STATE COLLEGE – It had been 26 years since Southern Columbia was on top of the PIAA world.

That’s no longer the case, as the Tigers are state champions after taking down Mercyhurst Prep 9-2 in the PIAA 2A Championship game. Junior righty Levi Everitt threw a complete game in the win with just five hits allowed, two earned runs and seven strikeouts.

“I’m just so happy for the boys,” said Head Coach Mike Myers. “Last year, we got knocked out in the first round when we had high hopes, and the boys were bound and determined to get back and they played together like a family.”

After Mercyhurst stranded a runner on third base in the top of the first inning, Southern Columbia struck first in the bottom of the first.

The Tigers took advantage of two Mercyhurst errors to get a runner on third base, and Kole Myers delivered a base hit up the middle to make it 1-0.

The defensive miscues continued again for Mercyhurst after an Andrew Yost single, where the Lakers were attempting to get an out at third base, but instead threw the ball away and allowed a second run to come in and score.

After a 1-2-3 inning by Levi Everitt, the Tigers put another run on the board in the bottom of the second. Brayden Andrews came up clutch with a two-out single to extend that lead to 3-0.

“It seems like since we entered the state playoff, we’ve been getting ahead early in games,” said Myers. “That makes it harder and puts pressure on the other team, and what I liked was that we kept going and kept scoring in every inning but one.”

Mercyhurst had a great opportunity in the top of the third to get some momentum back. Noah Reigel had some tough luck as he absolutely crushed a ground rule double, but because it was a ground rule double, Zack Kruszewski had to stop at third base when he would have scored easily.

Everitt got a pop out to end the inning and strand both runners.

It looked like Mercyhurst starter Brady Rice was going to have his first clean inning in the third as he retired the first two hitters, but Southern Columbia had some two-out hitting up their sleeves as Ayden Hockenbroch tripled and Andrew Novak followed that up with a double to make it a 4-0 Tiger lead.

The Tigers really started to pull away in the bottom of the fourth. After a pitching change took Brady Rice out and brought in Hayden Spencer for Mercyhurst, the two-out runs continued for Southern Columbia.

Andrew Yost worked a walk with the bases loaded, and Ayden Hochenbroch delivered the big blow, a two-run single to left field to add two more in and make it 7-0 Tigers.

The teams would trade zeros in the fifth inning as both Everitt and Spencer traded 1-2-3 innings.

The Mercyhurst offense finally showed a little bit of life in the top of the sixth inning. Cameron Aresco’s RBI ground out drove in the first run of the game for the Lakers, and Hunter Krahe’s RBI single added another run on.

Right when it looked like they had a bit of life, Southern Columbia got those two runs right back in the the bottom of the sixth on grounders from both Caden Hopper and Andrew Yost.

Levi Everitt was running a bit low on pitches, but when it mattered most, he struck out the side on just 13 pitches to bring home Southern Columbia’s second state title.

“Levi’s performance kind of says enough, he kept that team there to two runs,” said Myers. “Mercyhurst is a phenomenal team, so for him to go out there and pitch like that and go and use the defense and do what he did, I’m so proud of him.”

For Southern Columbia, this was a bit of a family affair.

There were three generations of Myers that were in that dugout today. Kole, a junior third baseman. Kole’s Dad, Mike, is of course the Head Coach. And Mike’s Dad, Mike Sr., is an assistant coach on the staff.

These guys will have something to talk about every Thanksgiving and every Christimas for the rest of their lives.

“To be able to have both my son and my Dad in the dugout with me is special,” said Myers. “My Dad was an umpire for 41 years, and he joined our staff a few years ago so to be able to do this all together is very special.”

Brayden Andrews and Ayden Hockenbroch had two hits each, while Hockenbroch drove in two runs for Southern Columbia. Zach Kruszewski had three hits in the loss for Mercyhurst.

Congratulations as well to Mercyhurst Prep and Head Coach Randy Durkoske. The Lakers had an unbelievable season as they finished at 22-3, and while the sting from this one will last for a while, hopefully these guys will be able to celebrate what an amazing season they had.

Photo: Southern Columbia Head Coach Mike Myers and shortstop Caden Hopper