As warmups took place at Earl Wenger Field in Fredericksburg on Monday evening in the PIAA semifinals, a little girl walked the concourse at the storied complex.

It wasn’t easy to make out exactly what pun had been crafted onto the sign, but one word was abundantly clear, bedazzled with glitter and in the largest font; “Price”.

A young boy lunged from the top row of the stands, reaching over the railing to shout out, “Nice sign!”.

At roughly the same time, 12 members of the “Junior Colts” program lined the fence against the bullpen, getting a glimpse of Price warming up before taking the mound in the state semifinals.

That’s the way the community at Cedar Cliff has rallied around the 16-year-old sophomore through the PIAA playoffs and now into the state championship against North Penn. They trust him, embrace him and celebrate him.

“Even in the regular season, it was like a different feeling this year,” Price said of how this community has supported him and the team. “We have a younger group, and it honestly seems like it didn’t matter at all. It was a really fun year in the regular season. Then, you get to districts, we hosted two rounds of districts and a round of states, and those atmospheres were great.”

Cedar Cliff’s first round game in the PIAA tournament against Pennsbury was at home, and three and a half hours beforehand, Price had no idea whether he’d be able to pitch the game or not.

He had surgery 10 days prior to the game, and game day was also the appointment to get his stitches out and determine what his status would look like for the game later that afternoon.

“I knew I definitely wanted to,” said Price. “But, it was kind of questionable, knowing the risk that was involved.”

That’s where the sophomore’s maturity comes in, an impressive quality in a 16-year-old who’s been at the center of a lot going on around him, and a lot of attention that has followed it.

“You can’t ask for any better of a player,” said Cedar Cliff head coach Justin Secrest after their first round win. “The fact that he’s only a sophomore, too. I mean, he’s matured so much this year, and, you know, just to want the ball and want to be there for his teammates.”

The sophomore went on to have six strikeouts in 5 ⅔ innings of a pitcher’s duel game against the Falcons, a 1-0 result that entered the Colts into the state quarterfinals against Seneca Valley.

Price got roped into another pitcher’s duel game in the state semifinals on Monday, where every pitch seemed to matter in a game that the Colts led, 3-2, late.

On a 2-2 count pitch to Liberty’s Willy Cruz, Price took an extra moment to reset himself, and in doing so, separated his hands. It’s a minute adjustment, but enough for the home plate umpire to call a balk, making it a full count.

The Colts fanbase, which showed up in masses, were outraged. It’s a big call with one out and nobody on the last inning and a lot on the line, and an atypical call that doesn’t happen every game.

Immediately, Justin Secrest walked out and gestured to the fans to settle down, and had a discussion with the umpire. After, Price started to take steps forward towards the umpire.

Lots of kids his age would be hot. Caught up in the emotions, it’s not easy for a professional to take a breath in that situation, let alone someone not even close to old enough to vote for president yet.

Price turned to Secrest, said “I’m just asking,” and talked briefly with the umpire. And then it was over, and he struck out the batter, and the next one to head to a state championship game. And everyone forgot about the balk call that they disagreed with.

“That’s his composure,” said Secrest. “I mean, he doesn’t really let things really affect him, so the fact that he’s able to calm down and get the strikeout, you can’t ask for anything more from the kid.”

“Usually a player would be mad after that, and I’m not saying I wasn’t,” said Price. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t arguing, I just wanted to make sure I was asking, so I knew.”

It could have been the story of this game. One offsetting call could have derailed the season, but Secrest and Price made sure it didn’t.

“I just had to flush it because this game was a lot bigger than just one balk call,” Price went on to say. “And this team and the state championship … it’s a lot bigger than just one little call. So I just kind of had to flush it and move on.”

Surely, the college offers will start to come in for Price, who’s now posted a 10-1 record, 0.65 ERA and 86 strikeouts on the season. But for now, it’s just about having fun with a group of guys who’ve earned their way to the state’s ultimate test, and seeing if it’s possible to earn the school’s first state championship.

On Friday, it’ll be North Penn’s turn to “come on down.”

Follow Luke Brown on Twitter/X: @lukebrownsports

LANCASTER – Around the fourth inning of Camp Hill’s 3-1 win over Halifax in the District 3 2A Baseball final, Jonathan Drawbaugh’s mind began to gravitate towards history. The Wildcats had been shut down, 1-2-3 innings, four times in a row. Dayton Bittner, who drew a walk and was caught stealing, was the only baserunner, back in the second.

