CLAYSBURG – Both Mifflin County head coach Ray Hoppel and Altoona coach Tom Smith expected a well-pitched, tightly-contested game when the two teams met in a District 6 Class 6A semifinal-round matchup Thursday night at the posh Claysburg-Kimmel High School baseball facility.

That’s exactly what materialized, too, as third-seeded Mifflin County earned the right to oppose top-seeded State College in next Wednesday’s district championship game at Mount Aloysius College by grinding out a 3-2 victory over the second-seeded Mountain Lions.

“We knew what kind of a game this was going to be,” Hoppel said. “We’ve been playing Altoona for years, and we know that they always have good pitching and play good defense. We were fortunate to come out on top tonight.”

Hoppel’s son, Grady, a senior right-handed pitcher, was a big reason why.

Grady Hoppel pitched 6 1/3 very strong innings, allowing only a solo homer by Joseph Speece in the top of the seventh inning. He spaced seven hits, struck out five batters, and walked just one.

“He has really come into his own as a pitcher this year,” Ray Hoppel said of his son. “He can throw just about any pitch for a strike, and he does as well as any pitcher around at keeping hitters off-balance. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Grady Hoppel handcuffed the Mountain Lions for five scoreless innings while Mifflin County (10-9) built a 3-0 lead that would stand up.

“He was the difference tonight,” Smith said of Grady Hoppel. “We didn’t threaten until the seventh inning, but he had a lot to do with that. He throws all of his pitches for strikes.

“Mifflin County is going to pitch, and they’re going to play defense,” said Smith, whose Mountain Lions wrapped up an 11-10 season.

Mifflin County broke on top with two runs in the top of the second inning. Tye Plank struck out but wound up reaching first base on a wild pitch, Madden Weaver singled him to second base, and Logan Alexander followed with a single to right field to score Plank and move Weaver to third base, from where he scored the second run on Easton Lepley’s groundout.

Mifflin County tacked on what proved to be the decisive third run of the game in the fourth inning, when Weaver walked, stole second, and scored on Evan Stroehecker’s flair double to left-center field. Weaver’s stolen base was one of five on the night for Mifflin County.

Both teams worked out of jams throughout the entire game, as Mifflin County stranded nine runners and Altoona left eight on base.

Smith saluted each of his three pitchers – Ryan McConnell, Eric McAllister, and Aaron Smearman – for pitching effectively to work out of trouble spots. McAllister worked three-plus innings, and Smearman worked 2 2/3 innings.

“Our pitchers did a great job of keeping us in the game, and getting out of jams, which is not easy to do,” Smith said.

Nonetheless, it was Mifflin County that worked out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh inning to hold on for the win.

Speece crushed a Grady Hoppel pitch into the left-center bleachers with one out in the seventh to pull Altoona to within 3-1. Right-hander Aidan Arnold was brought on in relief, and Altoona did not go quietly.

After Will Sankey flied out for the second out of the inning, Gavin Albright singled to right field, Dante LaRocco walked, and Tanner Stroup’s single to center scored Albright to make it a 3-2 game as LaRocco advanced to third with the potential tying run.

Arnold then struck out Smearman swinging to end the game.

“I loved the effort that we put forth in that seventh inning,” Smith said. “We needed that in the first six innings.”

Altoona was sidelined in the district semifinal round for the second straight year.

“It was a decent year, but obviously you want to play for a district championship and advance to the state tournament, and we’ve come up short of doing that two seasons in a row,” Smith said. “It’s always tough when you lose your last game, but we’re going to pack it up for this year and work for a better outcome next season.”

Mifflin County 3, Altoona 2

Mifflin County 020 100 0–3-6-0

Altoona 000 000 2–2-9-0

MIFFLIN COUNTY (3): Strohecker cf 301, Ruble 3b 300, Smith 1b 302, Hoppel p 000, Arnold p 000, Haigh dh 300, Ammon ss 300, Plank rf 410, Weaver 2b 221, Alexander lf 301, Lepley c 301, Crownover cr 000. Totals – 24-3-6.

ALTOONA (2): Albright 2b 412, LaRocco 3b 301, Stroup cf 301, Smearman ss-p 401, Kraft c 301, Baer cr 000, McAllister 1b-p-ss 300, Pike rf 301, McConnell p 000, Speece dh-1b 311, Sankey lf 301. Totals – 29-2-8.

2B–Strohecker, Lepley. HR–Speece. RBI–Strohecker, Alexander, Lepley, Speece, Stroup. SB–Alexander, Strohecker, Smith, Weaver, Haigh, Stroup. HBP–Smith (by McAllister). LOB–Mifflin County 9, Altoona 8.

PITCHING

Mifflin County: Hoppel (W) 6 1/3IP, 7H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 5SO; Arnold (SV) 2/3 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1SO.

Altoona: McConnell (L) 1 1/3IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 1SO; McAllister 3+IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 3SO; Smearman 2 2/3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4SO.

Records: Mifflin County (10-9), Altoona (11-10).

Umpires: Matt Cursio (plate); Caleb Stephens (first base); Bill Wolf (third base).

Time of game: 2:15.