DUBOIS, Pa. – A year in the making.
That’s what Redbank Valley manager Craig Hibell said of his Bulldogs winning the District 9 Class 2A championship with an 8-0 win over Karns City Monday afternoon at Showers Field in DuBois.
Rewatch the game
A year after falling to Johnsonburg in the District 9 title game, the Bulldogs weren’t going to be denied of their first District 9 title since 2010 on a hot and sunny Memorial Day in DuBois.
“If you want me to be honest, last year,” Hibell said when asked when he knew he had a championship-caliber team in his mitts. “We knew that we could be pretty good this year because we knew a lot of the guys that were going to contribute pretty strongly this year weren’t necessarily the flashy players that everybody else knew about. We knew Ty Carrier was going to pitch well. We knew Breckin (Minich) was going to be a great third baseman and behind the plate. We knew Clouses (Owen and Mason), we knew (freshmen) Jaxon (Huffman) and Braylon (Wagner) were special athletes. Everyone else knew who Tate (Minich) was. We knew Tyler (Hetrick) and Peyton (Rearick) were very team-first, unselfish players. We kind of had a little bit of a group from freshmen to seniors that really contributed. So, a little bit last year (we knew we were going to be good). But I don’t think it has all set in yet.”
Tate Minich was a big reason Redbank Valley got the top seed in the 2A bracket, and he was a big reason the Bulldogs are now champions.
Minich threw five shutout innings allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out four, and he had the big hit in a five-run fifth inning that broke the game wide open for Redbank Valley when he crushed a three-run home run over the 366-sign in left-center field at Showers Field.
Watch Minich’s home run
“I have to go homer,” Minich said when asked if he would rather have the five shutout innings or the home run. “It felt good. It was a fastball. It was the farthest ball I have ever hit.”
Despite the length of the long ball, Minich said he didn’t know it was a home run right away.
“I actually didn’t (know it was gone),” Minich said. “In BP when I was hitting balls they were just getting to the warning track in that left-center gap. This field plays pretty deep. I was definitely looking for three when I rounded first base, but I saw it go over.”
Redbank Valley was clinging to a 3-0 lead it had held since the first inning when Minich unloaded his blast, and the Bulldogs tacked on a pair of extra runs after two outs in the same fifth inning to go ahead 8-0.
The three first-inning runs came after two outs on a two-run single by Mason Clouse that was followed by a Ty Carrier RBI single.
Watch Clouse’s two-run single
But like in its 3-1 semifinal win over Johnsonburg when it also scored three in the first, the Bulldog bats fell silent after the opening inning as Mallick Metcalfe set down 10 of 11 until Rearick led off the fifth inning with a double to left and Owen Clouse followed with a bunt single leading to the Tate Minich home run.
“It’s big to score early,” Hibell said. “At the same time, we have to do a better job once we get a couple (of runs) we have to continue to capitalize, continue to put better at-bats on. We have to make adjustments mid-game. We did it today.”
Even if Redbank Valley hadn’t tacked on the five runs in the fifth, the Bulldogs might have been ok considering the way Minich battled through five innings.
He wasn’t hit hard but didn’t have traffic on the base paths in all but one of those five. A pair of double plays turned behind him – both off the bat of Jacob Callihan – helped him keep a clean line, though.
Watch the first double play turned by the Bulldogs in the second inning
“My goal is to just go up there and throw strikes,” Minich said of his pitching performance. “I have a great defense behind me. I am just trying to put the ball over the plate.”
Watch Minich’s full postgame interview
Minich started to tire in the fifth inning, and with an eight-run lead, Hibell turned the game over to the freshman Huffman, who gave up one hit and hit a batter in two innings of scoreless relief. He struck out three, including Callihan to clinch the title.
Watch the title-clinching strikeout
Tate Minich was 2-for-3 at the plate with the home run, a double, and a walk. He scored once and drove in three while his courtesy runner also scored a run. He was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game.
Mason Clouse also added a pair of his going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Jacob Jones and Metcalfe accounted for the two hits for Karns City.
Metcalfe took the loss going 4 ⅔ innings allowing eight runs, all earned, on nine hits, a walk, and a hit batter while striking out six.
Both teams advance to the PIAA playoffs, which start Monday, June 5. Redbank Valley will face the third-place team out of the WPIAL, either Burgettstown or New Brighton, while Karns City will take on the WPIAL champion, either Serra Catholic or Seton-LaSalle. Both of those games are Tuesday, May 30.
“We’re not afraid of anybody,” Hibell said. “Last year, we went into (a game with WPIAL champion Serra Catholic) with nobody giving u a shot to win, and we found a way to do it/. We danced in the rain a little bit that day too. Our guys just don’t blink. They don’t give up. They’re a great group of young, scrappy baseball players who can beat anybody on any day. The problem with a state tournament is obviously, it’s single elimination and you get one shot. If you don’t put up the numbers you need to that day you’re not going to get it. But I feel pretty confident we’re at least going gt give everybody else our best game.”
Watch the postgame medal and trophy presentation
