Keystoners blanked again

The final national high school baseball rankings were released in the most recent edition of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and, once again, a Pennsylvania team failed to crack the top 30.

What's more, the ABCA High School All-Americans were also without a Pennsylvania standout. ABCA named first, second and third-team All-Americans yet none were from the Keystone State.

Despite the absence of players recognized at the high school level, Shippensburg University left-handed pitcher Matt Wright, a graduate of Mid-West High School, made the NCAA Division II All-American list as a third-team pitcher. Wright, now in the Blue Jays organization, led Shippensburg to the Division II College World Series where the Red Raiders went 1-2.

Wright pitched Shippensburg to a 9-2, loser's bracket win over Franklin Pierce on May 26.

Four for 2009 take two

Here's the final two teams we should should make some noise and have a good shot to go deep into the District 3 playoffs.

Northern
All-Sentinel first-team pitcher Cam Richardson and second-team shortstop Tyler Follmer are gone but the Polar Bears, who made a run to the 2006 PIAA semifinals, should have a solid team in 2009.

Middle infielder/pitcher Sam Crater, who will be a junior next year, should pace the team. He's been a force since his freshman year and hit .302 with 12 RBIs and three doubles this year. On the mound Crater struck out 34, walked 17 and posted a 3.27 ERA in 33 innings to go 4-2.

Hank Sanders, an All-Sentinel first-team first baseman, will be back for his senior year after hitting .390 with 10 RBIs this spring.

Pitcher Quintin Taylor will be expected to improve his 6.00 ERA and 3-3 record as he steps into a more prominent role in the rotation.

Trinity
The biggest loss coach Al Hobby will have to deal with his All-Sentinel second-team outfielder Brooks Watts, who hit .458 with 14 RBIs.

On the mound the Shamrocks return their top two pitchers, Mike Hnatuck and A.J. Weaver. Either one is capable of being the team's ace, which means Trinity's No. 2 will be better than most its opponents'.

Plus, Ted Spinelli and his .333 average, 16 RBIs and 12 extra-base hits is back to anchor the offense.

The bad news is that the team should have been better than its 9-10 mark in 2008. Worse is that Trinity moves from Class AA to the ultra-competitive Class AAA for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Bottom line: Trinity will have pitching and that goes a long way in high school baseball.

Four for 2009

Before we focus on high school football for the next six or seven months, it's time to officially wrap up the high school baseball season. To take a page out of Baseball America and it's Eight for Omaha feature, here's our Four for 2009.

These are the teams we think have the best chance to advance deep in the District 3 playoffs and possibly qualify for the state tournament.

Camp Hill
This one's a no-brainer. The defending PIAA Class A champion Lions return all but one player to their title team. Stepping in to the outfield spot vacated by the graduated Jim Rish will be Jordan Weber, who elected to participate in track this spring.

Matt Spiegel, who won five playoff games including the state final to be named The Sentinel's Player of the Year, should be better than this year and the offense will put up mounds of runs.

Catcher Tyler Shover will lead a potent offense and the likes of L.K. Thompson, Seth Crossley and Matt Robertson will solidify a tough lineup.

The main question is who will be the No. 2 pitcher? Shover was solid during the season but struggled in the playoffs. Michael Frankenfield, who posted a 1-4 record in the regular season, will have to work on his control if the Lions are to get past the PIAA quarterfinals.

Susquenita
The team came out of nowhere this year and finished fourth in the highly competitve Mid-Penn Colonial Division. The Blackhawks squeaked into the district field by beating West Perry on the final day of the regular season. In the postseason Susquenita made Gettysburg sweat in a 5-2 loss.

Unlike Camp Hill, the team will need to replace a few key holes. Right-handed ace Kyle Gilbert (6-4, 5.42 ERA in 63 innings), David Bauer (.306, seven RBIs) and Devan Wieland (.343, 14) are gone but the Blackhawks have a lot back.

Bobby Kohl, a freshman in 2008, hit .424 with 12 RBIs and seven doubles will anchor the team's offense and defense as a sure-handed first baseman.

Check back Tuesday for two more teams that should be tough outs in 2009.

All-Sentinel Baseball Team Revealed

In The Sentinel on Tuesday, July 1 is the 2008 All-Sentinel Baseball Team, headlined by Camp Hill junior right-handed pitcher Matt Spiegel, our Player of the Year. Also on the first team, as a second baseman, is last year's Player of the Year, Kyle Otstot.

Overall, the first team is senior-heavy. The lone first-teamers who will return next season are Northern junior first baseman Hank Sanders and Camp Hill sophomore center fielder Matt Robertson. West Perry coach Jeff Sanno garnered Coach of the Year honors for taking his Mustangs, seeded No. 22, to the District 3 Class AAA quarterfinals.

