Bill Underwood-Wilson

Cedar Cliff head coach Justin Secrest gave the ball to Jordan Negley in the District 3-6A championship and it paid off in a big way. The senior southpaw held seventh-seeded Wilson to one run on four hits over 6.1 innings. The fifth-seeded Colts beat the Bulldogs 7-1 at FirstEnergy Stadium. “I wasn’t really expecting that…but he did a good job. You look at his stats, you didn’t think that was gonna happen. It was surprising,” said Wilson head coach Bill Underwood. Negley entered Tuesday with a (3-2) record. He had allowed 39 hits and 28 walks in 39.2 innings. Meanwhile, Luke Minium had four days rest since tossing a complete game in Cedar Cliff’s 4-2 semifinal victory over Red Lion. Minium (7-2, 1.83) has 61 strikeouts and 15 walks in 53.2 innings this year. The junior played center field against the (19-8) Bulldogs. They sent Kent State commit Matt VanOstenbridge to the mound. The junior lefty came into the night with a 1.60 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 61.1 frames. The (18-6) Colts got to Wilson’s ace early. They exploded for five runs on six hits in the 2nd. “That was a little bit of shell shock. A lot of our guys didn’t really think that was possible. He’s been with us for two years and hasn’t really been hit like that,” remarked Underwood. VanOstenbridge was charged with seven runs on ten hits in 3.1 innings. Cedar Cliff opened the 2nd with three straight singles before Carter Enders ripped a 2-run double to left field. Leadoff hitter Sam Grube followed with a RBI single to make it 3-0. Sophomore catcher Bennett Secrest delivered a hot shot to shortstop for another RBI single. A sacrifice fly to deep left by Cayden Bender put the Colts in front 5-0. Secrest and Bender added RBI doubles in the 4th for a 7-0 advantage. Cedar Cliff piled up eleven hits by eight players. Negley, on the other hand, didn’t give up a hit until the 5th inning. He struck out five and walked three. “It was almost like we wanted to get the five runs back right away instead of chipping away at it. I think we pressed a little bit,” noted Underwood. Rafael Fernandez had two of the Bulldogs’ four singles. He scored their lone run in the 7th when Evan Gabaldon drew a bases loaded walk from Brady Wagner. Christo Hunsicker grounded out to second base to end it. Wilson had won 12 of its previous 13 contests. The Bulldogs were searching for their fourth District 3 championship. The Colts earned their fifth District 3 trophy. Secrest, Bender, and Enders each had a pair of hits and 2RBI. Negley singled and walked twice. Both squads are headed to the PIAA-6A tournament. “We got State’s coming up on Monday. Four [wins] in a row and we’re state champions,” said Underwood.