An 11-1 regular-season record in the Penn State University Athletic Conference earned the Pennsylvania College of Technology baseball team the top seed in this weekend's midseason-ending tournament.
The Wildcats, 13-5 overall, will play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against the winner of an earlier game between Penn State New Kensington and Penn State Fayette. Also competing are Penn State Abington and Penn State Beaver. All games are being played at Penn State New Kensington. The tournament is double elimination.
"A lot of the games we won out in the West were close. Anything can happen. How goes the pitching is how we go," said Rees Daneker, Penn College coach.
"Defensively, we're fine, we're set. We've pulled over 30 double plays. Our infield is solid, our outfield is solid, our catching is solid," he continued. "But baseball is a funny game. Anything can happen."
Barring any last-minute changes, Daneker expects to continue with his regular starting pitching rotation of Christian Worth (Williamsport), Austin Upright (Montoursville) and Nate Hill (Loyalsock Township). Worth is 4-1 with a 1.40 earned run average, Upright is 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA and Hill is 4-2 with a 1.40 ERA.
Hitting-wise, the Wildcats are led by Phil Woodring (Waynesboro), who takes an 18-game hitting streak into the tournament, and Mike Daciw (Sun Valley), who is 9-for-9 in his last nine at-bats. For the season, Woodring is hitting at a .660 clip with a team-high 26 runs batted in, Daciw is hitting .542, Tai Mitchell (Milton) is hitting .560 and Dave Miller (Pen Argyl) 431
Action concludes Sunday with games at 9 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 and 4:30 p.m.