First Team
Player of the Year — Matt Spiegel, jr., Camp Hill
Catcher — Kasey Cooper, sr., Cedar Cliff
First base — Hank Sanders, jr., Northern
Second base — Kyle Otstot, sr., Red Land
Third base — Christopher Davis, sr., Shippensburg
Shortstop — Teed Wertz, sr., Red Land
Designated hitter — Jimmy Baum, sr., West Perry
Outfield — Kyle Pellman, sr., Cedar Cliff
Outfield — Andrew Kramer, sr., Cumberland Valley
Outfield — Matt Robertson, soph., Camp Hill
Pitcher — Cam Richardson, sr., Northern
Pitcher — Ricky Ott, sr., Shippensburg
Pitcher — K.C. Beshore, sr., Red Land
----
Second Team
Catcher — Tyler Shover, jr., Camp Hill
First base — Bobby Kohl, fr., Susquenita
Second base — L.K. Thompson, soph., Camp Hill
Third base — Zach Nyce, sr., West Perry
Shortstop — Tyler Follmer, sr., Northern
Designated hitter — Nico Delerme, jr., Red Land
Outfield — Brooks Watts, sr., Trinity
Outfield — Derrick Mease, jr., Carlisle
Outfield — Ben Anderson, jr., Mechanicsburg
Utility — Zack Piper, jr., Shippensburg
Pitcher — Kory Mann, sr., West Perry
Pitcher — Jeremy Shepps, sr., Cumberland Valley
Pitcher — Andrew Hunt, sr., Red Land

Want to discuss the teams and/or selections? Contack me via e-mail at tpickens@cumberlink.com or on the phone at 717-240-7125.

On Deck: All-Sentinel Baseball

In the coming days, The Sentinel will release the 2008 All-Sentinel Baseball Team.

Camp Hill junior right-handed pitcher Matt Spiegel, master of the complete-game and owner of a two-hit shutout in the Class A state final, is the Player of the Year.

West Perry coach Jeff Sanno, who kept his team together through thick and thin, is the Coach of the Year after guiding the Mustangs to the District 3 Class AAA quarterfinals. It was the deepest run for a West Perry team since 1996 and came on the heels a tough-to-swallow three-game losing streak to end the season. The Mustangs were seeded 22nd and bounced Northern York and Northern Lebanon.

Later this summer, don't miss The Sentinel's Male and Female Athlete of the Year. The selections will be announced in July.

A ride to remember

It was a cold afternoon in March.

Not many people were around and the trees in the outfield were bare. The players sported long sleeves and sweat pants as they prepared for the 2008 baseball season.

That was the sight at the baseball field at College Park a few days before Camp Hill opened the season by drubbing Oley Valley, 10-1.

Less than three months later, the same players were still on the field but the trees were green, the weather was hot and numerous media members were milling about.

That was the sight two days before Camp Hill captured the PIAA Class A championship by squeezing by Carmichaels, 2-0, at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona.

In the middle there were losses -- eight of them, to be exact -- and a third-place finish in the Mid-Penn Capital, a division home to schools all larger than Camp Hill.

Eventually the Lions entered the District 3 Class A playoffs as the second seed and, in the semifinals, fell behind Upper Dauphin, 4-0, early.

The Lions won that game, 8-4, but fell apart in an 11-4 setback to Reading Holy Name in the district final.

From there Camp Hill took it to another level, plating 28 runs in three state playoff games, including three in the last of the seventh to shock Christopher Dock, 13-12, in the quarterfinals, to qualify for the final, where the team helped coach Brad Shover grab state gold. Shover pulled even with older brother Steve, the coach of the 1999 Lions, for state championships.

It wasn't a perfect ride, but it was sure one to remember.

(photo courtesy of Tom Elling. Check out more of Elling's photos from the state championships)

Emotional rollercoaster in Round 1

In Monday's edition of The Sentinel was a PIAA high school baseball notebook. Tacked onto the end of that were my projections regarding who will wear gold medals around their necks in a week at Blair County Ballpark.

A call to my cellphone early Monday evening labeled "Vets Box" (the number of the press box at Veterans Field in Altoona) brought good news: Seton LaSalle, the WPIAL third-place finisher and my dark horse state titlist, had beaten defending state champ Bald Eagle Area.

Later on, a text message from our writer covering Camp Hill declared that Christopher Dock, my pick in Class A, stomped GAMP 16-1.

So I was feeling pretty good about myself. I figured my pick in Class AAA, Sun Valley, was pretty much a lock. The District 1 champion Vanguards were 22-1 and playing close to home against an upstart Fleetwood team.

In AAAA I had Plum, the WPIAL No. 2 that was opening with District 6 champion Central Mountain. Now, District 6 is a little awkward. The Wildcats had to win one game to make it into the state field, so I figured their stay would be a short one.

A few minutes later word circulated through Bowman Field that Plum was gone, having been on the wrong end of a 9-7 decision.

Then the bottom fell out. Scouring the MSA Sportsnetwork page for the final few results brought a shock: Fleetwood 1, Sun Valley 0. The one pick I had the most confidence in couldn't even plate a single run to force extra innings.

I'd like to say 2-for-4 isn't bad but if I go the route I went Monday, I'll have exactly one predicted state champion remaining as we head to semifinals. Ouch.