RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Logan Kirby starts off on the mound for Montoursville during the PIAA Class AAAA championship game against Indiana at State College on Friday. Noah Kirby, seen catching, was outstanding for the Warriors in the state final.

STATE COLLEGE — His teammates label him a goofball. Noah Kirby prefers the term, “Stud muffin.”

Whatever the case, all the Montoursville players and coaches agree that Kirby is a super baseball player. He proved it on Pennsylvania high school baseball’s biggest stage Friday.

Kirby excelled offensively and defensively, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs, nearly helping Montoursville win its first state crown since 1992 before Indiana held on and won the Class AAAA state championship, 5-4, at Penn State’s Medlar Field.

Kirby is a fun-loving teenager, but he’s deadly serious on the field and capped a super sophomore season in impressive fashion. And that’s no joke.

“He’s a little goofball, but when it gets down to it, he gets the job done,” pitcher Jimmy Mussina said after throwing four tremendous innings, allowing only two infield singles. “He’s big, he’s strong and he has a bright future ahead.”

Kirby not only produced three runs, but saved a run in the sixth inning, picking a runner off third base. What sounds like music to his coaches’ ears, however, is that he could not have cared less about the individual performance following the game.

Kirby views the individual as just part of the big picture. It’s a means to an end. It’s all about helping the team win and Kirby helped Montoursville do that 20 times this year, as it captured district and Eastern Region championships.

“It’s just another fresh opportunity and someone has to get the job done again,” Kirby said. “Keeping the line moving is just what it is at the end of the day.”

Kirby helped keep that line running like an express train. After hitting a fourth inning single, the tall, strong catcher delivered Montoursville’s biggest hit yet, belting an 0-2 pitch for an RBI single which pulled Montoursville within, 4-2.

Kirby made it three straight hits in three consecutive innings in the sixth. Each hit grew more important, too. This time, Kirby scorched a two-out, two-run single into the left-center gap, making it a one-run game, 5-4. These were big at-bats on a huge stage, but to Kirby it was just another opportunity in another game. And this was one which revealed how good Kirby is as he tattooed the ball against Texas Tech-bound pitcher Greg Minnick.

“He always does his thing,” Mussina said. “He doesn’t let the other team dictate how he plays his game, he just plays his game. He did really well today.”

“He has ice in his veins. He’s just not fazed,” Montoursville coach Jeremy Eck said. “That last at-bat there was huge. That’s a sophomore there against a kid going to Texas Tech.”

Going against some of the best in Pennsylvania again brought out Kirby’s best.

“It’s less about me doing that and more about me doing that for my team and doing my job,” Kirby said. “It’s not about getting a hit as much as it is doing my job.”

Kirby continued doing his job as well as possible in the bottom of the sixth. Indiana loaded the bases with one out and was on the verge of scoring at least one mighty big insurance run. Instead, Kirby showed he has the arm to match his bat, unleashing a laser to third baseman Zack Neill who made a quick tag for the second out.

Mussina ended the threat a batter later and Montoursville went to the seventh down just one. Kirby also never let a ball get past him behind the plate, showing how good he was all season and how good he might become the next two years.

“That dude was very generous with his leads. I just wanted to throw it, so I threw it,” Kirby said. “I’ve been waiting to do that all year.”

Montoursville did not wait to get Kirby on the field. Although he was a freshman last year, the coaches saw rapid growth in an exciting prospect and he was the team’s starting catcher by the middle of the season. From there, he continued growing literally and figuratively.

Kirby enjoyed a breakout season this spring, finishing it hitting .385 with 37 RBIs. Kirby is a fun-loving player but he also is a hard worker and dedicated teammate. Those are the labels which really define him.

“I think Noah is going to have an opportunity to play after this and have a chance to play somewhere that he chooses,” Eck said. “He’s kind of been our heart and soul.”