For even the most skilled climbers, scaling a mountain is a laborious task. The ascent is slow and calculated, one step at a time, not looking back at where you’ve been but giving full concentration to the summit that lay ahead. But even for a Mountaineer, that zenith is often allusive.

The South Williamsport High School baseball team experienced a fatal dose of climber’s bends when their quest for a state baseball championship was dashed on a Pine Grove, Pennsylvania hillside by Devon Prep 3-1 in a Class AA semi-final matchup last Tuesday. The gritty band of Mounties had dropped the first game of the 2019 season 1-0 to Hughesville and ended it with the hard-fought loss to the Tide. But in between they recorded 18 wins, a HAC-II league championship, a District IV title, recorded the first two state playoff victories in the program’s history and won the hearts of their community’s fans.

Unlike there being no joy in Mudville when the mighty Casey had struck out, while there was momentary disappointment that the dream was not fulfilled, pride and accomplishment filled the hearts of parents and fans and after the sting of defeat has dissipated it will be the same for the players and coaches whose efforts combined to make the 2019 high school baseball season a most memorable one on the south side of the river.

While the team was led by pitcher Tripp Breen, whose transformation from an unsettled freshman to a senior leader, hard-throwing stud headed to Division 1 St. Bonaventure grew every time he took the mound and veteran coach Smokey Stover, who seemed to mellow from his vociferous conversion of his college days at Lock Haven University to a more melodious mentor condoning rock music at team practices and bus rides, the role players on this over-achieving team were many.

Senior Logan Burkett provided a near perfect pitching complement to Breen, served as the team’s cleanup hitter and was a defensive catalyst at first base. Shortstop Pete Sinibaldi stood taller than his 6’3 frame expanding his range in the field and providing key hits throughout the season. Second baseman Hunter Finn, the teams only four-year varsity starter had the biggest adjustment to make to a new coach’s style and set the table as the team’s leadoff hitter. Senior reserves Tyler Trojan and Buddy Harris adjusted to the roles handed them with Trojan often using his speed as a pinch-runner.

The starting lineup’s four juniors all produced moments to be remembered led by centerfielder Luke Winner. Winner’s arm saved two Mountie wins throwing out runners at the plate in victories over Williamsport in the Backyard Brawl and Blue Ridge in the state quarterfinals. His bat produced several key hits, most memorable a bottom of the seventh inning walk-off home run to beat Bloomsburg 1-0. Left-handed catcher Dom Harding’s arm threw out several would-be base stealers, and his bat was a key in the Mountie attack that included a grand slam home run. Left-fielder Nate Persun’s confidence and performance grew as the season progressed, earning a key role in Stover’s everyday lineup. Right fielder Cole Brewer’s defensive process rounded out the all underclassman outfield.

Freshman third baseman Landon Lorson, the projected starting quarterback for this fall’s South Williamsport football team, displayed a rifle arm and added some timely hitting in handling chores at the hot corner.

Sophomore outfielder Ryan Rischoff’s developing bat earned him increased playing time as the season progressed and classmate Trent Hampton saw action backing up Burkett at first base and Harding behind the plate. Freshman infielder Grant Bachman showed flashes of promise and also recorded limited innings on the mound.

The statistical achievements of this South Williamsport squad have been well documented, but their grit and determination cannot be recorded on a stat sheet. They didn’t have gaudy offensive numbers but were masters at finding ways to win the close games. Prior to the Devon Prep loss, they had won six consecutive one-run games and nine straight games decided by one or two runs.

The South Williamsport baseball program is not a one-year wonder. This season marked the Mountaineers 32nd straight winning season and playoff appearance. While other school teams had advanced further in state competition, none could match their winning consistency. Yet their lone district title was achieved in 2002. Indeed, this year’s team was not the school’s most talented, but Coach Stover and his staff were able to challenge, convince and led a group of eager teenagers to baseball heights many did not think possible during those cold March days of indoor training at the cramped Rommelt Building batting facility.

The hard-fought end came by the same similar fate previously felt by other District Four schools chasing state championship dreams, succumbing to private/charter school squads not encumbered by the PIAA restrictions placed upon their public school brethren. Of the final four Class AA teams trying to reach the title, game South was the only public school team still left standing.

Leave no doubt, Devon Prep was a talented well-coached team and based upon their 260 student enrollment size they are a Class AA team. But the all-boys prep school had more than 10% of their enrolled students dressed in baseball uniforms crowding the first base dugout to its limits.

Somewhat ironically, on the same day the game was played state representative Aaron Bernstine was introducing a bill to the Pennsylvania State Legislature which would re-define PIAA state championship tournaments to create separate public and nonpublic tournament brackets with the winning schools then meeting for a final state championship. But that is a topic for another day.

As South Williamsport’s large and faithful fan base gave their young heroes a final appreciative round of applause for what they had accomplished it was not about the future, it was about the past three months and the accompanying pride that had been nurtured.

South Williamsport had inched its way up this playoff mountain by doing it one careful step at a time. It was the little things that had gotten them there. Pinpoint pitching, timely hitting, improving defensive and a growing belief in what Coach Stover was instilling in them were all trademarks of the product displayed on the field.

But on that final Tuesday, some of those little things betrayed them, beginning with a long bus ride that delayed their arrival in Pine Grove setting back the game’s scheduled starting time. A defensive lapse covering a base, Devon Prep’s ability to hit two-strike pitches, not being able to move base runners or deliver the much-needed base hit all contributed to the 3-1 loss.

So that Tuesday semi-final game was not followed up with a hoped-for Friday visit to Penn State for the state championship game. But I somehow have a feeling that when Pete Sinibaldi and Hunter Finn arrive on the Penn State main campus to begin their collegiate studies this fall, they may walk by Lubrano Park and think about what might have been. If they do, they should do so with a smile on their faces and joy in their hearts about what they helped their teammates and the 2019 South Williamsport baseball team accomplish. Hundreds of others will remember what they did.