By Chuck Curleyccurley@republicanherald.com
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Faith Christian’s baseball team did everything that an undefeated squad is supposed to do, including the Lions’ 1-0 victory over Nativity in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA Class A Tournament.
But the Lions certainly knew they could have just as easily lost the unbeaten record and, with it, their season.
“So we’ve been pretty much outscoring opponents by over 200 runs this year,” Faith Christian head coach Nick Koffel said. “And this was a wake-up call that we need to bring our A-game every day. Today was definitely not our A-game, but good teams find a way to win, and we scratched one out today.”
The District 1 champion Lions improved to 20-0 and advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals, where they face District 2 titlist MMI Prep, an 11-1 winner over District 4’s Millville on Monday.
But MMI Prep might have been Nativity’s next challenge if the Hilltoppers (11-11) could have found one hit — any hit — against the Lions’ Grayson Weikel and Reid Miller.
The pair combined to pitch to just three batters over the minimum 21 and never let any Hilltopper past second base.
Weikel struck out five and walked two before leaving after 98 pitches. Miller struck out one in a perfect seventh inning.
“We knew we had to hunt fastballs and we knew, if we didn’t hunt them early, we knew that we’d fall behind a little bit, and that’s what happened,” Nativity head coach Ben Kreiger said. “I mean, we put good bats on balls. It’s not like we weren’t putting it in play. We were just hitting it right at folks.”
Making its first PIAA playoff appearance since 2019, Faith Christian avoided that in one instance in the third inning, and that made all the difference.
After the Lions’ Chase Gieser reached base on an infield error to start the third, he was bunted to second base by Ethan Johnson. Miller then pounded a two-strike offering from Nativity’s Nolan Ferhat that eluded the left fielder and bounded over the wall at Robert Wetzel Field. That ground-rule double scored Gieser.
“They put up one. They earned their first run and the only one of the game,” Kreiger said. “That’s the hardest game they played all year.”
In its first PIAA Tournament game, Nativity made sure of that.
Ryan Strauss walked and advanced on a bobble of Ryan Grabowski’s bouncer to third base, but Weikel got a strikeout and an inning-ending flyout.
Nativity’s Josh Kimber drew a two-out walk in the fifth, but Weikel avoided further trouble with a strikeout.
All the while, Koffel was expecting Faith Christian to score more runs.
“I thought, if we scored six total, I’d be thrilled,” Koffel said. “Just with the offense we have, six is not under performance.”
Instead, the Lions were repeatedly frustrated by Ferhat, who struck out seven and walked none. Faith Christian put two runners on base with singles by Miller and Jagger Verbit to start the sixth, but Ferhat then struck out the side.
In the seventh, Ferhat hit Noah Wilson with a pitch. Wilson stole second and then was balked to third, but attempted to score on a bouncing 1-1 pitch. Nativity catcher Ethan Grabowski recovered to tag Wilson out.
In the end, the pitching combination of Weikel and Miller was too much for the Hilltoppers.
“Weikel is actually our number-two and Miller is our number-one,” Koffel said about the Lions’ rotation. “That duo has been dominating teams all year. To this point, we’ve actually only given up 40 hits as a team because of our dominant pitching.”
But no team was closer on the scoreboard than Nativity, and Kreiger was proud of his team’s effort and excited about its future.
“We have a lot of underclassmen that got (playing) time this year, and they’ll keep working on their craft,” Kreiger said. “We look forward to 2025. We’ll be back.”
PIAA CLASS A TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
At Fountain Springs
FAITH CHRISTIAN (1) — Miller ss-p 3 0 2 1, Verbit lf 3 0 1 0, Beltre c 3 0 1 0, Weikel p-1b 3 0 0 0, Labs rf 3 0 0 0, Wilson cf 2 0 0 0, Roberts 3b 3 0 0 0, Gieser 1b 2 1 0 0, Celone ph 1 0 0 0, Johnson 2b-ss 1 0 0 0. Totals 24 1 4 1.
NATIVITY (0) — Ferhat p 3 0 0 0, Karinch cf 3 0 0 0, Keating lf 3 0 0 0, E. Grabowski c 3 0 0 0, Kokitus rf 3 0 0 0, Smith 1b 3 0 0 0, Strauss dh 1 0 0 0, Mathers 3b 0 0 0 0, Kimber 2b 1 0 0 0, R. Grabowski ss 2 0 0 0. Totals 22 0 0 0.
Faith Christian (20-0) 001 000 0 — 1
Nativity (11-11) 000 000 0 — 0
E — Faith Christian 1, Nativity 2. DP — Nativity. LOB — Faith Christian 2, Nativity 3. 2B — Miller. 3B — Beltre. SB — Miller, Verbit, Wilson. S — Johnson.
Faith Christian: Weikel (W) 6 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB5 SO; Miller;1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB1 SO.
Nativity: Ferhat (L) 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 7 SO.
HBP — Wilson (by Ferhat). BK — Ferhat. T — 1:49.
