DUBOIS, Pa. – Breckin Minich’s two-out RBI single to center scored Brock George from second with the championship-winning run in the bottom of the ninth, as Redbank Valley won its second consecutive D9 2A baseball title, 2-1, over Moniteau Tuesday afternoon at Showers Field in DuBois.
Rewatch the game
“I was just trying to stay competitive, find my pitch, hit a line drive right back up the middle,” Minich said on the Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview.
Watch the game-winning hit
“Breckin might be one of the grittiest players in all of District 9,” Redbank Valley manager Craig Hibell said. “I am not surprised to see that he is the guy that came up with the big hit.
“For Brock George to be the guy to score that final run was great. He’s had his ups and downs this year.”
Watch Minichs full postgame interview
The game was a pitchers dual with each team using two pitchers as they played into the evening.
Jaxson Huffman started for Redbank Valley and went four innings of one-run ball allowing three hits and four walks while striking out three.
Owen Clouse then came on and went the final five to get the win. He gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five.
“Today he had so much behind his fastball,” Minich, the catcher said. “He was just being a dog out there.”
Dawson Wallace and Dawson Cook were just as good for Moniteau.
Wallace went two innings allowing a run on four hits and a hit batter while striking out one, while Cook went 6 ⅔ innings allowing one run on six hits, two walks, and a hit batter while striking out five.
“He was impressive the way he went out and competed with probably not a lot left in the tank,” Hibell said of Wallace.
Each team scored early in the game with Redbank Valley getting a run in the first and Moniteau answering with one in the third.
The Bulldog run came when Mason Clouse led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a two-out infield single by his twin brother, Owen Clouse.
Moniteau used three walks to score its run in the third with an RBI single by Dawson Cook bringing home Chason Rugg to tie the game at one.
The Warriors had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the sixth when Ian Ross led off with a single and Cook singled him to third.
Courtesy runner Derrik Creedon-Moyer then took off for second, and Clouse turned and threw to second baseman Carson Gould as Ross broke for the plate. Gould threw home, and Minich tagged Ross out.
“Kudos to Carson Gould, another kid who has had his ups and downs this year,” Hibell said. “To flip his hips and make that accurate throw home and nail the runner was big for us.”
Breckin Minich. Photo by Chris Rossetti
Moniteau manager Ross Martin came out and asked the umpires to get together to discuss whether or not Owen Clouse had balked on the play, but to his dismay, they said Clouse had not balked.”
Clouse then got James Gillen to foul out and struck out Landon Kelly to get out of the jam.
For the Redbank Valley boys, it was their fourth D9 title this school year to go with soccer, football, and basketball.
“You only get so many special groups every so often,” Hibell said. ‘For us to capitalize on this special group we have, I am really proud of them”
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs with Redbank Valley getting a rematch with WPIAL third-place finisher Burgettstown on Monday at a District 9 site. The Bulldogs lost last year in the first round to Burgettstown. Moniteau awaits the WPIAL champion, either Serra Catholic or Seton LaSalle at a WPIAL site Monday.
Photo by Chris Rossetti
