Hepburn Lycoming confident at states
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After Hepburn Lycoming defeated Williamsport Area Little League in the District 12 major baseball championship game at Volunteer Stadium, the players were asking their coaches what happens next.
After all, this has all been new territory for Hepburn Lycoming. The league hadn't won a district title prior to this year since 1977, so it's been awhile to say the least since Hepburn Lycoming has reached the sectional tournament.
Now, Hepburn Lycoming is one of the best eight teams remaining in Pennsylvania.
Hepburn Lycoming opens the state tournament against Greencastle, the Section 7 champion, this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. in Conyngham and will look to keep its postseason run going.
"It's definitely going to be very memorable. These kids are having a great time. Just to have their name on a banner, that's a big thing around here," Hepburn Lycoming Marc Hess said. "The last banner was 1977, so they're all excited. After the whole thing's done, their names will get embroidered on the banner."
But Hepburn Lycoming's players aren't thinking about when everything is finished. There's still games to play this weekend.
"We just want to keep winning and stay on a roll," Hepburn Lycoming's LJ Hill said.
"It's been an amazing run. Everybody's been so excited and we want to keep it going," Hepburn Lycoming's Briar Persing said.
Pitching wise, Hepburn Lycoming has been solid throughout this postseason run. The pitching unit -- Persing, Hill, Cooper Roman, Ethan Hugar and Jensen Spencer -- has been able to post shutouts, but can also get out of close, tight jams like a 5-4 win against a tough Jersey Shore team in districts before beating Williamsport Area twice in close contests, 3-1 and 5-2.
LJ Hill also came up huge in the Section 3 championship by beating Tri-Valley, 1-0, and preventing Tri-Valley's offense from getting any momentum going.
"We feel pretty good about our pitching because we get after it and we can throw strikes," Hill said.
Hugar and Spencer both got time in the first game of the sectional tournament, only throwing 20 pitches to remain eligible for the next game.
That 1-0 victory in the Section 3 championship is something Hess and the team believe will be beneficial entering the state tournament. The competition only gets better the farther the team gets, and edging Tri-Valley in a one-run game against a pitcher who was throwing into the 70s was good for Hepburn Lycoming.
"We'd have loved to see Berwick again because we knew they had no pitching, but it doesn't make us any better. We knew it would be a good Tri-Valley team and I can honestly tell you I don't think I've seen a Little Leaguer throw that hard," Hess said. "This lefty was bringing it. … We had a real tough battle early on with Jersey Shore. They're a scrappy ball team. With WALL teams, they're always scrappy (too). I think it definitely helped us have a close game."
There's no scouting reports on Greencastle for Hess and Hepburn Lycoming's assistant coaches to look over. Nor is there any game tape for the players to watch to see what they're going up against. It's all a bunch of unknowns entering the state tournament. But what the team does know is they're capable of playing against anyone in the state. It's that confidence that's helped Hepburn Lycoming reach this point.
"I tried explaining to the kids that we might go there and lose our first two games, but guess what? We accomplished so much to get to that point," Hess said. "We might get there and win all four games. We don't know. I do believe we got a team that deserves to be there and I hope we go there and perform well. They're excited. You can look them up on Facebook and GameChanger, but until you see the team, you have no clue."
There aren't any weak spots on Hepburn Lycoming's lineup. While Persing, Hill, Jaxson March and Cooper Roman occupy the top of the Hepburn Lycoming's lineup and account for a lot of hits, players like Mason Hess, Hugar, DJ Harris, Cody Sechrist, Conner Hofstrum, Jensen Spencer, Victor Ottmann and Nolan Brelsford are all capable of sparking the team at any point. Not to mention defensively the team has talent scattered throughout the infield and outfield.
"It's amazing because when you have runners on the base, we know we can get runs when we need to," Persing said.
"It's two small leagues that got put together, basically two teams in each league (Hepburn Lycoming and Montgomery)," Hess said. "They may not be the same nine all the time either because the three kids on reserve, when we bring them in they show us why should be in the starting nine. When we put those reserves in, it's not like 'oh gosh, we're going to have a bad inning here.'"
Hepburn Lycoming's next step is the state tournament and while this is uncharted territory for the league, the team is going to approach it the same way it has every game and go out and have fun.
After all, it's worked so far for the team.