The Apprentice School baseball team forced a winner takes all Championship game with a pair of victories on Thursday but the magical run fell short with a 10-2 set back to Penn-State DuBois.
After a setback to Selma University in the Builders' first game of the tournament, the team strung together three consecutive victories to advance to the final day of the tournament.
On Thursday morning, the Builders continued their magical run with a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Cleary University. The team led off their first at-bats with three consecutive walks to load the bases with no outs. Cody Hendrickson reached on a fielder's choice to score James Williams for an early 1-0 lead. A pick off and another fielder's choice squashed the rally but was enough as two pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout. Paul Jones improved to 6-2 on the season with 6 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven. Cleary threatened in the final inning with a runner on second with one out but Mike Brumfield entered the game and struck out the final two batters for his sixth save of the season to propel the Builders into the Championship game.
The Apprentice School fell behind early to host No. 6 Penn-State DuBois in the Championship game but knotted the game at one apiece with Dalton Dye's RBI single. The two teams battled to keep each other off the board until the eighth inning when the Builders took the lead for the first time in the game. Cole Jackson led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a pop out led to the second out, Burcham was intentionally walked. Cody Hendrickson put the Builders on top with a two-run double to left-center for a 3-1 lead. Penn-State DuBois tied it up in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run double by Butler. The Builders took the lead once again in the ninth as James Williams beat out a potential double play to allow the team to take a one-run lead. Penn-State DuBois tried to keep their chances alive but Mike Brumfield retired the side to force a winner's takes all.
The Builders fell behind early once again, trailing 5-0 after three innings. The team used a two-run single by Darius Harris to get on the board but the hosts scored in four of the final five innings to clinch the Championship with a 10-2 victory.
The Builders conclude their season with a 33-13 record and staved off elimination with five consecutive victories before falling in the Championship game.