STATE COLLEGE – Thirteen innings later and six hours after the originally scheduled start time, the longest PIAA Baseball State Championship of all-time ended on a balk.

A fitting end for a game where neither team was able to generate much offense, but at the end of the day, it was Cedar Cliff winning the program’s first state title 1-0 over North Penn. The pitching and defense was spectacular on both sides for 13 innings.

The first inning saw both pitchers get off to strong starts with Cedar Cliff’s Peyton Price allowing just a single to Chase Jones, and North Penn’s Trevor Lugara going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts.

Those strong starts carried over into the second inning as well. Price got some help from his defense after Christian Barnes singled, with Grant Enders starting a 5-4-3 double play for the first two outs. Lugara again went 1-2-3 for North Penn in the bottom of the inning.

Jeremiah Criger laid down a perfect one-out bunt for a single with one out for North Penn in the top of the third but once again, the Knights weren’t able to do anything with that single for the third straight inning.

The best true chance that North Penn had early came in the top of the fourth when Mason Coyne was hit by a pitch and Ben Grattan singled to right. After stealing second, Price got Luke Chartrand to pop out to second base for the third out.

Cedar Cliff wasn’t able to build off the momentum of getting out of that inning as they went down in order in the fourth.

Defense was a big theme in this game and Cedar Cliff showed some more off in the fifth. Kevin Brace singled with a runner on first and pinch runner Tyler Agriss tried to go first to third and he was hosed by Michael Boblick in center field. Cedar Cliff got a single from Ian Ripple but was not able to capitalize.

Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh and Cedar Cliff looked to be in business. Bennett Secrest singled and a bunt got him over to second base.

But after an intentional walk, Trevor Lugara ran a pickoff play to perfection to get Secrest out for the second out. Cedar Cliff would again get a runner in scoring position, but Will Kocher’s line drive was right at Christian Barnes in center.

The defensive prowess for Cedar Cliff again became relevant in the top of the eighth when Logan Waynick singled and was caught stealing by Bennett Secrest, but the Colts weren’t able to push a run across in the eighth.

After a quiet top of the ninth for North Penn with new pitcher Michael Boblick, Cedar Cliff nearly had this game won. Owen Anastasi doubled to start the inning to knockout Lugara and put in Caleb Price. Bennett Secrest then singled, but Anastasi slipped halfway home from third as he attempted to put on a late stop. The Knights would turn a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning unharmed after that.

North Penn again went quietly in the tenth but Cedar Cliff kept the pressure on getting a runner on second with two outs. Michael Boblick then ripped a live drive but it was right at Mason Coyne at first base for the third out to send this one to the eleventh.

North Penn finally was able to get a base runner when Logan Waynick singled with one out, but Boblick got Chase Jones to ground into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. Cedar Cliff went down in order in their half of the eleventh.

Following a 1-2-3 inning from the North Penn offense, Cedar Cliff threatened with runners on first and second and two outs, but Caleb Price got Sammy Georges to ground out for the third out.

Fast forward to the thirteenth with Cedar Cliff getting their SEVENTH chance to walk this game off, and they start the inning with a Boblick base hit. Caleb Price attempted to pick him off but threw it away, allowing Boblick to get all the way to third. Owen Anastasi then walked and then North Penn intentionally walked Bennett Secrest to load the bases up with no outs.

There would be no next pitch thrown as Caleb Price balked to score Boblick and empty the Cedar Cliff dugout in celebration.

“That’s a tough way to end the game but we had the bases loaded with no outs so I felt confident that we were going to get it done,” said Cedar Cliff Head Coach Justin Secrest. “That’s a tough way to lose a game but we’ll take it, I can’t be more proud of these guys and so happy for the community of Cedar Cliff that we get to bring home a championship for the first time in program history.”

The pitching that the Colts got in this game was just remarkable. Everyone knew what Peyton Price was able to do on the mound, but Michael Boblick showed something that will go down in the history books.

“Peyton Price has been an absolute bulldog for us all year, to come in and just do his job and keep us in the ballgame and basically throw a shutout,” said Secrest. “Then you have Michael Boblick who hasn’t pitched much all year, he has been in a couple of closing situations but for him to come in and keep them down as well you just have to tip your cap to all of those guys.”

Photo: Cedar Cliff Head Coach Justin Secrest embracing Michael Boblick following the Colts’ 6A state title win over North Penn