Ironically, Bittner was the guy that broke up Drawbaugh’s no-hit bid with two outs in the fifth inning. But, in the end, the pitcher’s duel that saw 26 total strikeouts, went in Camp Hill’s way for a third straight District 3 Championship, in their seventh straight appearance.

“I mean, I just threw one bad pitch, not the right pitch in that scenario, but I tried not to think about it,” Drawbaugh said in regards to the chance of a no-hitter.

That’s because Hayden Ziegler knocked in two runs off of a single into center field, breaking up the shutout for either side, scoring Noah Doi and Drew Branstetter, two fellow senior classmates.

Even with a no-hitter being interrupted in the bottom of the fifth, Drawbaugh stayed consistent, making it 1-2-3-4 inning and continuing to shut down the Wildcats.

The sixth is when Halifax, the top seed in Class 2A, really got going. Ryder Tobias led off the inning with a pitch that hit his back and put him aboard on first. Two batters later, leadoff hitter Brayden Midile drove Tobias in on an RBI single, making it 2-1. Midile later found himself on third with Branden Schell on first.

That’s when Camp Hill manager Matt Spiegel decided to bring the infield in for a discussion. There was no thought from either side to take the ball from Drawbaugh, just a refocusing pep talk about the last out and go to the seventh.

But, Drawbaugh wouldn’t need to throw a pitch to do so. Schell took off from first to second, and a seemingly flustered Drawbaugh convinced Midile that he may be able to score and tie the game, 2-2. Drawbaugh threw right over to third basemen Ty Kirchhoff for a huge third out, an unexpected one, but a burst of momentum into the final inning.

The final inning would be led off by Ethan Shamash, the fastest player on the team, who didn’t need to use it on a walk. Didn’t need to use it, yet, that is.

During Noah Doi’s at-bat, Shamash stole second base, and his momentum barred him from stopping there, so he went for three as well. Shamash tried to avoid the tag and get to third safely, which the umpires ruled that he did.

Halifax manager Frank Nietz came out of the dugout at Penn Medicine Park, furious for two reasons. First, he thought Shamash simply did get tagged by Halifax’s third basemen. Secondly, he thought Shamash was out of the baseline when he avoided the tag. Neither complaint was met with a reversal, and Shamash went on to score the third run off of a Drew Branstetter sacrifice fly into right.

The Wildcats went three up, three down for the fifth time in the seventh, giving the Lions their ninth District 3 Championship, and a win in their seventh straight appearance. It’s also a District Threepeat, with back-to-back wins over Trinity in Class 3A, and now a win in Class 2A.

Halifax’s loss ends their season, with no PIAA play-in game, like Camp Hill got when they lost to Delone Catholic in 2022’s Class 2A District Championship.

Camp Hill will go on to face the winner between South Williamsport and Montgomery, which is the winner of the District 4 2A championship, held at Historic Bowman Field on May 27. South Williamsport upset the top seed in that bracket, Southern Columbia, with a 7-4 win on Tuesday night.

As minutes ticked away in the final quarter, fans did begin to head towards the exits as Carlisle showed it was too late to comeback, and finished with a 60-33 win in a surprising domination between the two.

It’s the first win for Carlisle over Cumberland Valley since December 21, 2018, the first year of CV head coach David Vespignani at the helm.

The game started in Cumberland Valley’s favor, holding Carlisle guard Parker Smith to just two points, and leading 15-11 after the first frame. Late in the quarter, JJ Lebo hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Eagles, forcing Carlisle head coach Andre Anderson to call timeout with 1:39 remaining.

After the timeout, Carlisle limited CV to just one point on a Nolan Buzalka foul shot.

Then, things got rolling for the Herd. “Just go,” was Anderson’s message to the team in between the first and second quarter, according to Parker Smith. “It’s your last time playing here, just put it all on the court.”

Carlisle exploded for 15 points in the second quarter, but they held the Eagles to only five points, allowing for a 26-20 lead at halftime. Parker Smith took the advice from his head coach, and scoring ten in the second quarter, bringing his total to 12.

The gap was certainly manageable for Cumberland Valley, but that became the case less-and-less as time went on in the second half, as Carlisle limited CV to five points once again, and scored 18 of their own.

Smith added eight to his night, while Luke Fischer, Masyn McMeekin, Lucas Ream and Tyler Royal combined for ten. Carlisle allowed three points in the quarter from Nolan Buzalka, but that’s where his scoring night would finish, totaling just nine points.

