First, a team with a rookie coach, one senior and which lost seven full-time starters from last season rallies from a 4-6 start and becomes a contender? Then it is one out from not reaching the playoffs but gets in, outlasts the heavily favored top seed, then stares down a rival and wins a thrilling championship?

Come now. Even Sylvester Stallone might say that is too far-fetched.

But Rocky Balboa lives in on South Williamsport. Yo, Adrian, South did it.

Against the odds, the Mounties hold the championship belt and are District 4 Class A’s best team. What a story this resilient group is writing.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Jaymes Carpenter is safe at home as Montgomery catcher Lincoln Miller is late with the tag on a Cole Gerber single in the fourth inning.

Cole Gerber threw 6 1/3 strong innings, Kamdyn Bubb stranded the tying runners on the corners and different players consistently delivered clutch hits as South defeated Montgomery, 8-6 and captured the district championship Tuesday at Bowman Field. South has won five district championships since 2018, but this one likely is the most surprising, and for that reason, maybe the most rewarding.

“It’s amazing,” third baseman Marc Molina said after going 2 for 4 with two RBIs. “I didn’t get to feel it the last two years because we lost both times. There’s nothing like this.”

South (12-10) traded silver for gold, winning a riveting final in which both teams took turns erasing deficits and exciting their large fan sections. After falling short the past two seasons at Bowman Field, South pounced on its latest opportunity, rallied from a run down, scored six sixth inning runs, and created a moment it will never forget, winning a title which few outside its dugout thought possible. The Mounties took out the field’s top two seeds, won two exhilarating playoff contests after winning in nine innings at North Penn-Mansfield just to qualify and now take their place alongside the other great teams in this program’s storied tradition.

“I feel like we have faced adversity all season. It started with a hard schedule, and we found a way to make the playoffs,” Molina said. “That’s all we needed was to get in, and then we knew we could do it.”

“It’s surreal. I know this was a young group coming in but it’s a darn good group. It’s always fun coming over and coaching these guys,” first-year coach Chase Waller said. “It’s been an up and down year, and we were one strike away from not making it, but you saw how hungry these guys were. I’m glad to send these guys out the right way with gold medals around their necks.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Cole Gerber celebrates after scoring on a single by Parker Bennett in the fifth inning.

Montgomery (15-5) did all it could to prevent South from attaining those gold medals. And though the Red Raiders have to settle for silver, they also still have a shot at attaining the state’s biggest prize. Both teams advance to Monday’s state tournament and Montgomery will play against the District 6 champion, either Mount Union or Bishop McCort at a District 6 site. South will face District 3 champion Camp Hill at a District 4 site.

Both teams certainly will be battle-tested after slugging it all night as what some thought would be a pitcher’s duel turned into a heavyweight battle with each team landing some haymakers over the final four innings when all the runs were scored.

“I think we just have great leadership. We’re coached well and we all play together,” Gerber said after producing his second straight marvelous postseason pitching performance. “Every game it seems like we’ve been in close situations. It makes it easier to settle in and not be so nervous.”

South fans’ likely were as nervous as a sumo wrestler in a long line watching the buffet food dwindle as Montgomery staged a furious seventh inning rally. After South scored twice in the fourth inning and went up 2-0, the Raiders scored three times in the fifth and grabbed a 3-2 advantage. Then it was South’s turn to rally, and it scored six times in the sixth, going up, 8-3.

Just when it felt like this one might be over, it really was just getting started. Victor Ottmann (2 for 2) drew a lead-off walk, Parker Bennett (2 for 4) beat out an infield single and Briar Persing reached on an error. Two batters later Trace Furman smashed a two-run double and made it, 8-5. Persing scored on a one-out wild pitch, cutting the deficit to, 8-6. And when Lincoln Miller drew a two-out walk, Montgomery suddenly had the tying runners on the corners.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport first baseman Tadd Lusk (8) tosses the ball to pitcher Cole Gerber, left, before the beginning of an inning.

Gerber reached his 105-pitch count limit after producing his 10th strikeout and exiting with the bases loaded when it was, 8-3. All he could was watch as fellow freshman Bubb tried to secure a championship.

