RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Briar Persing throws for Montgomery during a high school baseball game against South Williamsport earlier this season. The Red Raiders won 3-0.

Montgomery made history Saturday at Giles Field.

Doing so showed the public who this team is and let the team know what it can possibly do. Each season is like a book and no one knows how this one will end yet, but Montgomery certainly produced a riveting chapter, blanking 2025 Class AAAA state finalist Montoursville, 3-0.

Briar Persing threw a masterful four-hit shutout and struck out 10, Gage Furman and Chase Bennett both collected two hits and Montgomery (9-1) made a major statement as it defeated Montoursville for the first time ever.

“If you want to be good, you have to beat the best teams and that’s one of the best teams around. We have all the respect in the world for Montoursville and that’s another huge step for Montgomery Baseball going forward,” Montgomery coach Tim Persing said. “That gets more excitement for the younger kids who come to watch and it builds the program and feeds it when you see the guys doing that. It’s a great thing all the way around.”

Montgomery played a great all-around game against Montoursville, which had won five straight games. Furman set the tone when he opened the game with an RBI double and scored soon after. The freshman both scored and drove in runs, while Persing added an RBI Cooper Roman went 1 for 1, reaching base all three times.

Persing took centerstage with his pitching but all the Raiders carried equal weight and helped Montgomery win its eighth consecutive game.

“Everyone contributed and those are the kind of games you want to play,” Persing said. “It was a great atmosphere; a great team. It was a huge opportunity for them to show all the hard work they put in all winter and to show that we are capable of beating anybody if we play the game the right way and believe in each other.”

Briar Persing believed in both himself and the team and convinced his uncle to give him the ball. Tim Persing was debating holding the Penn State-bound junior with three big league games coming this week, but Briar convinced him otherwise.

And then made his uncle look like a genius.

Persing has thrown several gems through 2 ½ seasons of high school baseball, but this was his best yet, especially given the opponent. Persing put on a clinic, throwing 65 of 80 pitches for strikes, walking none and striking out 10. All that against a team which had scored at least four runs in all seven previous games.

“He wanted the ball and that’s the kind of situation the kid is made for. That’s the best game I’ve seen him pitch in high school,” Persing said. “He was ahead in the count all the time and it was an awesome performance by him and we had solid defense behind him.”

Now the goal is making this win mean more as the season continues. At its best, Montgomery was good enough to beat a team which came within a hit or two of winning last year’s 4A state championship and which has a strong nucleus back from that squad. The key is making sure the intensity and focus which produced that win does not fade.

Tim Persing keeps preaching that Montgomery play the game, not the opponent. Stay humble, focused and determined no matter who plays against it and a team which reached both last year’s District 4 Class AA championship and state tournament can give itself its best opportunity at building on that success.

And that is where Montgomery is now entering today’s game against fellow 2A contender Northwest. The Raiders want Saturday’s win to be a launching pad, not an individual season highlight.

“There’s no let up. We expect the same focus and attention,” Persing said. “It shouldn’t matter who we’re playing. You play every game the same way. If you want to get where you want to go, that’s what it’s going to take.”

That is why Montgomery schedules teams like Montoursville, Hughesville and Selinsgrove, among others. Like any team, the Raiders want to win every game they play, but they also know that each season is a long game in itself.

Montgomery played a great game Saturday. Now it wants to play even better as the season continues.

“It was a great team effort and everybody playing as a team and that’s what you have to do to win games like that,” Persing said. “They were fired up. It was what we need to be all the time.”

LATE START

Making that win especially impressive was that Montgomery defeated a Montoursville squad which finally has gotten into a rhythm. The Warriors have finally been able to establish a consistent routine but it sure took a while.

Unplayable playing conditions at Giles Field kept Montoursville from having any practice there until less than two weeks ago. When the Warriors opened their season at Midd-West March 30, it was the first time they were on the field.

Despite that, Montoursville won six of its first eight games and outscored Danville and Central Columbia, 20-1 last week before running into Montgomery.

“It’s been rough the first couple weeks. It was very trying,” Montoursville coach Jeremy Eck said. “I was questioning myself. The first month of the season you see the other teams playing and practicing and you look up here (at softball field) and they’re practicing and we’re not on our field and it sucks.”

This has been an ongoing issue the last few seasons, but it reached a new issue this preseason. Montoursville was forced to play its first five games on the road, switching some previous home dates. It finally settled in last week and played three times at Giles Field, but the hope moving forward is that these problems become a distant memory.

“I’m happy to be able to be out there and, hopefully, over the next couple months they can come up with a solution to fix that situation because the kids deserve better,” Eck said. “You’re coming off a season like that and your everybody’s target, so you know you want to come out and be prepared. I think that was the hardest thing. Our coaches and I have always prided ourselves on having these guys prepared for any situation. We review everything, but to not be able to come out on an actual field and do it is tough.”

