UNCHARTED TERRITORY FOR SA

For the first time in at least 35 years and presumably program history, South Allegheny’s baseball team is set to play in the state baseball tournament.

The Gladiators (18-5) have enjoyed their best WPIAL performance ever, defeating Burrell, 8-2, this past Tuesday to claim the threeseed in Class 3A.

As the third-place team in District 7, they’re set to take on District 6 champions Central Cambria at 6 p.m. Monday at Central Cambria High School in Ebensburg.

Both the Gladiators and the Red Devils (15-8) entered their respective playoffs as four seeds, but Central Cambria managed to knock off No. 1 Forest Hills, 7-3, in the district semifinals and defeated Central High School, 9-6, to claim the District 6 crown.

South Allegheny fell in the semis to No. 1 Riverside, a team that it could potentially see in the next round. The winner of Monday’s matchup between the Gladiators and the Red Devils will move on to play the winner of WPIAL runner- up Riverside and District 9 champs Punxsutawney.

While SA coach Gib Pohodich admitted that he’d love to go on a state title run and get some revenge on Riverside in the process, he made it clear that all focus is on a gritty Central Cambria opponent.

“They seem to be a really scrappy team,” he said. “I know they upset the one-seed, and they just seem really scrappy, so I’m expecting a really good game. I think it’ll probably be low scoring.

“It seems like they have one really good arm (in Owen Harringer), so I’m sure that’s who we’ll get. I’m not even sure who we’re going to pitch yet between (Trenton) Popovich and (Adam) Jackowski, that will probably be a Monday morning decision that we’ll make.”

Harringer, a lefty who earned the win in the District 6 championship, boasts a 2.75 ERA on the season. In 56 innings of work, he has allowed 29 runs, 22 earned runs and walked 19 batters while striking out 55.

Grady Snyder is a multi-sport athlete who tops the Red Devils with a .456 batting average. Logan Black (.356), Jack Washko (.328) and Joe Iacono (.319) are other starters hitting over .300. Snyder has the team’s lone home run this season and is second in RBIs with 17, one behind Blake Coposky with 18.

The Red Devils have been through a bit of an up-and-down campaign this year. With their district playoff run, they have won three straight games for just the second time all season.

The Gladiators will be looking to snap that streak playing their way, just like they have all season.

“If we play our style of ball, we shouldn’t have any problems on Monday,” Pohodich said. “The guys really bought into what we wanted to do this season. We always want to play the South Allegheny way rather than another team’s way. Get runners on, steal bases, lay bunts down, that’s how we do things.”

Whether the Gladiators go to Adam Jackowski or Popovich on the rubber, they’ll be in good hands.

Jackowski threw a gem against Burrell, earning the win after allowing just four hits in seven innings. He allowed one base runner the rest of the way by plunking a batter after he recorded the first out of the third inning.

The sophomore ace also had a quality start in the 2-0 semifinal loss to Riverside, when he allowed six hits and two runs over six innings. Popovich last pitched in South Allegheny’s quarterfinal win over Shenango, giving up just three hits and allowing no runs in seven innings.

Pohodich, who owns a travel team outside of the South Allegheny program, has said multiple times that he’s never managed a team as tough as this one. The Gladiators have dealt with a bevy of injuries and other issues throughout the season.

Shortstop Dillon Pomocki, who hit well over .400 last season as a freshman, has been unable to play offense and has been battling to play strong defense through an injury. Popovich and Jaxson Champ, two senior leaders and the best bats for SA, have been dealing with injury issues all year, according to Pohodich. In the postseason, Elizabeth Forward transfer Hunter Fulmer has been unavailable to play at first base due to his transfer, taking another strong bat out of the Gladiators’ lineup.

Ryan Cortes, Josh Nesky and Josh and Caleb Jackowski have all made big plays throughout the year alongside Popovich and Champ.

“Popovich stepped it up this year,” Pohodich said. “Champ stepped it up, Nesky, Cortes, I mean these guys really had some clutch, timely hits this season.”

The Gladiators will hope to keep their season alive Monday in what has been the best campaign in program history. Regardless of the result against Central Cambria, this SA team can still boast the school’s first section title since 1998 and its highest-ever WPIAL finish.

But the Gladiators will continue to scrap like they have all year in their quest for a championship.

“We’re going to go in with that mindset that we can beat them on Monday,” Pohodich said. “We believe that we can advance far into these state playoffs. But we’re not looking ahead; we know that we have to take care of business on Monday.”