Prep Baseball Report

PBR Spotlight Game: No. 24 Saegertown vs. Titusville



The Titusville Rockets and the Saegertown Panthers will meet up for the second year in a row for the District 10 AA Championship tomorrow afternoon at 3:00pm at Slippery Rock University's Jack Critchfield Park. Saegertown got the better of Titusville last year and eventually advanced to the PIAA round of eight before losing to eventual State Champion Riverside. This year there will be one big difference, Adam Bleday.

Adam Bleday, the ace of a very strong Titusville pitching staff was not available to throw in last year's District 10 Championship game.  This year he is ready to go and will look to quiet a Saegertown offense that has scored runs in bunches during the regular season, but which has been cooled during the playoffs.

Adam Bleday

This season, Bleday has been nearly untouchable, allowing only three earned runs in 59 innings. His 0.36 ERA has been aided by nearly two strikeouts per inning, with 115 total. He recorded seven double-digit strikeout games. He had a nine-inning complete game against Youngsville in which he struck out 23 batters.

Saegertown will counter with offense, and a lot of it. The Panthers (21-1) are hitting .394 as a team. Saegertown's top nine hitters are each at .360 or above, led by sophomore catcher Tyler Walters (.537) and junior shortstop Stephen Sada (.529).

The Panthers have one senior, Ryan Paden, who has a team-leading 0.56 earned-run average and whose .380 batting average ranks sixth.

Sada has missed the first two playoff games with an abdominal strain and will most likely be a game time decision for Saegertown. His ability to get on base, steal bases and create a distraction helps make the Panthers offense click.  Without him, Saegertown has been limited to seven runs in its first two playoff games.

Stephen Sada

The Panthers are likely to counter with Luke Carter, Class of 2013, on the mound.  The right hander has pitched countless big games for Saegertown over the years and should be equal to the task.

The winner will advance to the PIAA playoffs, while the loser will see its season come to an end.

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