Like Sun Valley’s T.J. Chism and Lou Baldini, both of whom are headed to La Salle, Pine-Richland has two players ticketed for the Division I ranks: Pitcher John Karr has signed with Penn State and shortstop Colin Durborow will attend West Virginia.

"It’s huge, not just for our program, but for the whole school," Wolfe said. "Any time you do something for the first time it’s a big deal. We’ve had teams in the state finals before, girls soccer, volleyball, hockey and football, but this is important for the kids because no matter what, you’ll always be remembered as the first to do it. Plus, it’s for bragging rights in the state."

The Rams have a lot for which to be proud. Pine-Richland became the first team in the 63-year history of the WPIAL (District Seven) baseball tournament to win three consecutive WPIAL titles when it defeated Hampton, 6-5, to win the Class AAA championship game May 31.

However, as big a deal that was, it paled in comparison to the Rams’ 10-0 triumph over Langley in the first round of the inter-district tournament five days later.

"I’m not going to say that it wasn’t a relief because it was," Wolfe said. "The thing you have to understand (is) that in District Seven, the WPIAL championship is such a big deal that sometimes teams lose sight of the PIAA tournament. The last couple of years we won the WPIAL and then let down a little bit in the PIAA tournament.

"There was a lot involved with that. We played the WPIAL championship game at PNC Park and Three Rivers Stadium before that. It was a big deal. Then you get into the state playoffs and you play in Hershey or someplace like that."

There would be no repeat of that first-round exit this season. Pine-Richland rolled over Langley and brings an eight-game winning streak into the Class AAA final largely on the strength of Karr’s right arm. Karr is 13-0 with an earned run average just over two per game. He has struck out 133 in 80 innings, been the pitcher of record in Pine-Richland’s last four games and has a 26-1 lifetime record for the Rams.

"I’ll be fine," Karr told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after he earned the victory in the Rams’ 8-2 semifinal triumph over Moon Monday. "I’ve pitched on three days rest before. As long as I ice my arm down when we leave here, I’ll be fine."

However, the Rams are not a one-man show. Durborow carried a team-leading .481 average into the semifinals. He also had five home runs and 26 runs scored. Center fielder Dan Koller is batting .333 in the playoffs and freshman T.J. Kuban is hitting close to .500.

"We got here by playing our way and so did Sun Valley," Wolfe said. "I don’t expect them to change anything and neither will we. We’ll go with Karr and if he can’t do it, we’ll go with our No. 2 (Brian Miller). It’s the state final, a chance of a lifetime for both teams. You don’t know if you’re every going to get here again so you have to make the most of it."

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