Top Stories of 2016: #3 - Five State Championships Awarded
December 29, 2016
By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting
In our PIAA class AAAA state tournament preview, we wrote about eventual champ Boyertown Area: "Pitching-and-defense-oriented team has a habit of coming out on the positive side of close, low-scoring games." Staying true to form in the state tournament, the Bears won three of four games by scores of 4-2, 3-1, and then 4-1 over Plum for the program's third state title (first since 1991).
First-year Bellefonte Area coach Dan Fravel was named to the position just one month prior to the start of the season and the Red Raiders lost seven of their first eight games. The PIAA class AAA champ turned things around in a big way, although not without continued drama, as six of its seven playoff games were decided by one or two runs, including a 2-0 win over Susquehanna Township to secure the first state title in the program's history.
Clearing a higher bar in three successive years, Neumann-Goretti went from state semifinalist in 2014, to state runner-up in 2015, to PIAA class AA state champion in 2016. The Saints gave up just seven runs in eight post-season games, including a mere one in thirty state tournament innings, beating Bishop McCort Catholic 3-0 for the program's first-ever state crown.
PIAA class A champion Vincentian Academy survived three extra inning games during its playoff push, including the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs and the first two rounds of the state tournament. In the state semifinals, the Royals avenged a WPIAL semifinal loss to Serra Catholic before knocking off Meyersdale Area 5-2 for the program's first state championship.
There's walking a tightrope, then there's what The Haverford School pulled off, winning all three of its PAISAA tournament games in extra innings. The Fords, who finished in fifth place in the Inter-Ac regular-season, beat perennial contender Perkiomen School, plus Inter-Ac co-champs Springside Chestnut Hill and Malvern Prep (3-0 in the final) for the team's first tourney title since 2013.
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