The Eagles (10-7) will try to secure their spot in Monday’s D10 Class A championship game when they square off with the Cochranton Cardinals at 4:30 p.m. today at Mercyhurst University.

While the program appears to be coming to an end, Youngsville coach Eddie Dorunda said he and his staff are extremely proud of the recent direction of the team over the past five years.

“We went from the other teams laughing at us in their dugout the first year to being a team no one in our region wants to play against,” said Dorunda. “The kids have always been capable. They just needed someone to believe in them and push them. Some of these guys have been with us since their freshman year and are leaving this program with over 50 wins in their careers. Regardless of what happens from here, they should all be proud of what they have accomplished.”

Opposing Youngsville in today’s semifinal will be a familiar foe in the Cochranton Cardinals. Until this season, the Cardinals and Eagles met twice a season while competing in the same region.

COLE JOHNSON

Leading the way for the Cardinals (7-10) will be juniors Walker Carroll and Bradyen Burnette. Carroll led the team in batting average (.565), hits (26) and RBIs (19) this season while Burnette was close behind with 17 runs scored and 17 RBIs of his own. Sophomore teammate Coleton Mattocks was third on the team with a .320 average.

“With Cochranton moving into the other region this year, we didn’t get a chance to see them in the regular season,” said Dorunda. “That’s not to say they will be entirely new to us as we’ve faced them eight times in the previous four years. It’s really going to come down to pitching and who can make the routine plays.”

Cochranton’s pitching will likely ride on the left hand of Carroll. Carroll finished his junior campaign with a 3-3 record and 2.28 ERA with 84 strikeouts. He entered this season having already committed to play at Division I West Virginia University when his high school career is over.

“He throws the ball well and has a wipeout slider from the left side,” said Dorunda. “We’ve been using the last few days of practice ramping up the speed on the machine to try and get our timing down. If we stick to our game plan and don’t try to do too much, we have a great chance at winning the game.”

Opposing Carroll on the mound figures to be Youngsville junior David Manning. Manning was 6-2 this season with an ERA of 2.06 with 84 strikeouts to just 13 walks.

BRAYDON BAKER

After missing time early in the season, junior Braydon Baker’s bat has come on strong as of late and he leads the team with a .474 batting average.

Not far behind are Cole Johnson at .451 and Manning at .438. Manning and Johnson share the team lead in runs with 21, Johnson has a team-best 23 hits and Manning drove in a team-high 18 runs.

The game appears — on paper at least — to be evenly matched and Dorunda says his team is confident heading into this matchup with the Cardinals.

“We might not have the amount of talent and experience from our teams in the past, but David is throwing the ball really well right now,” said Dorunda. “He’s capable of taking over a baseball game, and I have full confidence that he will show up ready to do just that.”

Today will be a busy day for Youngsville fans. In addition to the baseball game at 4:30 p.m., the Eagles softball team will play at noon at Meadville’s Allegheny College. The softball team’s Class A semifinal with West Middlesex was postponed due to weather on Wednesday.