STATE COLLEGE – New classification, same result.
After winning the 1A State Championship over Eden Christian last season, Faith Christian found themselves in the 2A bracket this season. That change clearly did not faze the Lions, as they took down Freedom Area 13-1 to win their second straight state title. Senior Reid Miller struck out 11 across seven dominant innings in the win and every single Faith Christian starter had at least one hit.
“It’s surreal, first of all I want to give all the glory back to Christ, without him none of this is possible,” said Faith Christian Head Coach Nick Koffel, who helped organize a postgame prayer with both Faith Christian and Freedom players after the game. “These boys worked so hard, we came up with the phrase ‘road to repeat’ that we have lived by all year because we knew this was possible if we worked very hard.”
Faith Christian sent a message right away that they were here to play when Reid Miller ripped a triple to right center on the second pitch of the game from Freedom starter Boden Hilliard. Courtesy runner Cayden Celone then scored when Jagger Verbit’s ground ball was thrown home but not quite in time to nail Celone.
Verbit got to second on that throw, which came in handy when Brandon Labs slapped a double down the left field line scoring Verbit.
Later on in the inning, Faith Christian scored their third run when they got their first out after Collin Kim’s sac fly drove in Labs.
Freedom was able to get a response on the board in the bottom of the first to stop the momentum a bit off of Faith Christian starter Reid Miller. Xavier Robbins hit a two-out ground ball up the middle that would have been a tough play but it was not made, bringing Mason O’Donnell in for the first and only Bulldog run of the game.
The next two innings saw both teams held scoreless after four runs scored in the first. Both Hilliard and Miller settled in. Faith Christian looked like they were ready to score a fourth in the top of the second, but Jagger Verbit’s suicide squeeze bunt was popped up and instead turned into an easy double play for Freedom.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that any more runs were scored. After Logan Labs reached on an error, courtesy runner Brady Clymer stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. That part ultimately would not matter as Madden Marcks tripled to left field in the next at bat which would have scored him anyway.
Marcks then came around to score two batters later when Reid Miller helped himself out by flying out to left field to extend the Faith Christian lead to 5-1.
Freedom had their chance to make some noise in the bottom of the fourth but could not get out of their own way. Xavier Robbins singled to lead off the inning and an error made it first and second with a passed ball then making it second and third.
Colten Blank then hit a sinking line drive that looked deep enough to score a run, but both runners took off thinking that it would drop and Zach Kuntz was backpicked at second base after the catch while Robbins was not able to tag up in time. The Bulldogs would not score in the inning.
Faith Christian then took that momentum and delivered a gut punch in the top of the fifth when Logan Labs delivered a two-out, two-run single to right field to put the Lions ahead 7-1 and knock starter Boden Hilliard out of this game. For good measure, they added a Jude Clymer RBI single to extend that lead to 8-1.
“We’ve been able to swing it all year, it hasn’t always just been one guy if someone is off someone else picks him up and is able to be productive,” said Koffel. “We were way more athletic this year, we stole over 170 bases this year as a team. Being able to add that aspect to it along with hitting over .400 as a team is outstanding. They swing every day, we get about 100 swings a day.”
With the lead fully intact, Reid Miller could just focus on carving on the mound. He was brilliant all day with an 85 MPH fastball and sharp 75-76 MPH slider to pair with it that the righties were really struggling to pick up.
The first inning run that he allowed was not earned, but still, on this stage you can see some guys get a bit flustered when things don’t go their way but that was not the case here as Miller struck out 11 over seven innings with just three hits allowed.
“Reid went on three days rest the last three games, he threw in the quarters, the semis, and the finals all on three days rest,” said Koffel. “He’s a bulldog, a guy that has had one loss in the last two years. We give him the ball almost every big game and he comes out on top and I can’t say enough about him. It’s going to be a huge hole to fill next year. He ends up with 67 innings and over 115 strikeouts just this year and is the definition of an ace.
You won’t see many more offenses more balanced than this one. Every single Faith Christian starter had at least one hit and 7/9 of the starters had at least one RBI. You really can’t point the finger at one guy on this offense. Logan Labs had three hits, Jude Clymer and Reid Miller both had 2 RBI, but everyone did their part.
The rise that this Faith Christian had is remarkable. The Lions have now gone 45-2 in the last two seasons with two titles. They have consistently been a very good program, but they have really made that leap to “elite” the last two years.
Last year’s title was in the 1A bracket and this year’s in the 2A, but don’t expect to see the Lions leap up to 3A next year.
“We’re going to stay in 2A for another year, we lose a lot of seniors as far as arm wise,” Koffel said with a laugh. “85% of our innings are gone but we have a lot of young guys who are eager to step into those roles and fill big shoes and we’re ready for the challenge and let’s see what next year brings.”
