The Final Stage

Twelve teams remain and they will play at PNC Field on Sunday and Monday for six District Crowns. These teams have played their hearts out to get to this point and now they will be rewarded with a medal. The question here is will it be silver or will it be gold with a District 2 plaque and a trip to states? The only exception is 3A where both District Finalists will enter the state tournament. With that, here are the Championship Previews:

Sunday's Games

A Championship Game
Gametime: 1:30 PM
MMI vs Forest City

How they got here
MMI knocked off Lincoln Leadership 15-2
Forest City got a bye as the No 1 seed

Breakdown: Forest City is the defending District 2 Champions of Single-A. The only defending champion in the District Championships. MMI had a tough conference schedule playing teams with higher enrollements. MMI's best hitter is George Palermo, who is hitting .455 with two doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs. Kisan Patel is second on team with 7 RBIs. The pitching can be suspect for the Preppers, however. For the Foresters, Dakota Knehr-Cook has had a great junior season, hitting .500 with eight doubles and 13 RBIs. He's also 2-0 on the mound with a 2.10 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The ace is RJ Kuruts who is 7-0, a miniscule 0.33 ERA with 72 strikeouts. His offense is also impressive with a .435 average, two doubles and nine RBIs.

4A Championship Game
Gametime: 4 PM
Dallas vs Valley View

How they got here
Dallas knocked off Nanticoke 5-2 in the District Quarterfinals and then Tunkhannock 7-2 in the District Semifinal.
Valley View beat Honesdale 3-0 in the Quarterfinals and then Berwick 6-0 in Semifinal.

Breakdown: Valley View is here for the fourth time in five years. All of their appearances in the Title Game have ended in a loss. To be fair, Valley View ended up playing teams that eventually ended up making deep state runs. This year, despite who the Cougars lost, they look like the favorite in this game, however don't overlook the Mountaineers who have won 8 in a row. The Mountaineers in midseason didn't look like they would be at PNC Field after a 2-6 start but they persevered to get here. For the Cougars, freshman Dixon Black has been great at shortstop, hitting .351 with two doubles and six RBIs. Nathan Seprosky has also had a standout season on the mound, going 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA with 36 strikeouts. For the Mountaineers, they've had several young players come in and produce. Sophomore Darren Kerdesky as been great in the leadoff spot for the Mounts, hitting .400 with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs. Another sophomore, Mike Luksic has been great at third with a .347 average and seven RBIs. Junior Nick Kocher has been great for the Mounts on the mound, going 6-2 with a 2.98 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Valley View might be the favorite, but I wouldn't underestimate this young Mountaineer team.

5A Championship Game
Gametime: 6:30 PM
Crestwood vs Wallenpaupack

How they got here
Crestwood knocked off North Pocono 4-2 in the District Quarterfinals and Valley West 4-3 in eight innings in the District Semifinals
Wallenpaupack had a bye in the Quarters and beat Pittston Area 5-0 in the District Semifinals

Breakdown: Wallenpaupack comes in as the top seed and maybe has the better team. The Buckhorns have a great pitching staff and great top three hitters. However, Crestwood has proven they can hang with any team. Crestwood made believers of their doubters. They knocked off North Pocono, who won the District 2 3A Title last season. Then on Wednesday, they were down 2-0 and eventually won 4-3 in eight innings over Valley West who won the District 2 4A Title. The Buckhorns best hitter is leadoff man Morgan Theobald, who has a .421 average with two doubles and 19 runs scored. Derrick Vosburg is hitting .404 with 14 RBIs. Austin Gilpin has been great on the mound this season, going 2-1 with a 1.18 ERA with 48 strikeouts. For Crestwood, junior Colin Macko has had a great season. At the plate, he's hitting .372 with three doubles. a triple and eights RBIs. On the mound, he's 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Another junior, Justin Darden has been great at the plate with a .347 average with eight doubles and eight RBIs. Wallenpaupack is the prohibitive favorite but don't count the Comets out just yet. The Comets have proven how resilent they can be.

