A Shaler Titans team that had been putting together titanic performances all season looked like it would suffer the same fate as the Titanic on Thursday.
The Titans’ PIAA championship hopes were sinking quickly as they trailed Strath Haven by five runs when they went to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning. It’s that sixth that won’t be forgotten by Shaler fans anytime soon. It’s when the Titans produced one of the biggest comebacks in state championship history to claim its second title and first in 43 years.
Shaler used a five-run sixth to draw even and Connor Hamrick’s fourth hit of the game knocked in pinch-runner Logan Bauer with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to give WPIAL champion Shaler a thrilling 9-8 win against District 1 winner Strath Haven in the PIAA Class 5A championship at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
“We had not won a state championship in 43 years. To win it like we did, I hope I don’t wake up,” said Shaler coach Brian Junker, a 1995 graduate of the school and former player for the Titans.
Hamrick finished 4 for 5 with four RBIs and Miguel Hugas homered twice for Shaler (23-4), which won its 11th game in a row and captured its first title since 1980. But unlike the rest of the postseason when Shaler outscored its opponents, 43-7, the Titans were tested in a big way against Strath Haven (22-5), which tagged Shaler pitchers for eight runs and 15 hits.
Shaler found itself in major trouble when it fell into an 8-3 hole against a Strath Haven team that had topped its first three PIAA opponents by a combined tally of 26-3. But it turns out the Titans had a truly titanic rally in their back pocket.
With one out in the sixth, Hugas hit a rocket shot over the right-field fence for his second home run of the game. It was Shaler’s first run since the first inning. But the Titans weren’t done. Max Saban was hit by a pitch and Derek Leas and Ben Yeckel drew walks to load the bases. Hamrick then followed with a two-run single and Brady Alexander a two-run triple. And just like that, the score was tied, 8-8.
“They’re amazing,” Junker said of his team. “My job was to just make sure they would not give up. They haven’t all year. We had all those injuries and they didn’t give up. We had two innings left, so we just had to keep fighting. A few guys get on. It’s a game of momentum.”
It remained tied until the eighth. Leas led off with a single and was replaced by Bauer, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Yeckel was intentionally walked, Hamrick sent a scorcher up the middle just out of the reach of second baseman Ben Milligan and into center field. Alex Pak’s throw home was late, allowing Bauer to slide head-first into home plate before being mobbed by his teammates.
“I was running right with him and I knew he had it,” said Junker, who was coaching third base. “I just kept saying ‘Touch the plate.’ He slid right across it and then I joined them on the dogpile.”
Leas was the surprise winning pitcher. No one would have expected that considering he was lifted after surrendering three runs over the first 1⅓ innings. But under PIAA rules, a player can return to pitch later in the game assuming they were moved to a different position and stayed in the game. So, after moving to second base in the second (Colby Weber relieved him on the mound and pitched the next 5⅔ innings), Leas provided a nice comeback story himself by returning to the mound in the eighth and working around a leadoff walk to keep Strath Haven off the board. Offensively, Leas reached base three times, twice on walks. Shaler drew nine walks overall, three each by Yeckel and Elijah Muckle.
Hugas, an Alabama recruit and an immensely talented two-way player, was ineligible to pitch Thursday due to PIAA pitch-count rules. But Hugas made quite an impact with his bat. And he did it with some special people watching. His parents surprised him by flying in from Venezuela for the game. They had not seen him play since their son moved to the United States in early 2021. Hugas’ sister, who lives in North Carolina, made the trip, as well. Hugas, who lives with an aunt and uncle, is expected to be an early round pick in next month’s MLB Draft.
“He’s an 18-year-old kid,” Junker said. “Sometimes people forget that because he’s a superstar. Sometimes I put myself in his situation, and I know I couldn’t do what he’s doing. To have his parents there today, I’m sure that was amazing for him. And then he put on a show, a legendary show. If that’s not a first-rounder, I don’t know what is.”
Before Shaler stormed back from five runs down, it rallied from a three-run deficit. Shaler fell behind Strath Haven, 3-0, in the top of the first, but showed a lot of fight in drawing even in the bottom of the inning. Hugas bashed his first home run and, after a pair of walks, Hamrick singled in a run and then scored on a balk to tie the score.
But while Shaler’s offense went silent until its big sixth inning, Strath Haven’s propensity for scoring runs had just started. Alex Pak hit his second RBI triple of the game to put Strath Haven ahead, 4-3, in the second. An inning later, the Panthers extended their lead to 7-3 after scoring two runs on a Shaler throwing error and another on Luke D’Ancona’s sacrifice fly. The Panthers added an eighth run in the fifth on Pak’s run-scoring single. Pak went 4 for 5 with three RBIs.
Fortunately for Shaler, the game wasn’t over quite yet. An ability to come through in the clutch to win the biggest game of their careers will have folks remembering these Titans for a long time.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.