History not on their side

It's rather fitting that the only doubleheader involving area teams in the District 3 baseball quarterfinals involves Shippensburg and Red Land.

It was one year ago that both teams had their dreams crushed in this round. Shippensburg's bats, as they tend to do, went silent against Donegal in a 2-1, season-ending loss in 3-AAA.

Red Land's fate was worse. Leading 4-3 against Exeter in 3-AAAA with one out in the seventh, the Eagles put a man on base following a dropped third strike. When all was said and done, Exeter scored seven runs and won, 10-4.

The quarterfinal trouble for the Patriots doesn't stop there. In 2006, playing as a AAA school, Red Land breezed into the quarterfinals following a 9-0 pasting of Northeastern. But the season came to close following a 7-5 loss to Northern Lebanon, a team that lost its next two games by a combined 27-2.

So today, at Northern High School, those ghosts can be put to bed. Shippensburg entertains Susquehanna Twp. at 4 p.m. followed by Red Land's rubber match with Mid-Penn Commonwealth foe Chambersburg at 6:30.

A win sends each respective team into uncharted territory. A loss and, unfortunately, these two teams know how long the next eight months can be.

No tomorrow

Without question, Thursday is one of the more important days in the District 3 tournament for Class AAAA and AAA teams.

A win guarantees two games, and two chances to qualify for the PIAA tournament, next week. A loss and your season is over.

Red Land is the area's lone 3-AAAA team remaining and hasn't been able to avoid trouble in the quarterfinals the last two years. Last season the Patriots held a one-run lead in the seventh inning over Exeter before the wheels came off. Exeter scored seven runs to win.

Red Land's road to the semifinals as a No. 2 seed is anything but a cake walk. The Patriots must beat Mid-Penn Commonwealth rival Chambersburg on Thursday. The two split their two-game season series.

The 3-AAA bracket is home to two area teams. The better story is West Perry, the No. 22 seed that pounded sixth-seed Northern Lebanon, 10-1, Monday. A 22-seed in the semifinals would no doubt cause some double-takes when people browse over the bracket.

In fact, that scenario isn't so far-fetched. The Mustangs (14-8) have ace Kory Mann set to pitch against Muhlenberg on Thursday in Fredericksburg.

Shippensburg, the second seed, has its hands full with Susquehanna Twp., a team that has more left-handed batters than right-handers. Greyhounds left-handed ace Ricky Ott isn't available, so it's up to Justin Varner to deliver the team into the semifinals opposite Muhlenberg or West Perry.

There's only two things that can happen on Thursday: you win or lose. The difference is how drastic the outcomes are from each other.

A loss in this round stings more for the fact that it comes one round before a losing team is rewarded a mulligan in the district third-place game.

Conference title back home

It probably isn't the most political correct thing to say, but it's good that the Mid-Penn Conference tournament championship will call the Commonwealth Division home for the next year.

Nothing against the Keystone, Colonial and Capital - all good, competitive divisions - but when the dust settles and the division champions come together, the winner should be from the conference's largest division.

It's true that Wayensboro, a AAAA team that calls the Colonial home, took the trophy last year after beating Commonwealth champion Red Land and Keystone champion Lower Dauphin, another AAAA school. But last year's tournament was drastically different from this year's.

Chambersburg, the new king of the Mid-Penn, was the lone AAAA school in the field. The other three - Shippensburg, the runner-up, Greencastle-Antrim and Hershey - were all AAA.

The Trojans weren't dominant all year - they had bad losses to Central Dauphin East and two-win Altoona - but in the postseason, they flexed the Commonwealth's muscle.

It should mean something for another division's champion, especially if it's a smaller school, to eliminate the Commonwealth champion. It's the typical David vs. Goliath scenario. What fun is it if David whacks Goliath every year?

Look at the Berks and Lancaster-Lebanon champions. Governor Mifflin, the winner of the county's largest division, Berks I, beat Class AA challenger Schuylkill Valley 5-4. The L-L came down to Hempfield and Manheim Twp., both members of Section I, the equivalent to the Commonwealth.