EXTRA BASES

Hughesville came storming back from a five-game losing streak, handing Southern Columbia its first loss in eight games last Wednesday before capturing the George Zalar Tournament in Shamokin with wins against the hosts and Troy. Suddenly, the Spartans (5-5) are back in the playoff hunt. Nate Bieber stifled a Southern offense which had scored at least six runs in all seven games before Brett Whitmoyer threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Shamokin. Gage Webb capped the resurgence with a terrific three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 4-1 win against Troy … Muncy (4-4) also boosted its playoff hopes in impressive fashion, blanking District 4 Class A title contender Benton, 8-0 Saturday. Corbyn Gardner, Jameson Barlow and Kynton Fish combined on the three-hit shutout. Gardner and Barlow each had two hits with Barlow belting a triple, double and driving in four runs … South Williamsport (5-4) won its third game in its final at-bat, scoring four times in the bottom of the eighth and edging North Schuylkill, 8-7. Levi Butler roped a walk-off single and had three RBIs, while Andrew Walter had two hits and Kamdyn Bubb homered … Avery Taddeo collected two hits and three RBIs, while combining with Kane Meixel on St. John Neumann’s 7-2 win against CMVT Saturday. Meixel struck out eight innings and Maverick Dunkleberger had two hits with an RBI … Cowanesque Valley (11-1) became the first area team to clinch a playoff spot, sweeping two games from Sayre and Northern Potter Saturday. The defending District 4 Class A champions have won three straight games and have showcased sensational pitching depth with eight players earning wins … Drake Dupont went 3 for 3 and Brecken Gusick, Jahvon LaRosa, Carter Cowden and Carter Mileto all had two hits in Loyalsock’s 17-2 win against Sayre.

Dr. Masse’s top 5 rankings

1. Central Mountain (7-1): Despite heavy graduation losses, Central Mountain is back in familiar territory, winning seven straight games. The Wildcats outscored Jersey Shore, Shamokin and Punxsutawney, 36-5 last week as the offense started heating up. Aiden Jones looks like he could be the next in a long pipeline of excellent pitchers, throwing a dazzing one-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts at Jersey Shore. He also had two hits and two RBIs in that game. Watt Probst and Yafran Sanchez both went 2 for 2 against Punxsutawney and Sanchez, Jones and Blake Walker all doubled.

2. Williamsport (8-1): Williamsport has won six straight since its lone loss against Central Mountain and Cole Deitrick overpowered District 4 Class AAAA title contender Athens Friday. The Shippensburg-bound right-hander was at his best, throwing four-hit complete game and striking out 12, including every batter at least once. Just as impressive, he threw 64 of his 84 pitches for strikes. The Millionaires rallied late for four runs after trailing 1-0. They opened their week with a 10-6 win at Selinsgrove as Zane Rogers smashed a three-run home run, and Trey Damschroder and Cam Spangler combined for four hits and five RBIs.

3. Montgomery (9-1): Montgomery started a big week last Monday, downing rival Montgomery, 11-1 as brothers Chase and Parker Bennett both homered. So did Briar Persing, who also threw a one-hit shutout. For those keeping track, that’s two wins for Persing, 13 scoreless innings, five hits allowed and 19 strikeouts last week.

4. Warrior Run (9-2): Warrior Run started slow against Bloomsburg and South Williamsport but finished strong enough to make Popeye smile. The Defenders erased two and four-run sixth-inning deficits, outscoring two potential playoff teams, 18-0 in the last two innings. Coen Zechman and Landon Tillson were quite a tandem at the top of the lineup each producing multiple-hit games in the comeback wins. Tillson also struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings at Bloomsburg before James Keifer improved to 5-0, keeping Warrior Run in the game enough to spark a comeback against South. Warrior Run also moved into a tie for first place in the HAC-III halfway through the season, sharing that spot with Mifflinburg.

5. Montoursville (6-2): Montoursville does not have to wait long to try and bounce back, hosting Midd-West today. The Mustangs have heated up and gave undefeated Mount Carmel a battle last week. Speaking of Mount Carmel, the undefeated Tornadoes come to Giles Field Wednesday. They hold a one-game lead on Montoursville, winning, 9-6 the first time they played. Logan Kirby improved to 3-0 earlier in the week, throwing six innings of three-hit baseball in a 5-1 win against Central. Kirby has allowed eight hits and two runs in 17 2/3 innings.

Players of the Week

Jed Abernatha, Hughesville and Giovanni White, Williamsport: Abernatha has been at the heart of Hughesville’s resurgence and has taken off since moving to the lead-off spot. The senior outfielder has produced at least two hits in five straight games. In four games last week, a player with speed and pop went 8 for 15 with four doubles, a triple, nine runs and five RBIs. White has been locked in at the middle of Williamsport’s order, pouncing on run-scoring opportunities. The senior center fielder had multiple-hit performances in all three games last week, driving in nine runs over the last two. He also smashed three doubles.

Game of the Week

Williamsport at Central Mountain: It does not get much better than No. 1 vs. No. 2. Making today’s showdown even better is the HAC-I league championship implications. Central Mountain holds a one-game lead over Williamsport and would be in the driver’s seat with a victory. The Wildcats have won 17 straight league games and Williamsport is the last team to beat it in HAC-I play, doing so two years ago.

–Masse may be reached at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @docmasse