Indiana won the PIAA Class 4A baseball title last spring, becoming the 20th champion in the history of the classification. On Thursday, the Little Indians will try to defend their crown against District 1 champion Holy Ghost Prep, which also celebrated a recent state title in 2024.
The first 4A baseball state champion was Penn Manor from District 3 in 2005. Two years later, Seneca Valley became the first WPIAL team to win 4A baseball gold.
PIAA 4A champions from District 7 include Seneca Valley (2007), Canon-McMillan (2008), Ringgold (2018), New Castle (2021), Montour (2022) and Indiana (2025).
The first District 1 team to win a PIAA Class 4A championship was North Penn in 2009 and the most recent was Holy Ghost Prep in 2024.
Here is a look at Thursday’s PIAA Class 4A baseball championship game at Penn State:
Class 4A
Indiana (21-4) vs. Holy Ghost Prep (16-9)
1:30 p.m. Thursday, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State
Broadcast: Video on PCN-TV; Radio on WDAD-AM 1450, WDAD-FM 100.3, PIAA Radio Network
Coaches: Dan Petroff, Indiana; Greg Olenski, Holy Ghost Prep
Path to Penn State: Indiana defeated District 5 champion Somerset in the first round, 10-0; WPIAL third seed Hopewell in the quarterfinals, 10-0; District 12 runner-up Archbishop Wood in the semifinals, 13-4. … Holy Ghost Prep knocked off District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh in the first round, 12-0; District 2 winner Mid-Valley in the quarterfinals, 6-2; District 4 champ Montoursville in the semifinals, 4-1.
District postseason: Indiana had a first-round bye, then eliminated Knoch in the quarterfinals, 1-0; Derry in the semifinals, 3-0; Elizabeth Forward for a second straight year in the WPIAL championship game, 4-0. … Holy Ghost Prep ousted Springfield Township in the semifinals, 8-1; Pope John Paul II in the District 1 championship game, 8-0.
Players to watch
Indiana: Senior Charlie Manzi has been in beast mode on the mound and in the batter’s box. He was the winning pitcher in the semifinal victory over Archbishop Wood and he has three hits and five RBIs in the last two Little Indians victories. Junior Brady Oakes threw a six-inning no-hitter in the quarterfinal shutout of Hopewell. In the semis, he had two hits and two runs batted in. Junior Chad Force had three hits each in the PIAA first round whitewash of Somerset and the WPIAL quarterfinal victory over Knoch. Senior Sulliy VanHoose and junior Dylan Shank each had two hits Monday in the semifinals. VanHoose also had two hits and an RBI in the WPIAL championship triumph over Elizabeth Forward.
Holy Ghost Prep: In the PIAA semifinal victory over Montoursville, senior pitcher Bam McNabb went the distance, allowing no earned runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Senior Eddie Rosado, a St. Joseph’s commit, was 2 for 3 with a pair of solo home runs for the Firebirds. Senior Matt Baker had a pair of doubles in the win on Monday. In the quarterfinal victory over Mid-Valley, senior Tyler Bergkoetter was 4 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI for HGP.
Streaks: Indiana has won seven games in a row since losing to Butler, 10-0, on May 6. The Little Indians have won 10 of their last 11 games. … Holy Ghost Prep has also won seven games in a row since losing to Episcopal Academy, 4-0, on May 9. The Firebirds have won nine of their last 10 contests.
Quotable: “Reaching the state finals for the third straight year is an absolute dream come true,” Indiana coach Dan Petroff said. “It’s a testament to the hard work, believing they will win all season, and grinding teams out for seven innings. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but the job isn’t finished. We are excited and ready to leave everything on the field for the championship.
“We faced Holy Ghost two years ago in the final and they have every one back from that team. They always swing it well for sure and have some tough outs in the lineup. We will play our brand that got us here and see what happens.”
Factoids
• Indiana has a seven-game PIAA postseason winning streak and has a combined district and state playoff run of 13 consecutive victories.
• In the 2024 PIAA Class 4A championship game, Holy Ghost Prep defeated Indiana, 6-5. The Little Indians led 5-2 after four and a half innings, but the Firebirds rallied for a run in the fifth inning, two in the sixth and the walk-off winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Then-sophomores Edwin Rosado and Tyler Bergkoetter each had two hits for Holy Ghost Prep while Indiana was led by Ben Ryan, who had three hits and smacked two home runs.
• In five appearances, Indiana is 11-3 all-time in the PIAA baseball playoffs. This will be the Little Indians’ third straight state championship game. Indiana lost to Holy Ghost Prep in the 2024 finals, and then defeated Montoursville in the state title game last spring, 5-4. In the 2025 PIAA championship game, Mark Collinger was the winning pitcher while Tim Birch and Caden Force each had two hits and Chace Force had two RBIs.
• Holy Ghost Prep has an all-time record of 13-8 in the PIAA playoffs in this, its 10th appearance. This is the third time in five years the Firebirds have played in the 4A state title game. They edged Indiana in 2024 and lost to Montour in the 2022 finals, 10-9.
• This is the fourth straight season Indiana has qualified for the state baseball playoffs. Before 2023, the only other time the Little Indians reached the PIAA postseason was in 2000 when they lost 2-1 to Hopewell in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.