Repeating is hard to do

Of the eight teams to set foot on the field at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona last June 13, not even half qualified for this season's state playoffs.

Only Camp Hill and Carmichaels in Class A and Loyalsock in Class AA have a shot to return to the state finals. The other five teams had anywhere from ugly seasons in 2009 to not-so-bad campaigns. Below is a look at where last year's finalists finished this season:

Class AAAA

Champion: Canon-McMillan

This year: Finished with a 9-9 record and missed the District 7 playoffs.

Runner-up: Spring-Ford

This year: Lost to Great Valley, 9-4, District 1-AAAA second round.

Class AAA

Champion: Berwick

This year: Beat North Pocono, 13-0, in 2-AAA first round; lost to eventual district champion Abington Heights, 16-6, in quarterfinals.

Runner-up: Somerset

This year: Top seed in 6-AAA field and beat Forest Hills, 7-5, in semifinals before falling to Bellefonte, 9-4, in championship.

Class AA

Champion: Loyalsock

This year: Enters PIAA first round as District 4 champion with a 20-3 record.

Runner-up: Burrell

This year: Lost to Beaver, 2-1, in District 7-AA first round.

Class A

Champion: Camp Hill

This year: Enters PIAA first round as District 3 champion with a 19-3 record.

Runner-up: Carmichaels

This year: Enters PIAA first round as District 7-A runner-up with an 18-3 record following a 7-1 loss to Serra Catholic on Friday.

(Pictured: Canon-McMillan celebrates its PIAA Class AAAA title at Blair County Ballpark last June. Photo courtesy of Tom Elling.)

PIAA Class A bracket now complete

Northern Bedford won its fourth straight District 5 Class A baseball title today with a thrilling 7-5 win over Fannett-Metal to lock up one of the two final spots in the PIAA Class A field. As of 4 p.m. we're still waiting on a result from the District 11 final between Pius X and Williams Valley.

Below is the Class A bracket with Monday's sites and times. District seed and record in parenthesis:

GAMP (12-1, 9-10) vs. Camp Hill (3-1, 19-3)
Christopher Dock (1-1, 17-3) vs. Williams Valley (11-1, 19-3) at Stump Stadium, Pine Grove 5
Sayre (4-1, 17-5) vs. Old Forge (2-1, 9-8) at Pittston, 3
Berks Christian (3-2, 9-5) vs. Northern Bedford (5-1, 15-7) at McConnellsburg, 4:30
Homer Center (6-2, 15-4) vs. Serra Catholic (7-1, 20-2) at Mt. Pleasant, 4
Clarion (9-2, 14-2) vs. Villa Maria (10-1, 13-7) at Jack Critchfield Park, Slippery Rock, 3:30
Neshannock (7-3, 20-4) vs. Coudersport (9-1, 16-4) at Berwyn Park, St. Marys, 4:30
Carmichaels (7-2, 18-3) vs. Bishop McCort (6-1, 17-4) at White Twp. Park, Indiana, 4

The profile: GAMP

We've been asked more than once around the yard, what is GAMP? The short answer is that GAMP is the next opponent Camp Hill will need to beat in order to repeat as the PIAA Class A champions.

GAMP, or Girard Academic Music Program, has never won a state playoff game in four appearances. In 2005 and '06 the Pioneers lost in the first round of the Class AA playoffs and followed that with shutout losses over the next two years in the Class A field.

GAMP (9-10) grabbed the lone Class A bid offered to District 12 with a run in the top of the seventh to down Masterman, 5-4, May 15.

The team has suffered through losing streaks of four and three games and is coming in off a 9-7 loss to George Washington in the quarterfinals of Philadelphia Public League playoffs on May 18.

The south Philadelphia school finished fifth in the eight-team Division A of the Philadelphia Public League with a 5-8 record.

Check back tomorrow afternoon for more updates on the teams that have clinched PIAA playoff berths.

Carmichaels, Serra broadcast online

If you're bored at work today and need something to listen to, the District 7 (WPIAL) baseball championship game between Carmichaels and Serra Catholic at Consol Energy Park is being broadcast live on the MSA Sports Network.

In the PIAA Class A final last June, Camp Hill downed Carmichaels, 2-0. Both teams return a slew of players and could be on course to meet again. Camp Hill destroyed Berks Christian, 15-0, in four innings Thursday to claim the 3-A title.

Carmichaels is seeded second in 7-A behind Serra and boasts an 18-2 record.

More locked up state spots

Before we trek to downtown York for this afternoon's District 3 Class A final between upstart Berks Christian and Camp Hill, we've compiled a list of teams that have locked up spots in the upcoming PIAA tournament. We posted an in-depth look at Class A last night and since nothing has changed, we're focusing on the other three classes. District seed, record in parenthesis:

Class AAAA
North Allegheny (7-1, 21-2)
Hollidaysburg (6-1, 11-6)
Allderdice (8-1, 16-2)
Pine-Richland (7-2, 19-2)

Class AAA
Selinsgrove (4-1, 18-5)
Upper Merion (1-1, 13-7)
Bellefonte (6-1, 17-6)
Grove City (10-1, 17-5)

Class AA
New Hope-Solebury (1-1, 15-5)
Shady Side Academy (7-1, 22-1)
Franklin (10-1, 17-4)
North Catholic (7-2, 17-6)
South Fayette (7-3, 15-5)

An early look at Class A field

Not many teams have locked up spots in Monday's PIAA Class A tournament but most districts are set to crown district champions today and tomorrow. Below is a district-by-district look at who is in the running for the PIAA playoffs. All district advance one team unless noted.

Click here for a blank PIAA bracket.

District 1
Bristol or Christopher Dock
-district final today

District 2
Old Forge or Lackawanna Trail
-district final today

District 3
Champion and runner-up
Berks Christian and Camp Hill
-district final today

District 4
Sayre (17-5)

District 5
Northern Bedford or Fannett-Metal
-district final Friday

District 6
Champion and runner-up
Bishop McCort and Homer Center
-district final today

District 7
Champion, runner-up and third-place
Carmichaels and Serra Catholic have clinched spots
Neshannock vs. Chartiers Houston for district's third bid
-district final and placement game today

District 9
Champion and runner-up
Coudersport and Clarion
-district final Friday

District 10
Villa Maria (13-7)

District 11
Nativity BVM, Marian Catholic, Pius X or Williams Valley
-semifinals today; district final Friday

What's down the road

With the washout Tuesday and an ugly forecast for Wednesday comes a backlog of games that need to be played over the next few days to fill out the PIAA baseball brackets.

For brevity's sake, we're going to focus on the situation that faces defending PIAA Class A champion Camp Hill.

The top-seeded Lions (17-3) head back to Wenger Field in Fredericksburg on Wednesday to meet No. 4 Lancaster Christian (11-4) in a District 3 Class A semifinal game. With a 70-percent chance of showers and the way Wenger took water this afternoon, it's unlikely that game will be played.

That could push the semifinals to Thursday, when the finals were set. The rain date for the district title games is Friday.

Monday begins PIAA play with the 3-A winner meeting District 12 king Girad Academic Music Program at a site in District 3. The runner-up heads to Bedford County for a tussle with the District 5 champion.

In the event that the district tournament cannot be played out, Camp Hill and Lancaster Christian would gain entry to the state tournament by virtue of being the highest seeded teams remaining in the district field.

Berks Christian and Newport are seeded sixth and seventh, respectively.