North Penn defeated Wyoming Valley West 4-3 in eight innings to capture the PIAA Class AAAA title on Friday. To view photos, please click on the Photo Gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/061215_north_penn_vs_wyoming_valley_west_dl
STATE COLLEGE - It was a play they'd executed countless times before.
Douglas Apple fielded Tyler Yankosky's grounder to first and tossed the ball to pitcher James Witner, who was covering the bag.
This was an out for the history books as it sealed North Penn's thrilling 4-3 win in eight innings over Wyoming Valley West in Friday's PIAA Class AAAA title game at Penn State University's Medlar Field.
"It's funny - I was thinking right before that ball came to me, 'I haven't had a ground ball all game,'" Apple said. "I saw it right off the bat. I saw it was a high chopper.
"I wanted to wait back, so I got that big hop. I knew James would be over covering the bag, so I fielded it cleanly, made a good toss and then I just celebrated with my teammates. It was a great feeling."
Celebrate hardly covers it.
Apple tossed his glove in the air and converged with his teammates for an emotional dog pile. Players and coaches exchanged hugs while their rabid fans who made the trek to Penn State were doing the same in the stands.
Looking for the definition of ecstasy? This was it.
"This is just awesome," senior Mike Christy said. "We had them in the seventh inning by one run, and they came back and got it.
"Once we got that run in the eighth, I knew Witner was going to shut them down. Honestly, it's the best feeling in the world. Once I saw it was hit to Doug - I knew Witner was going to be there for the flip, and we were going to celebrate. It's the best feeling in the world."
"It's indescribable," senior Jared Melone added. "These past few weeks have been amazing. We've been playing great baseball, we graduated last night.
"I wouldn't want to do it with any other guys. We're like a family out there."
Friday's win - which gave the program its third state title in seven years - capped a journey through the state tournament that was a testament to this team's resiliency and also its will to win.
Nothing came easily in North Penn's wins over Pennsbury (a 2-1 win the quarterfinals) and Shaler (a 3-1 come-from-behind win in eight innings in the semis). Friday's title game was another gut check, and the Knights passed with flying colors.
"I think a big part of it was we were time tested this season," coach Kevin Manero said. "I think back to games that we played. In an early game against Pennridge, we were down to the last out, and we came up with a big hit and found a way to win.
"We had a very tight game with Hatboro-Horsham at our place at the end of the season. We had playoff games. It was one tough game after another, and when you win those games enough, you think anything's possible. As long as you believe it, you're going to play with some confidence."
That confidence was on display in Friday's win that saw the Knights twice take a lead and twice watch the Spartans come back to knot the score.
Mike Christy gave the Knights an early boost when he turned on Billy Gregory's second pitch of the game and ripped a double down the third base line. The senior shortstop moved up to third on Alex Peterson's sacrifice bunt and scored on Mason Nadeau's groundout.
An error on Jake Schuster's grounder to short to open the second inning set the stage for an unearned run and a 2-0 North Penn lead after Zach Zeigler's sacrifice bunt, Anthony Cameron's single to left, and an RBI fielder's choice by Matt Marino.
The Knights - behind the strong arm of Witner - led 2-0 when a storm brought a halt to the game in the bottom of the fifth with Spartan runners on second and third and two outs.
Witner was on the mound when play resumed an hour and 20 minutes later.
"Manero wanted me in there, I'm pretty sure, and I wouldn't want him taking me out," the Knights' mound ace said. "I just had to stay loose.
"Even though a lot of coaches would take someone out after such a long break, I just had to stay focused. I knew Manero trusts me to be out there."
Ryan Hogan - who brought a .529 batting average into the game - was intentionally walked to load the bases, and an errant pickoff throw to first allowed a pair of runs to cross the plate, knotting the score.
Unfazed, the Knights answered with a run in the top of the sixth. Melone singled to right center to open the frame, and Apple hit a bloop single over first but was gunned down trying to stretch it into a double. Schuster's single to left plated Melone, and the Knights led 3-2.
The Spartans managed a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, but Witner slammed the door on that rally, retiring the next three batters he faced. In the seventh, the Spartans put their first two runners on board when Logan Zavada (3-for-3) singled, and Justin Montalvo legged out a bunt. Witner fanned the next batter for the inning's first out and coaxed a fly ball to center out of the next, but with just one strike separating the Knights from a win, cleanup batter Justin Vought singled to left, plating the tying run and setting the stage for extra innings.
