Southern Fulton (16-4, 8-0)traveled to Claysburg High School on Tuesday to play the ICC Conference Semifinal game against the West Branch Warriors (17-3, 10-0). Although it was a great baseball game, it proved to be a heartbreaker for the Indians, as they lost the lead late to take a 2-1 defeat.
West Branch was down 1-0 in the top of the sixth inning when Liptak hit a jam shot-bloop bases-loaded single, scoring two runs.
Both teams were strong on the bump. West Branch Warriors pitchers struck out four, while Southern Fulton Indians sat down 10.
The Indians were the first to get on the board in the first when Ethan Powell doubled, and Paul Hendershot walked. A double steal resulted in an overthrow that allowed Powell to score.
Liptak earned the win for West Branch. He gave up four hits and one run over six innings, striking out three and walking one. Ethan Mellott took the loss for the Indians. He went five and one-third innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out seven and walking two.
Jett Burger went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Southern Fulton in hits.
Liptak provided pop in the middle of the lineup and led West Branch with two runs batted in. He went 1-for-3 on the day. Liptak, Rothrocr, Kephart, and Tiracroa each collected one hit for West Branch.
Southern Fulton will welcome Southern Huntingdon County on Thursday for their last regular season game at 4:30pm.