DUBOIS, Pa. – On a team littered with District 9 and District 10 players, Penn State DuBois needed to beat Penn State Mount Alto twice to capture the PSUAC championship for the third consecutive season.
Mission accomplished.
Elk County Catholic graduate Dan Stauffer belted a 3-run home run to lead a 20-hit offensive attack, and Warren alum Braidy Blair tossed five strong innings to get the win in a 16-4 victory on Tuesday. This came on the heels of a 7-4 win on Monday.
With the win, PSUD earned the No 2 seed in the USCAA Small College World Series, beginning on Monday, May 17 in DuBois.
Blair was efficient, needing just 55 pitches to get through his five innings. HE allowed two runs, walked one and struck out two.
Elk County Catholic’s Taylor Boland came in and threw a scoreless inning of relief in the 7-inning victory.
DuBois scored two runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead, then the flood gates opened. They scored five runs each in the fourth and fifth innings to put the game to bed.
Thayne Morgan (Clearfield) hit an RBI double in the third, while Stauffer’s 3-run home run came in the fourth, while Joey DiPietro (Punxsutawney) ripped an RBI single.
In the fifth, Dipietro had another RBI single and Stauffer a sacrifice fly.
DuBois scored three more runs in the sixth, courtesy of a bases-clearing double off the bat of Brookville grad Tanner LaBenne.
Dipietro finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs, while Stauffer was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and three runs, Tyler Herzing (Elk County Catholic) 1-for-1 with a run, Morgan 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI and Lakeview grad Brett Beith 1-for-4 with a triple and a run.
The team also includes Brandon Sicheri (St. Marys), Zane Morgan (Clearfield), Tyler Yough (Karns City), Josh Sorbera (Clearfield), Brandon Orsich (Clearfield), Brandon Partridge (Lakeview), and Luke Salvo (Union).
LaBenne will compete in the home run derby on Sunday before the games start on Monday. Game times will be announced later in the week from the USCAA office.
