You never know what’s going to happen.”
| Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Cedar Cliff | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | x | – | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | Colts | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| T. Hunsicker, 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grube, ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Gabaldon, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Frey, 2b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Van Ostenbridge, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Secrest, c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Kulp, p/1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bender, 1b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| C. Hunsicker, 1b/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Esser, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ruiz, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tarnoci, rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sekulski, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Niemiek, dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Fiorini, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Minium, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fernandez, cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Negley, p | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Shutter, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Anastasi, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frantz, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Enders, 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Gabel, 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Boblick, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bilodeau, ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Crocona, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 24 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 7 | 11 | 7 |
E: Bilodeau; Enders. 2B: Enders, Secrest, Bender. 3B: Bender. SF: Bender. DP: Wilson 1, Cedar Cliff 2. LOB: Wilson 8, Cedar Cliff 11.
| Bulldogs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | Colts | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| VanOstenbridge, L (6-4) | 3 1/3 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | Negley, W (4-2) | 6 1/3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Kulp | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | Wagner | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| C. Hunsicker | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP: Kulp. HBP: Crocona (by Negley).
