The YDL Sports Network is counting down the Top 25 moments, events, performances, games, etc from the 2023-24 school year.
HERMITAGE, Pa. – Hickory High School and Saegertown High School are about an hour apart.
And the two schools served as virtual bookends to a great boys’ athletic year in District 10.
While neither the Hornets’ football team nor the Panthers’ baseball took home a state title or even reached the a PIAA title that others did (more on those later in the countdown), what they accomplished was significant for their schools.
For Hickory football, they did something that only two other Hornet teams had done – 1989 and 2013 – in reaching the semifinals.
While their ultimate goal of winning a PIAA title, something the 1989 team accomplished, in just the second year of the tournament, came up a little short, the squad restored the Hornets to prominence in Pennsylvania football.
Hickory won the D10 3A title with a 14-6 victory over Sharon, a team that shutout it out, 12-0, in the regular season.
The title was the first since 2010 and the 11th in school history and was done thanks in large part to a superb defensive effort.
That effort included a 30-yard pick-six by freshman Jadon Phillips in the second half that gave the Hornets a 14-6 lead.
On the night, Hickory gave up just 165 yards of offense to Sharon.
Then, in the PIAA quarterfinals, Hickory beat a Central-Martinsburg squad that had ended D10’s 3A season in each of the previous two years with wins over Grove City, taking down the Dragons, 26-13.
Zander Telesz threw for a touchdown and ran for one in the victory with the touchdown pass being a 58-yard one to Kelvin Morrison that gave the Hornets a 17-0 lead.
Hickory’s season came to a close with a 42-16 loss against a powerful Belle Vernon squad that went on to win the state title.
While HIckory helped set the tone of the 2023-24 school year in D10, Saegertown brought the season to a strong ending with its first-ever trip to the PIAA semifinals in baseball.
The Panthers had reached the quarterfinals six other times only to lose in that round including in 2022 and 2023 in 1A to eventual state champions DuBois Central Catholic (2022) and Clarion (2023).
But in 2024, Saegertown was able to take that next step despite doing in the hard way..
The Panthers, the top seed in the D10 playoffs, lost in the title game, 7-4, to West Middlesex meaning the road to hoe would be that much harder in the PIAA bracket starting with WPIAL champion, Bishop Canevin.
But Saegertown blew right past the Crusaders with a convincing, 8-0, victory.
William Shaffer tossed a two-hut shutout and DeMarcus Manning hit a two-run home run while finishing with two hits and three RBIs.
The Panthers then caught a bit of a break when defending champion and favorite Clarion, which had 10-run ruled Saegertown the previous year, was upset in the opening round by Bishop Carroll.
Saegertown made sure the same fate didn’t await it, as the Panthers broke free for an 11-0, six-inning win over the Huskies.
This time, it was Blake Burchill firing a two-hit shutout while striking out four to lead the Panthers to victory.
Manning again went deep in the victory going 3-for-4 while adding a double and four RBIs.
Levi Gardner (2-for4, 2 runs), Luke Young (2-for-2, 3 RBIs), and Wyatt Burchill (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) also contributed heavily in the 13-hit attack.
Saegertown’s ride came to an end with a 7-5 loss to Eden Christian in the semifinals when Eden scored four times in the fourth to erase a 3-2 deficit.
But the future looks bright for the Panthers, who had six underclassmen in the starting lineup.
