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.