NW eliminated by Valley View

BLOOMSBURG – Much has been made of Valley View senior hurler Mason Black.

The Cougars’ ace and Lehigh commit has generated plenty of buzz this season, with his sterling 0.33 ERA in 43 innings pitched, and flawless 6-0 record.

His brother is pretty good, too.

Sophomore Dixon Black pitched five solid innings to lead Valley View to a 7-3 victory over Northwestern and into the PIAA Class 4A state championship game.

Black worked out of trouble on a number of occasions during Monday’s semifinal at Central Columbia High School’s Don Engle Memorial Field, making big plays when he needed them to turn back the Tigers.

“We had opportunities, there’s no doubt about it,” said Northwestern head coach Duran Porrino. “In my mind, the pitcher was the difference. He was good. He was sort of as good as advertised.

“I know his older brother gets a lot of the publicity and stuff like that. But every coach you talk to said, ‘This guy is just as good.’ And he was. He was the difference-maker.”

Black, who entered the contest 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 15 innings pitched, danced out of danger several times for the District 2 champion Cougars (16-5).

With his pitch count climbing, Black, who had three strikeouts, seemed to lose the strike zone, issuing three walks in the fifth inning. Down 4-2, the District 11 champion Tigers (19-8) loaded the bases with one out.

But Black once again delivered the pitch he needed when it mattered most, getting Northwestern cleanup hitter Derek Holmes to ground into a double play to end the inning and preserve Valley’s View’s lead.

Black had eliminated leadoff batter Brandon Mengel, who reached on a walk, with a pickoff move at second base earlier in the fifth inning. Mengel had moved to second when Jake Haas dropped down a bunt and reached on an error.

“Quite honestly, his ability to work our runners on the bases, and pick a couple guys off, in my mind, that’s tough, because we’re a team that likes to run, take advantage of things and stuff like that,” said Porrino. “It’s tough to be aggressive on the bases with a pitcher like that. He did an awesome job. He was good.”

The Cougars used a two-out rally from the bottom of the order in the top of the second inning to take a 3-0 lead. A two-run triple from No. 8 hitter Dylan Howanitz with two strikes opened the scoring before Chase Combs followed with an RBI single to stake Black to an early advantage.

“They’re disciplined hitters,” said Valley View head coach Jason Munley. “They work the count, they draw walks, they swing at strikes. You don’t make it this far unless you’re very disciplined at the plate.”

Northwestern cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Haas scored on a wild pitch, and Holmes delivered a base hit to score Trevor Schreiner.

“The three runs in the second inning, we weren’t too fazed by that, because we knew we had a lot of at-bats left,” Porrino said of the early deficit. “And we knew we’d have chances. And you saw that throughout the game. We did have a ton of chances.”

Rafe Perich connected for a one-out double in the second and opened the fourth with a single, but the Tigers couldn’t cash-in either time.

An RBI double from Corey Pezak in the top of the fifth made it 4-2, before the Cougars tacked on three runs over the final two innings.

“We sort of get some bad luck with a groundball, double play with the bases loaded. If that’s a base hit, or even if they don’t turn a double play, it’s a 4-3 game,” said Porrino. “That’s just baseball. Stuff like that happens. Eventually, things aren’t gonna go your way every single game. And to have it sort of go your way for five (postseason) games is great. It’s tough to have it go your way six or seven, which is why it’s tough to win a state championship.”

Northwestern got its final run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Stasko grounded out to score Henry, which made it 6-3.

Haas walked to open the seventh, and Schreiner followed with a single before Valley View reliever Duke Stafursky retired the side to seal the win.

DE-FENCE … Northwestern turned a nifty 6-2-3 double play in the top of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded.

TITLE TOWN … Valley View will play District 7 runner-up Ringgold for the Class 4A title on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Penn State’s Medlar Field. Ringgold defeated Meadville 3-2 in the other semifinal.

HITTERS ... Schreiner went 3-for-3 with a walk for the Tigers. Perich added two hits

Valley View 030 012 1 - 7 7 2

Northwestern 002 001 0 - 3 6 3

D. Black, Stafursky (6) and Boyle; White, Vogwill (4), Castrine (7) and Wiik. W - D. Black. L - White.