State College baseball falls to Mifflin County in the District 6 Class 6A title game
It came down to the sixth inning.
Mifflin County and State College’s baseball teams were knotted up at 3 apiece in the bottom of the frame with one out. Then Colby Bodtorf singled to score Jace Shoemaker to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead. Cole Knabel shut the door on the mound to give Mifflin County a 4-3 victory in the PIAA District 6 Class 6A Championship.
This marked the Little Lions’ third one-run loss to the Huskies this season, falling 2-1 on April 27 and 5-4 on April 9.
“It always feels good to give your team a lead and know that they’re going to have your back,” Bodtorf said. “All you have to do is keep fighting. We knew we were coming. Every time that we play them, it’s a one-run ballgame and we knew that we would have to fight until the final out to secure the victory.”
It’s not the first time that Bodtorf has delivered the final blow. Not even against State College. Bodtorf first did it in the April 9 matchup, when he drove in a run on a 2-2 count in the seventh to give the Huskies a victory over the Little Lions.
Mifflin County coach John McGonigal has had a front-row view of Bodtorf in the clutch.
“It’s a great feeling. He’s come up clutch a couple of times this year — twice against State College with game-winning hits like that,” McGonigal said. “(He’s) been a big-time player for us all year and he’s a senior. It’s just a great all-around team effort.”
Bodtorf began his day in the second inning by scoring on a sacrifice fly in the first inning off of the bat of Bryce Dobson to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The Little Lions answered back with a Nate Polo triple to score Jake Cooper. Alex Hlivia doubled to plate Polo and gave State College a 2-1 lead in the third inning.
Bodtorf singled in the bottom of the third to score Drake Schaeffer, who was used as a courtesy runner for Jake Popo to tie the game at 2-2. Garret Holzapfel singled to score Matt Linganfelter for a 3-2 State College lead in the fifth inning. Mifflin County bounced back with a bases-loaded Dobson walk to score Popo in the bottom of the fifth for a 3-3 tie.
Bodtorf finished things off with an RBI single to score Shoemaker for the 4-3 win. The senior shortstop ended the game going 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
Mifflin County’s Knabel was credited with the win, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out two over 2.1 innings, and State College’s Ryan Terrizi took the loss, allowing one hit and one run while striking out four and walking three over 1.2 innings.
State College coach Jeremy Dinsmore saw his team come incredibly close to taking home the title. Instead, the Little Lions ended their season with a 6-12 record.
“I’m proud of them and they battled,” Dinsmore said of his team. “Mifflin County in our game is always a tough, tough game no matter what. It always comes down to one run. It comes down to the little things — maybe a missed hit here and there. In the grand scheme of things, they had a big inning where they executed to put up runs and we just couldn’t answer that. That’s what it came down to.”