Had the Panthers taken out Governor Mifflin it would have been the highlight of the team's season to that point.

If Shippensburg beat Chambersburg for the Mid-Penn title, all it would have meant was that another team took out Goliath.

Instead, the trophy is in the Commonwealth and the giant that emerges from the division next year will have to watch its back. The Commonwealth is again the hunted. And that's how it should be.

Friday's changes II

West Perry and Susquenita's baseball game has now been moved to Saturday at 1 p.m. The site remains Palmyra's In the Net complex.

There is good news for Susquenita. Governor Mifflin athletic director and District 3 baseball chairman Patrick Tulley confirmed that, if the Blackhaws win tomorrow, they will be in the playoffs, assuming the game doesn't extent past midnight.

Another postponement also rolled in this afternoon. Bible Baptist's home date with Harrisburg Christian has been moved to Monday at 4 p.m. This game does have bearing on the CCAC postseason. Bible Baptist must win to pull into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Christian School of York. If that happens, a one-game playoff be held tentatively Tuesday afternoon with the CCAC tournament to begin Wednesday or Thursday.

Friday's changes

The persistent rain forced changes to both high school baseball games scheduled for Friday.

West Perry and Susquenita were set to meet at 7 p.m. at Commerce Bank Park. The site and time of that game has been changed to Palmyra's In the Net complex with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. Susquenita (9-10) must play, and win, this game before the District 3 deadline tomorrow to qualify for the playoffs.

Elsewhere, Carlisle's game at Red Lion was postponed and will be made up at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Susquenita's dilemma

This won't be a comfortable 48 hours for those associated with the Susquenita baseball program.

The Blackhawks are one win shy of qualifying for the District 3 Class AAA playoffs. Coincidentally, the team has only one game remaining -- tonight against bitter rival West Perry on City Island at 7 p.m.

A win and the Blackhawks are in at 10-10. The problem is the weather, which could cause serious headaches.

The latest forecast called for rain until approximately 7 p.m. Friday. Two weeks ago, after a storm Saturday night, the field at Commerce Bank Park was not playable less than 24 hours later. In this case, Susquenita must be at .500 before the district's cutoff Saturday evening or the 'Hawks will be on the outside looking in.

So it may come down to moving the game to either Susquenita or West Perry for a Saturday matchup. But what are the chances that a high school field will be in better shape than that of a minor league team?

For Susquenita, it's time to start doing a rain dance.

Franklin County Cooking

The two counties with the most high school baseball teams in the Mid-Penn Conference were nearly kept out of this year's conference tournament. Cumberland and Dauphin counties placed one team -- Hershey -- in the four-team event, which is hosted by York County's Northern High School. Franklin County schools Chambersburg, Shippensburg and Greencastle-Antrim all crashed this year's event.

Here are the qualifiers:

Mid-Penn Commonwealth -- Chambersburg (won on tiebreaker over Red Land)
Mid-Penn Keystone -- Hershey (won by three games over Gettysburg, Susquehanna Twp. and Mechanicsburg)
Mid-Penn Colonial -- Shippensburg (won by a game over Waynesboro)
Mid-Penn Capital -- Greencastle-Antrim (won by a game over James Buchanan)

Mid-Penn Scenarios

There's only two local teams vying for a Mid-Penn division crown as the season winds down. Red Land is tied with Chambersburg atop the Commonwealth and Shippensburg is in first in the Colonial.

Shippensburg, one game in front of Waynesboro, controls its destiny. If the Greyhounds beat West Perry on Monday, they win the division no matter what Waynesboro does against Northern. If Shippensburg loses and Waynesboro wins, the Indians win the division via a sweep of Northern, the third-place team. If both lose, Shippensburg stays in front by one game.

Red Land needs help. First, the Patriots must beat Cedar Cliff. Second, Carlisle must beat Chambersburg. If both things happen, the Patriots win by a game. A Chambersburg win over Carlisle gives the Trojans the top spot due to their sweep of Central Dauphin, the third-place team.