Frank Thomas has been battling a leg injury lately. He took care of it and rested it in hopes of getting his chance to pitch in the playoffs.
When Prep fell behind on Friday, the Ramblers turned to the standout junior on the mound.
Thomas allowed just one run in four solid innings of relief as Prep rallied to beat Harbor Creek 5-3 in a District 10 Class 4A baseball semifinal on Friday, May 22 at Mercyhurst University.
“It was the same approach: just put it in the zone and rely on the defense to make plays, and that’s what happened,” said Thomas about coming in relief. “We faced a lot of adversity in the first couple of innings with our hits not falling and them taking the lead, but we had to battle back and believe in our teammates.”
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Cathedral Prep (17-4) will take on General McLane for a third time in the District 10 Class 4A baseball championship on Memorial Day Monday, May 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Slippery Rock University, while Harbor Creek ends the season 11-9.
Prep jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Derick Friedman home run before Harbor Creek went ahead 2-1 on a two-run single by freshman Bryce McClay in the second inning.
Thomas shut down the Huskies over the next four innings as he allowed just three hits and struck out three. Friedman, a Mercyhurst recruit that could start the D-10 final, entered the game in the seventh inning and earned the save.
“It took all of us to come together and buy in to win this game,” said Prep catcher Joe Flanagan. “I ‘ve always trusted Frank and he has always trusted me. He has a good defense behind him and works hard for us and gets outs.”
AJ Sirianni tied the game at two with an RBI single in the fourth inning before Jackson Herr singled in the go-ahead run. Prep added a run on a groundout before Sirianni made it 5-2 with another RBI single in the fifth inning.
Fairview rolls into D-10 final
Antonio Zona drove in four runs and Liam Hermann had four hits as Fairview dominated Titusville 11-1 in the District 10 Class 3A baseball semifinals on May 22 at Slippery Rock University.
Fairview (15-1) moves on to the D-10 Class 3A championship against Sharon at 3 p.m. Monday at Slippery Rock University, while Titusville ends the season 8-11.
The Rockets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Fairview scored 10 runs over the next three innings. Austin Jewell drove in two runs for the Tigers, while Robert Benford and Blake Hawley each had two hits.
Luke Rzodkiewicz allowed one hit in 32/3 innings to get the win, while Jacob Milam allowed one hit in 11/3 innings to close the door.
Sharon, General McLane win
ALLEGHENY – Kellen Chelton and Jordan Cannon combined on 11 strikeouts and didn’t allow an earned run as General McLane held off Hickory 4-3 in the District 10 Class 4A semifinals, while Ethan Engelmore struck out nine in five scoreless innings as Sharon beat Girard 6-2 in the D-10 3A semifinals.
McLane (14-5) moves on to the D-10 4A championship against Cathedral Prep on May 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Slippery Rock University, while Hickory ends the season 7-14.
Sharon (14-6) moves on to the D-10 3A championship against Fairview on May 25 at 3 p.m. at Slippery Rock University, while Girard ends the season 12-7.
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep and General McLane to meet for a third time for D-10
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