Camp Hill claims District Three-peat, wins Class 2A title over Halifax
Camp Hill was making their seventh straight appearance in a District 3 Championship game.
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.