CLARION – The old adage in baseball is that a player only needs to be successful 1/3 of the time to be considered one of the best in the business.
So what happens when a player is successful nearly 3/4 of the time? The answer is that player is putting in one of the best seasons ever seen in District 9 baseball.
The player in mention is Clarion Area center fielder/pitcher Jon Kemmer. Going into Clarion’s game at Karns City Thursday, an 11-1 Bobcat win that saw Kemmer get three more hits including another double, the Bobcat senior was ranked first in Pennsylvania among all teams submitting information to MaxPreps.com in average (.744), slugging percentage (1.512) and on-base percentage (.769) while ranking tied for second in home runs (seven) and third in RBIs (33).
“I expected to have some success this year, but not at this level,” Kemmer said. “It helps that everyone else in the lineup is hitting. They can’t pitch around you if everyone else is hitting the ball great.”
Kemmer has also developed into a pretty solid pitcher for the Bobcats, who were 12-1 heading into Friday’s game with Brockway, the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference Champions and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming District 9 Class A playoffs. On the mound this year, he is 2-0 with three saves and a 0.66 ERA. He has allowed three runs, two earned, in 21 1/3 innings of work, and all three of those runs came against Class AAAA DuBois. He entered Friday’s action having thrown 11 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. Kemmer has added 41 strikeouts and only 11 walks on the year.
“I really worked on my pitching,” Kemmer said. “I set a real high goal for myself of not giving up an earned run this year.”
Clarion starts the District 9 playoffs Thursday against the winner of the Ridgway-Elk County Catholic first-round game.
“Our goal was to win the KSAC and to be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs,” Kemmer said. “We want to make it to states (the top two teams out of District 9 advance to the PIAA playoffs).”
WPIAL Baseball Playoffs: Kiski Area continues Cinderella story
The WPIAL baseball playoffs got started this week, and maybe the best story of them all involves the Kiski Area baseball team.
A year ago, the Cavaliers were 1-18, but this season they are 11-7 and qualified for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs. They then knocked off two-time defending champion Peters Township 9-4 Tuesday before defeating Seneca Valley 5-2 Thursday behind a complete-game four-hitter from Nate Antone and a pair of RBIs each from Antone and Willie Nelson.
Kiski Area will play Pine-Richland, a 10-5 winner over Upper St. Clair in the semifinals Wednesday at North Allegheny High School. A win over the Rams would qualify for the Cavaliers for the PIAA playoffs.
The other semifinal game will feature Butler vs. North Allegheny. Butler has won a pair of 5-4 decisions in the playoffs including a win over Bethel Park Thursday. North Allegheny topped Latrobe 12-4 Thursday. That semifinal game will be at the Burkett Complex in Robinson Wednesday night.
The Class AAA semifinals will feature Hopewell vs. Moon Tuesday at the Burkett Complex and Trinity vs. the winner of Friday’s Blackhawk-Chartiers Valley game Tuesday at North Allegheny High School.
In Class AA, South Fayette will face the winner of Friday’s Shady Side Academy-Center game in one semifinal Wednesday at the Burkett Complex while the winner of the North Catholic-Beaver game will take on the winner of the Freedom-Beaver Falls game in the other semifinal at High Field No. 1.
The Class A semifinals, Serra Catholic will take on Chartiers-Houston in the semifinals Tuesday at Mt. Pleasant High School, while Neshannock will face Carmichaels Tuesday at the Burkett Complex.
WPIAL Softball Playoffs: West Allegheny rallies past third-seeded E-F
In the WPIAL Class AAA softball playoffs Thursday, West Allegheny stunned third-seeded Elizabeth Forward 4-3 when it scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to forge a 3-all tie and then won it on an Alexa Seybold single in the eighth.
West Allegheny will face Trinity, a 3-2 upset winner over No. 2 Yough at 4 p.m. Wednesday at California University of Pennsylvania in the semifinals. In the other semifinal game, Franklin Region will take on Belle Vernon at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Cal.
The Class AAAA semifinals are also set with Hempfield taking on Connellsville Thursday at Cal and Mt. Lebanon facing off against Shaler Thursday at Fairhaven Park.
In Class AA, Greensburg Central Catholic will meet Sto-Rox Thursday at Cal in one semifinal, while Riverside will take on the winner of Monday’s Bishop Canevin-South Allegheny game Thursday at Fairhaven Park.
The Class A semifinals are also set with Vincentian Academy playing Carmichaels Wednesday at Fairhaven Park and Avonworth taking on Leechburg Wednesday at Fairhaven Park.
District 9 Baseball Playoffs: Clarion, Karns City, Punxsy earn top seeds
The District 9 baseball playoffs will get underway next week, and Clarion (Class A), Karns City (Class AA) and Punxsutawney (Class AAA) have earned the top seeds.
Clarion will host the winner of Tuesday’s Ridgway-Elk County Catholic game Thursday in the quarterfinals, Karns City will host defending champion Redbank Valley in the semifinals Wednesday and defending champion Punxsutawney awaits the winner of Wednesday semifinal game between St. Marys and No. 2 Clearfield in the championship game at a site, date and time to be announced. Complete District 9 playoff brackets can be found at www.piaad9.org.