Monday's Games

2A Championship
Gametime: 12 PM
Holy Cross vs Old Forge

How they got here
Holy Cross beat Lackawanna Trail 13-3 in the Quarterfinals and then Blue Ridge 7-3 in the semifinals
Old Forge beat Northwest 5-4 in the quarterfinals and then Elk Lake 11-3 in the semifinals

Breakdown: Hey look now, it's no longer a No 1 vs No 2 taking on each other. Yep, we get a three seed and a five seed facing off for the District Crown. It shouldn't come off as much of a surprise that both these teams are here, as they did play in a division with the likes of Lakeland and Mid Valley. Holy Cross was more of the surprise here as they knocked off the top seed in Blue Ridge. The Crusaders' Josh Mies has had a great year. The shortstop is hitting .373 with five doubles and seven RBIs. Junior Joe DeGrazia leads the team in RBIs with 14 and also leads the pitching staff with a 2-4 record, a 3.82 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Old Forge senior Ben Grochowski has been great for the Blue Devils this season. At the plate, he's hitting .424 with four doubles and 18 RBIs. On the mound, he's 3-2 with a 1.70 ERA. Fellow senior Shane Smith has been great as well. The Blue Devils' catcher has a .345 average with 4 doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and 17 runs scored. The Blue Devils and the Crusaders have faced each other twice this season and have been big victories for Old Forge. It's going to be tough to beat a team three times but we shall see.

3A Championship
Gametime: 2:30 PM
Holy Redeemer vs Lakeland

How they got here
Holy Redeemer beat Lake-Lehman 10-0 in the quarters and then beat Meyers 7-1 in the semis.
Lakeland beat Riverside 3-0 in the quarters and then Mid Valley 5-0 in the semis

Breakdown: The Lakeland Chiefs have not lost this season and look like a huge favorite in this game. The Royals have been on a roll since losing to Lake-Lehman 3-2 at PNC Field on May 1st, winning five in a row. Where does it start for Lakeland you might ask? Look no further than their pitching staff, who hasn't given up a run this postseason. In fact, they've thrown seven shutouts this season, including the two in the postseason. Senior Brad Richards has been great, he threw a no-hitter against Riverside and he's 6-0 with a 1.02 ERA and 57 strikeouts. Junior Matt Hayes has been great at the plate with a .424 average with 3 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Adam Retzbach leads the team in RBIs with 17. For the Royals, junior catcher Tom Borum is having a great season with a .426 average with five doubles, a home run and 19 RBIs. Five other players have 10+ RBIs for the Royals. A reminder that both these teams will advance to the state tournament. The District Title would mean you would stay close to home in the first round. The runner-up would go on the road. Lakeland looks like the favorite, but the Chiefs have had to escape several times upset bids this season and the Royals are looking for exactly that.

6A Championship
Gametime: 5 PM
Scranton vs Williamsport

How they got here
Scranton beat Hazleton Area 4-1 in the quarters and beat West Scranton 1-0 in the semis
Williamsport beat Delaware Valley 5-0 in the semis

Breakdown: Scranton used their ace Jack Kelly to get to the championship game, however he cannot pitch in the Subregional final due to pitch count. The Knights will need their No 2 pitcher to keep up and take on a very unknown Williamsport Millionaire team. Ross Zanghi will in all likelihood get the start for the Knights, he went 2-1 on the season with a 2.91 ERA with 14 strikeouts. Junior Robbie McAndrew is having a great season for Scranton. He's hitting .308 with two triples and two RBIs. The Millionaires' Jesse Cornell is having a great season with a .424 average with six doubles, five triples and 12 RBIs. Jalen Jackson leads the team with 16 RBIs. Williamsport looks like they will take the subregional and take the state bid, but Scranton can give them a game.