(Southern Fulton team photo by Meredith Hendershot)

UNIVERSITY PARK — Southern Fulton’s baseball team may not have won the game on the field Friday morning, but the Indian fans were clear winners.

At the PIAA Class 1A championship at Penn State, SF fans outnumbered those of its opponent from Pittsburgh, Vincentian Academy, probably around 10 to 1. And they blew away the numbers for either team in the 3A game that followed, too.

Although the game did not end in an Indian victory, the fans backed their team with plenty of noise.

“It was really special with all the fans we had there,” senior leadoff batter Cooper Grove. “They gave us motivation and they kept us up the whole game.”

SF coach Keith Potter said, “The fans were beautiful — we were blessed all year. And, really, all Southern Fulton teams are blessed like that. They gave us a nice sendoff last night when we left town.

“They should be proud of how they supported us, and I’m sure they are.”

BIG STICK: Coming into the game, Potter had to be concerned with Vincentian’s No. 3 hitter, Kyler Fedko.

His season stats were almost unbelievable: .649 batting average (37-for-57), 39 RBIs, 44 runs, 26 extra-base hits and an on-base percentage of .741.

In three trips to the plate, Fedko walked and scored, singled and hit an RBI triple. He also snagged a dying line drive off the bat of Mitchell Potter that saved at least one run in the fifth inning.

Coach Potter said, “That kid covers a lot of area at shortstop, and with the bat, too. My catcher (Colton Souders) said the one pitch he hit was almost eight inches off the plate and another was almost in the dirt.”

A FINE GAME: Indian infielder Cooper Grove picked on the second pitch of the game to bomb a double over the left fielder’s head, which got the SF fans rocking.

He later contributed a run-scoring single, plus a triple that brought in a run, so he was 3-for-4.

DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERE: Southern Fulton’s players were experiencing a PIAA final for the first time, but they didn’t let the occasion get to them.

Grove said, “I thought we came in with confidence, and were cool and collected. But we did want it so bad and I think we had some nerves. I thought we played a solid game, though.”

“Game day was what I was looking to the most, because we’re comfortable between the lines,” Potter said. “But it was a little different leading up to it, because it wasn’t our usual routine. All in all, I thought we handled it pretty well.”

“I just tried to focus on the game,” said starting pitcher Branden Lynch. “But, yeah, there was some extra adrenaline.”