Pine-Richland High School junior shortstop Colin Durborow was looking for a particular pitch in a definite spot.

	Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Pine-Richland players rush onto the field to celebrate after defeating Moon, 6-5, last night to win the WPIAL Class AAA title at Falconi Field in Washington. Click photo for larger image.

"Fastball, right down the middle," he said. "That's what I was sitting on, that's what I was waiting for."

The wait was worth it. He laced a single to left field to drive home the winning run and give the Rams their second consecutive WPIAL Class AAA baseball title with a 6-5 victory against Moon yesterday at Falconi Field in Washington, Pa.

But the single over the Moon shortstop's head did so much more.

The base hit pulled Durborow and his teammates out from a considerable shadow of perhaps the greatest baseball player in WPIAL history -- Neil Walker -- proving to everyone that the Pine-Richland baseball program was more than one player who mesmerized an area last year, becoming the top pick of the Pirates.

The Rams (15-7) trailed by one run heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Durborow's run-scoring single made them the first team to repeat as WPIAL baseball champions since Washington won Class AA in 1997 and '98. Pine-Richland is the first Class AAA team to win two consecutive titles since North Allegheny in 1990 and '91. Both teams have qualified for the PIAA playoffs that begin Monday.

"We heard the chants," Pine-Richland coach Jeff Rojik said. "You could hear the [Moon] fans saying 'Where is Walker?' I think that motivated us because our kids, who might have ridden the coattails of some studs before, proved this year that they could do it all by themselves."

But the title it didn't come easy.

Moon (15-8) grabbed a 2-0 lead, pushing two runs across in the top of the fourth. To compound matters, Moon left-handed starter Sean Holliday had the Rams off balance early, striking out seven in the first four innings.

Alyssa Cwanger/Post-Gazette Pine-Richland players celebrate after winning the WPIAL championship game in the final inning against Moon at Falconi Field. The final score was 6-5. Click photo for larger image.

"Holliday was tough," Rojik said. "The first few innings, I don't think it looked like we had a clue."

Pine-Richland went from clueless to leader in the fifth, taking a 4-2 advantage. The Rams also chased Holliday from the game in the inning as Pine-Richland's Chris Clancy had an RBI triple and Dan Koller and Durborow drove in runs with doubles.

Pine-Richland maintained the lead into the seventh, but that's when Moon pulled ahead. Pine-Richland starting pitcher John Karr was pulled after yielding a leadoff single to No. 9 hitter Bob Francis. Rojik then brought in reliever Garrett Pampiks, who retired two batters before making a big mistake to Moon junior catcher Casey Williams on a first-pitch fastball on the outer half of the plate. Williams deposited the pitch over the right-field wall to tie the score, 4-4.

"I could have jumped over the light standard when he hit that ball," Moon coach Dom Santeufemio said.

"He ripped it," Rojik said. "He was obviously looking first-pitch fastball and he got it and ripped it."

Moon wasn't done, building a 5-4 lead on a Tom DeAngelis single. The Tigers needed just three outs to claim its first WPIAL title.

"Our kids have come back all year," said Santeufemio, a longtime Moon assistant and first-year head coach. "We have confidence in our kids that they're going to come through, and I had confidence that they'd battle back the way they did."

The elusive title never materialized for the Tigers, as Pine-Richland ended the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Josh Spicer drove in Koller on a slicing double down the left-field line to tie the score, 5-5. That set the stage for Durborow, whose liner off Moon reliever Mike Jackson sailed just out of reach of shortstop Dan Walsh and into left field.

"I've been around coaching since 1980," Santeufemio said. "This had to be one of the best games I have ever seen."