Final shot from PIAA Championships

Two days after the fact, the PIAA Class A baseball final is still fresh in our minds.

It had been awhile since the Class A title game was very close. Last season, Camp Hill broke a late tie to beat Serra Catholic, 7-3, but other than that, the small-school showcase had a reputation for being rather one-sided.

On a simmering Friday afternoon at Altoona's Blair County Ballpark, that all changed. Serra Catholic was the overwhelming favorite but failed to put Christopher Dock (right) away even when it was down to its last strike and had no one on base.

It was easily the best finish in the six years that the games have been contested at Blair County Ballpark and had to go down as one of the best ever. Honestly, it was that good.

A few other opinion pieces from Friday

• Conrad Weiser was the most complete team of the eight in the finals. The Scouts, who won the Class AAA title with a 6-2 victory over Hershey, are the real deal. Weiser is strong in pitching, offense and defense. This team shut down a Hershey squad that scored 44 runs in three PIAA games before Friday.


• The Class AAAA final between District 1 opponents West Chester Henderson and Owen J. Roberts was the worst of the four games. The teams, who both traveled close to four hours from suburban Philadelphia, stranded 18 total runners and the 7-0 final was as lopsided and as hard to watch as it appears.


• Martinsburg Central was the surprise team of the finals. The Scarlet Dragons came in with 10 losses and had been beaten by the mercy rule three times this year. Despite playing sub-par defense with four errors, Central was in the Class AA final against Bermudian Springs but those errors were the difference. Bermudian scored three unearned runs in a 5-3 victory.


• Speaking of Central, the fans from the Martinsburg/Roaring Spring area were one of the larger groups of fans to see the games since 2005, when Altoona first hosted the finals. The only fan bases to rival that following was Punxsutawney's in 2007 and Somerset's in 2008.


• The finals should remain in Altoona. The Curve expressed interest in retaining the finals and, really, have done nothing to provoke the PIAA to move the games. Three years ago, we figured the games might be better somewhere else but the Curve have improved as hosts since 2005 and deserve to have the finals another four years.