jake oswalt, the tribune-democrat, johnstown, pa.
·4 min read
BEDFORD, Pa. – Receiving quality pitching and maximizing offensive innings has the St. Michael Saints getting hot at the most opportune time.
Led by right-hander Kaden Christ, the second-seeded Saints played solid defense behind their hurler and the offensive unit broke open Monday’s Cambria County American Legion League championship game against top-seeded Bedford with six two-out runs.
St. Michael claimed its third straight league title with a 6-1 triumph at Bedford Area High School.
“It’s nice being able to win three in a row,” Christ said after he tossed 101 pitches during his complete-game victory. “It’s the first time ever for St. Michael, so it’s really nice to be able to come out and win another championship.”
St. Michael, which split a pair of one-run games against Bedford this season, scored twice each in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
Both Bedford and St. Michael will play Saturday in the Region 7 tournament at Claysburg.
St. Michael (14-5) received two hits each from Tyler Orris, Colby Rearick and Bryce Roberts. The Saints played error-free defense until the seventh inning, turning two double plays and picking off a runner at second base when the game was still scoreless.
“Our defense played fantastic,” St. Michael coach Matt Gramling said. “I’ll take Tyler Orris and Hunter Forcellini, my middle infielders, those guys are as smooth as I’ve ever had. They work so well together. We played really, really good baseball. Kaden let our defense work.”
Bedford (14-5) had its four-game winning streak snapped.
“Our focus wasn’t there tonight,” Bedford coach Matt Whysong said. “I know we played a good team tonight, but we’re better than that, too. We just got to come back fighting and more focused.”
Christ picked off Bedford’s Joey Huxta at second base with one out in the third. St. Michael turned double plays in the second and fifth frames.
“The boys came out and gave me all they got,” Christ said.
“Turning those plays really saved a lot of runs tonight. Only letting them score one was awesome.”
Christ was able to miss Bedford’s barrels and induce weak contact throughout the game with a mixture of different pitches.
“My off-speed really brought it together today because without that, the fastball wouldn’t have worked either,” Christ said.
“Being able to throw that and mix it up made them double guess what they were swinging at.”
In the fourth, St. Michael had runners at first and third base. Pitcher Reece Musselman’s pickoff attempt at first base sailed wide and out of play, allowing Rearick to score the first run. Colby Custer followed with an RBI single to center field for a 2-0 lead.
St. Michael padded its advantage with two more in the sixth. Orris scored on a wild pitch, and Christ helped his own cause with a run-scoring single to left on a 1-2 count.
Roberts doubled in two runs with a drive off the left-field wall to lead 6-0 in the seventh.
Christ was one out away from a shutout, but Huxta (two hits) singled in Eion Snider to set the final.
Despite only throwing nine of 26 first-pitch strikes, Christ navigated Bedford’s offense by inducing 10 groundball outs.
He struck out four batters and totaled 10 swings and misses.
“Kaden was absolutely enormous,” Gramling said. “I thought he did a good job pitching to contact. Getting behind in the count, then throwing a strike and letting the defense work behind him.”
St. Michael, which also beat Bedford for the 2023 league title, heads into this weekend’s regional tournament with plenty of momentum.
“We followed a really big Game 2 against Nanty Glo with everybody hitting, then you come up against what is essentially our rivals in Bedford. We seem to always battle them,” Gramling said. “You get a big, emotional win over them, we should be flying high going into regionals. You never know what you’re going to see in regionals. You can see the best of the best, and we got to come out and play our best.”
St. Michael beat Hollidaysburg in 2022 for the league crown. This is the Saints’ fourth straight appearance in the Region 7 tournament after they hosted the event in 2021.
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
