Eagles ready for ‘mirror image’ Rockets

By Ashley Chase

MVI Sports

After a year on pause, the PIAA baseball tournament is back and so is Serra Catholic.

The lone Mon Valley representative in the state baseball playoffs is unsurprisingly the Eagles, who are in pursuit of a fifth consecutive 20-win season en route to a PIAA title.

Serra Catholic has 17 wins in 24 games played in the PIAA tournament, including one state title in the 2011 season and four championship game appearances. The Eagles collected a runner-up finish in 2019.

Serra Catholic, which finished third in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs, puts its 19-4 record on the line against the District 6 champions, Southern Huntingdon, at Mount Aloysius College on Monday at 3:30 p.m.

The Rockets are 17-4 and a bit of a “mirror image” of the Eagles, according to the scouting reports head coach Brian Dzurenda has received in talking with other coaches.

“They’re fundamentally sound, do things the right way, they like to bunt, solid all the way around,” Dzurenda said.

Serra Catholic’s offense has scored 8.57 runs per game while the Rockets have scored 6.66 runs per game this season.

The Eagles batters have proven to be patient, waiting for the right spots and being aware of the situations and play calls. In the consolation game, Serra Catholic hung as many walks on Carmichaels starting pitcher as he’d tossed all year.

“One of our mottoes is always ‘make them earn it,’” Dzurenda said.

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