District 3-AAA bracket busted

As is the case nearly every thing, there's a host of double-digit seeds are clamoring for a District 3 Class AAA title.

Hershey, seeded 12th, can't be included in this discussion because the Trojans were a trendy preseason pick to land one of the four PIAA bids.

Susquenita, at least in this writer's opinion, had the talent to make a serious run at district gold so we aren't going to spend much time talking about the 10th-seeded Blackhawks, either.

Honestly, those teams were expected to be in the final eight despite their seeds.

But there are two other clubs that have taken the Cinderella hat and worn it well. East Pennsboro and West Perry, seeded 20th and 25th, respectively, are still playing baseball less than a week before Memorial Day. Neither team truly challenged Northern, Susquenita and Waynesboro for a Colonial Division title yet, two days before the quarterfinals, the Panthers and Mustangs are alive.

It's a credit to the both the players and coaches that these teams have made it to this point. West Perry was 7-10 and seemed destined to miss the postseason for a second straight year but coach Jeff Sanno's crew ripped off three straight wins to close the regular season and then smashed No. 8 New Oxford, 13-3, in five innings to open district play.

The Mustangs (12-10) followed that by scoring all eight of their runs via home run in Monday's two-run victory over No. 24 seed Eastern York.

East Pennsboro returned a solid nucleus of starters from 2009 but never really put it all together until recently. The Panthers (12-9) were actually mercy-ruled four times during the regular season but have won four of their last five.

What might be even more impressive is that East Penn has done this while Zach Nye, their staff ace, hasn't pitched more than three innings since April 1 and hasn't been on the mound at all since April 19.

Both stories are outstanding yet there is a down side to each.

Despite the magic they've created in the last few days, a loss Thursday will quickly end their seasons. In Class AAA, all four semifinalists advance to the PIAA tournament, which means all three area AAA teams are 27 outs from securing at least two more games. But they're also 27 outs from having their seasons come to a close.

We're not here to make predictions on how these teams will fare but all three have tough opponents coming up. Susquenita battles Berks County Tournament winner and No. 2 seed Conrad Weiser at Wenger Field in Fredericksburg at 6:30 p.m.

East Pennsboro has a date with pitching-rich Hershey at Creekview at 6:30 and West Perry travels to Northern for a battle with top-seeded West York.

Those three teams have minimal flaws and, at least judging by their seeds, Weiser and West York will be favored to win. But if history is any indication -- last year three double-digit seeds made the semifinals -- don't be stunned to see at least one punch its ticket to the state field.