And that he did. Staying cool under fire, Bubb produced a game-ending strikeout as South players stormed toward the third base line, embracing and celebrating a championship about has hard-earned as one can get.

“I was so excited,” Gerber said. “I was starting to get a little nervous and the emotions were high, so I was glad that Bubby picked me up and we were able to get it done.”

“It was just joy. I was so happy,” freshman Jaymes Carpenter said after going 2 for 2 with two walks and two RBIs. “They were coming back, and we closed it out.”

Gerber and Persing came out smoking, each putting up goose eggs the first three innings and Persing not letting a runner past first base during that time. The sophomore pitched a strong game, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings, but South started heating up in the fourth inning as Trace Wertz walked, Carpenter singled and Molina continued his stellar postseason with an RBI single. Gerber helped his cause and hit a two-out RBI single, putting South up, 2-0.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Marc Molinam, Jr. celebrates after hitting a double with an RBI in the sixth inning.

An inning later, Montgomery fought back with Cooper Roman hitting a single and scoring on an error. Persing then belted a double and Furman delivered the first of his big two-run hits, ripping a two-run single which gave Montgomery its first lead. Immediately, however, South responded with Torin Haug opening the sixth with a single. Cade Lusk (2 for 4) continued his strong night, scoring Haug with an RBI single.

Last week, South scored seven two-out, eighth inning runs against Southern Columbia when it was tied. This time, it erupted for five, Wertz putting South ahead to stay with an RBI walk. Following a wild pitch which brought in another run, Carpenter then delivered the hit of his young life, walloping a two-run triple to deep right field which made it, 7-3.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play, and I got one up in the zone,” Carpenter said. “I was going for two and then saw him bobble the ball a little and went for three.”

Molina ignited the go-ahead rally against Southern and continued coming up huge in big moments a batter later. This time, Molina smoked an RBI double which capped the rally, giving him four RBIs in his last five at-bats.

“It feels good coming through like that,” Molina said. “I’m just trying to put the ball in play and hoping something good happens.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Jaymes Carpente celebrates after hitting a triple with 3 RBI's in the sixth inning.

South players kept making good things happen all night, every starter reaching base. So, it was only fitting that when Lusk held the trophy high following the medal presentations that every Mountie put his hands in and touched it. Literally and figuratively, they all have their fingerprints upon that trophy.

And the credits are not rolling yet either. This story continues as the state tournament beckons. So it does for Montgomery which has an opportunity to produce an exciting ending after Tuesday’s setback.

Get the cameras ready because anything seems possible. South has proven it.

“These guys have put in countless hours since October, and it shows,” Waller said. “I knew we could do it, but I knew we had to go through a gauntlet. These guys battled adversity just like they have all year. Until that last out I was on the edge of my seat, but all that work has paid big dividends.”

South 000 206 0―8 10 2

Montgomery 000 030 3―6 9 1

Cole Gerber, Kamdyn Bubb (7) and Trace Wertz. Briar Persing W―Gerber, (6-3). L―Persing, (6-1). SV―Bubb.

Top South hitters: Jaymes Carpenter 2-2, 3B, 2 RBIs, R; Marc Molina 2-4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Cade Lusk 2-4, R; Tadd Lusk 1-3, R; Gerber 1-3, RBI; Torin Haug 1-4, R; Levi Butler 1-5; Trace Wertz 2 BB, RBI, 2R. Top Montgomery hitters: Victor Ottmann 2-2, BB, R; Trace Furman 2-4, 2B, 4 RBIs; Parker Bennett 2-4, 2R; Persing 1-3, 2B, 2R; Miller 1-3, BB; Cooper Roman 1-3, R.

Records: South 12-10. Montgomery 15-5.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Briar Persing celebrates after hitting a double in the second inning.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport pitcher Cole Gerber throws to first base ahead of the batter on a bunt in the fifth inning.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montgomery's Cooper Roman is congratulated by his first base coach after hitting a single in the fifth inning.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport Levi Butler is safe at third base as Montgomery third baseman Mason Bryson waits on the throw on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport first baseman Tadd Lusk tags out Montgomery's Brody Denton on a pick-off at first base in the second inning.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport pitcher Cole Gerber delivers a pitch to a Montgomery batter during the district final at Bowman Field Tuesday,.