Apple led off the eighth with a single to left but was erased at second on Schuster's bunt. A passed ball with two outs allowed Schuster to move up to second. He was replaced by pinch runner Ryan Bealer. Cameron's slow roller was fielded by Yankosky, who relieved Gregory in the eighth, and his high throw to first allowed Bealer to score the go-ahead run.
Witner did the rest, retiring the Spartans in order in the bottom of the inning to close it out.
"My offense really amped me up because they put runs on the board when I made a mistake," Witner said. "They really just picked me up, so I went out there. I put my all into it. It's a state championship game, so you need to do that."
Manero tipped his hat to Witner.
"I don't think James had his best stuff today, but what he does - he bares down and makes big pitches when he has to and doesn't let the game get away from him," the Knights' coach said. "A lot of pitchers - when they don't have their best stuff - try to do too much, panic and walk people.
"He doesn't do that. He doesn't compound mistakes, he stays within himself. Even if he's not hitting spots, he's going to find a way to get an out by making guys swing the bat."
Friday's win in eight innings was the second time the Knights have won in extra innings in the state title game. They captured the 2013 title with a 6-5 win over Lower Dauphin in nine innings.
"I was a young sophomore on that team, and I just followed the leadership of the seniors," Melone said. "The last time we won it on a walk-off, but this time we still had to come out and get three outs. We didn't get too excited. We were happy we scored, but we knew we had to get three outs, and we knew they were a great hitting team. This year we have 15 seniors, and we had to show the leadership."
The Knights close out an extraordinary season with a 23-4 record, a Continental Conference title and a state crown.
"I've said it all year - this is a very special group of players," Manero said. "They have a ton of fun, they're very loose. They laugh every day, they make me laugh every day, and in games like this, that's who you want to go through the fire with.
"You want to go through the fire with guys that are under control, that don't take the game or themselves too seriously, but when the ball is coming at them, they're focused, and they buckle down and make the play. That's a heck of a combination of ingredients." 
EXTRA INNINGS: With the Knights leading 2-0 in the fourth, rightfielder Zach Zeigler delivered the defensive play of the game, cutting down a run at the plate with a strike that was cut off by Apple, who fired to Marino for the tag... Witner allowed eight hits but just one earned run while walking four and fanning three. "He's amazing," Melone said. "He'll tell you he didn't have his best stuff, but it was good enough to win a state championship, so that's pretty good. He doesn't come out throwing 90 miles an hour, but he just locates every single pitch. He doesn't take any pitches off. His curve ball - I know every time I face him in inter-squad games, he strikes me out. He did phenomenal today and didn't let adversity stop him."...As for the 80-minute rain delay, the Knights - according to Melone - stayed loose. "We have a couple of kids that are always cheering us up," the senior third baseman said. "Michael Pulli is always there for us. He's always making us smile. We were obviously nervous with (runners on) second and third and their best hitter up, but we just tried to forget about it. We knew as soon as they pulled the tarp off we had to focus up and get back at it."
North Penn 110 001 01 4-8-1
Wyoming Valley West 000 020 10 3-8-2
North Penn (4) - Mike Christy ss 3-1-1-0, Alex Peterson lf 3-0-0-0, Mason Nadeau cf 4 0-0-1, Jared Melone 3b 3-1-2-0, Douglas Apple 1b 4-0-2-0, John Posavec pr 0-0-0-0, Jake Schuster dh 4-1-1-1, Zach Zeigler rf 3-0-1-0, Anthony Cameron 2b 3-0-1-0, Matt Marino c 3-0-0-1, Ryan Bealer pr 0-1-0-0 Kadar Namey ph 0-0-0-0, James Witner p 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 30-4-8-3.
Wyoming Valley West (3) - Justin Montalvo cf 2-1-1-0, Chris Lupole ss 3-01-0, Ryan Hogan c 3-0-0-0, Justin Vought dh 3-0-1-1, Billy Gregory p 4-0-1-0, Dillon Yuhas pr 0-0-0-0, Eric Raitter rf 2-0-0-0, Mark Baron lf 4-0-1-0, Tyler Yankosky 1b 4-0--0, Logan Zavada 3b 3-1-3-0, Brendin Techmanski pr 0-1-0-0, Mark Popson 2b 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 28-3-8-1.
E-NP 1, WVW 2. LOB-NP 8, WVW 8. 2B-Christy, 3B-Melone. SAC-Peterson, Zeigler, Cameron, Montalvo, Lupole, Raitter.
IP H R ER BB SO
North Penn
James Witner (W) 8.0 8 3 1 4 3
Wyoming Valley West
Billy Gregory 7.0 7 3 2 2 1
Tyler Yankosky (L) 1.0 1 1 0 0 1
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