What a week it’s been for Homer City Post 493 and Young Township. They’ve played four times and each time Homer City has taken a big lead, but three of those games turned into tight contests, including last night’s win for Homer City that clinched their three-game District 31 playoff series.
The Bearcats took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the third inning at Young Township, and led 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth when the Renegades put up six runs to make it 10-9, which ended up being the final score.
Connor James doubled twice and drove in three runs for Post 493, and Shane McHugh, Nash Budner, and Brock Lewis each had two hits, while Ben Cowburn had a hit and two RBIs in a twelve-hit Homer City attack. Young Township actually had one more hit than Homer City, with Liam Scripps, Kaden Rupp, Brayden Wright, Luke McCullough, and Brayden McCracken all having two hits. Ben McConnell, Brayden Wright, Eli Morrow, and Brayden McCracken each drove in two runs.
Post 493 sweeps the series, two games to none, and will move on to the semifinal round, where they will play Bushy Run, which scored three runs in the top of the seventh and beat Plum, 6-4 to sweep their series. That best-of-three series starts on Saturday at Bushy Run.
In the other semifinal, top seed Latrobe, which had a first-round bye, will take on Lower Burrell, which beat Unity 8-1 and swept their series.
Homer City, meanwhile, has also qualified for the Region 7 tournament, which will be held at Claysburg-Kimmel High School later in the month.
