MILLERSVILLE — It seems pretty certain now that the Greencastle-Antrim baseball team does not exactly get uncomfortable when it’s behind in the score.

Despite falling behind 5-0 after three innings in a PIAA Class 5A semifinal game Monday afternoon, the Blue Devils scored the final 11 runs of the game to defeat West Chester Bayard Rustin 11-5 at Millersville University.

Cam Rakaczewski

The win vaults Greencastle (23-3) into the PIAA Championship game on Friday at 4:30 at Penn State’s Medlar Field. The Blue Devils will play DuBois (21-4), which defeated Hollidaysburg, 4-1, in the other semifinal.

“I’ve said three things about this team — they’re talented, they’re not afraid of anybody and they don’t panic if they get behind,” G-A coach Eric Shaner said.

In last week’s quarterfinal win over Pittston, the Blue Devils waited until the bottom of the seventh inning to rally for a 6-5 win. This time the comeback began in the fourth inning against pitcher AJ Calio, a Vanderbilt recruit, with a pair of runs.

It continued in the fifth with a monstrous solo blast by Cam Rakaczewski, and three more runs followed that created a 6-5 edge. G-A closed the door with a 5-run top of the seventh inning.

Landon Bishop

Shaner said, “We had heard Calio had been shut down with some arm problems, but he was hitting well over 90 miles per hour out there. But he threw 25 pitches in the first inning and he was laboring.

“We knew there wasn’t a lot behind him, so we wanted to grind him down and get his pitch count out up. From the third-base box, I could see him struggling a little and we kept working walks, making him throw extra pitches and putting pressure on them.”

In the top of the fourth, a single by Nolan Sullivan and walks to Avery Horst and Bo Brookens loaded the bases. Runs then scored when Landon Bishop and Bryce Davidson both drew walks to bring home runners, making the score 5-2 in the Golden Knights’ favor.

Rakaczewski, who was 4-for-5, led off the fifth by crushing a pitch from Calio on a line over the fence in left field and into some trees. The ball left his bat at 102 mph and traveled around 350 feet.

“He just absolutely smoked it,” Shaner said. “It was pretty exciting.”

And it inspired the Blue Devils to keep scoring.

Bryce Davidson

Calio loaded the bases by hitting Sullivan with a pitch and walking Horst and Manny Brookens. That was it for Calio, who was relieved by Luke Collinson. Calio, who had walked only 7 batters all season, walked 7 Monday, and gave up 3 hits and 6 earned runs, along with 8 strikeouts.

Collinson struck out the first two batters he faced and it appeared Greencastle would still be trailing. But Bishop lined a single into right-center to score two runs and tie the game. An error on a ball hit by Davidson resulted in the go-ahead run and a 6-5 lead.

“When we had to have it, Landon got that big hit for us,” Shaner said.

The Blue Devils nearly put the game away in the sixth. With the bases loaded on hits by Rakaczewski, Horst and Bo Brookens, Shaner sent up Noah Shifflett as a pinch-hitter. And he hit a blast to leftfield that would have cleared the bases, except that it was run down by Rustin’s JayJ Dorsey-Hubbard.

Shaner said, “That was a really good catch. That guy was probably the only person there who thought he had a chance to run that down. If he didn’t catch it, that would have been checkmate right there. Shifflett has been great at being ready to hit.”

The Golden Knights fell apart in the top of the seventh and surrendered 5 runs to pretty much clinch the G-A victory. An error began the inning and the Blue Devils had three batters bunt the ball and Rustin did not record outs on any of those at-bats.

Rakaczewski, Manny Brookens and Bo Brookens each hit RBI singles and other runs scored on an errant throw and a wild pitch.

“When we got into their bullpen, everybody started hitting,” Shaner said. “And we kept the pressure on them, with stolen bases and bunts and executing a lot of good baseball things.”

On the pitching side, Rakaczewski was also in top form. He relieved starter Ryder Linn in the third inning of a 2-0 game with the bases loaded and one out. He walked in a run, then gave up a 2-run single to Dorsey-Hubbard and it was 5-0.

But Rakaczewski struck out two batters with the bases loaded and that was lights out for Rustin. From then on, Rakaczewski allowed no runs, 3 hits and one walk while striking out 7.

Shaner said, “Rak wasn’t really loose when he came in, but after that inning he was nearly untouchable. He had an electric fastball and his slider was his big pitch.”

Linn had trouble adjusting to the umpire’s strike zone. In his 2.1 innings, he walked 4 and gave up 4 hits and 5 earned runs.

NOTES: Davidson, the catcher, threw out 2 baserunners … “I don’t know why teams try to run on him, but I’m happy we have him,” Shaner said … G-A walked 9 times (3 by Horst) and had 11 hits (2 by Bo Brookens) … Greencastle had advanced to the PIAA title game once in its history — it was a 9-7 defeat at the hands of Huntingdon in 2000.