It was key for the Herd to zero in on Buzalka, who scored 26 points in the first meeting between the two. “It was kind of a mentality thing,” said Parker Smith in shutting down Buzalka. “Yesterday in practice, we knew we already played this team once. We kind of knew everything, we just came out and had that dog mentality.”

Carlisle has been searching for a win like this one. They were key contenders late into the season last year, but lost in overtime to Cumberland Valley at home, a crushing loss that sparked struggles in the District 3 6A playoffs.

“It’s about goddamn time,” said Andre Anderson. “Print that.”

Anderson was ecstatic with his team on Tuesday night. They’ve had some tough practices, and some tough games. Chambersburg won 73-46 over the Herd last Friday. They’ve also lost to Hershey, Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley earlier in the year. Now, they take this win and head back home to host Central Dauphin on Friday night, looking to knock off two top programs in their division and District.

Another meeting with Chambersburg lies ahead.

The road is far from over Carlisle, but Tuesday night’s win is one that can turn a season around. We’ll see what happens next.

Cumberland Valley falls to 13-3, and the road gets no easier for them as well. Chambersburg is their only other loss of the season, and they visit Franklin County and the Trojans on Friday night.

Eight champions have been crowned after two full days of PIAA championship soccer. Lifelong memories have been made, dynasties reinstated, home crowds elated, and more as the PIAA soccer season comes to a close.

Now, as championship weekend is concluded, take a look at how each matchup played out at Eagle View:

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In the crowd at Chapman Field was Jordan Byers, a sophomore at West Perry.

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3-1 Cumberland Valley (21-1-1) vs 11-1 Parkland (23-0)

Saturday, November 16 | 10 AM | Eagle View Stadium

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1-1 Dock Mennonite (20-3) vs 7-1 Springdale (20-1)

Friday, November 15 | 7 PM | Eagle View Stadium

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3-2 Lancaster Mennonite (16-3-3) vs 7-1 Bentworth (22-0)

Friday, November 15 | 4 PM | Eagle View Stadium

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3-1 Lower Dauphin (22-2) vs 1-2 Strath Haven (19-4)

Friday, November 15 | 1 PM | Eagle View Stadium

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1-1 Radnor (20-3) vs 7-1 Moon (25-0)

Friday, November 15 | 10 AM | Eagle View Stadium

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But, they had a 2 hour, 21 minute trip to Altoona to get to this point, a matchup with the WPIAL’s third place team in Mars. The bus ride was filled with energy, amped up players and perhaps some pregame jitters.

Ashley Economopoulos was sitting towards the back, a senior co-captain for the Falcons, seated next to the Falcons other captain, Janae Swartz, and they had just one question in mind: Is this energy good?

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Find results from the PIAA semifinal round, more information below:

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PIAA 1A Boys Soccer semifinal round

3-1 Camp Hill (19-3-1) vs 3-2 Lancaster Mennonite (15-3-3)

Tuesday, November 12 | 6 PM | Lower Dauphin Middle School

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FIELD HOCKEY

3A - 3-3 Mechanicsburg (16-5-1) vs 1-2 Conestoga (at Exeter Township, 5 PM)

2A - 3-3 Palmyra (15-5) vs 1-2 Mount Saint Joseph (at Coatesville, 2 PM)

2A - 3-4 Hershey (11-9) vs 3-1 Warwick (at Mechanicsburg, 1 PM)

1A - 3-1 West Perry (20-0) vs 3-4 Camp Hill (at Mechanicsburg, 11 AM)

1A - 3-2 Boiling Springs (17-5) vs 1-1 Faith Christian (at Exeter Township, 1 PM)

BOYS SOCCER

4A - 3-1 Cumberland Valley (18-1-1) vs 7-2 Plum (at Altoona’s Mansion Park, 12 PM)

2A - 3-2 Trinity (12-7-2) vs 10-2 Cathedral Prep (at Westmont Hilltop, 4 PM)

1A - 3-1 Camp Hill (17-3-1) vs 12-1 Masterman (at Governor Mifflin, 12 PM)

GIRLS SOCCER

4A - 3-4 Central Dauphin (16-2-1) vs 1-2 Lower Merion (at Penn Manor, 12 PM)

3A - 3-1 Lower Dauphin (19-2) vs 7-2 Fox Chapel (TBD)

2A - 3-2 Trinity (15-5) vs 7-1 Quaker Valley (at Westmont Hilltop, 2 PM)

1A - 3-1 Camp Hill (14-7) vs 1-1 Dock Mennonite (at Governor Mifflin, 10 AM)

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