It was one of those games that nobody deserved to lose ... and at least for another day, nobody did lose.

Moon Area and Hopewell staged a classic 13-inning affair Tuesday night at the Burkett Complex in Robinson. The game was suspended by the umpires after consulting with WPIAL officials as midnight approached.

The contest was to be resumed at 4 p.m. today at the same site with Moon batting in the top of the 14th.

Nearly five hours of baseball and 13 innings were not enough to separate these Section 3-AAA rivals and decide a representative for the WPIAL Class AAA title game Tuesday. The two rivals, separated by 7 miles of Brodhead Road, posted some of the gaudiest regular-season run totals in the WPIAL. As unconventional as the semi-outcome of the game was Tuesday, the 26 total runs could almost have been expected.

Moon has averaged nearly 11 runs a game this year while Hopewell has scored almost 10 per game.

The 4-hour-and-40-minute affair nearly ended many times, including after the 12th inning as the game was momentarily suspended with the score tied 8-8. After a discussion with both managers, Moon's Dom Santeufemio and Hopewell's Joe Colella, the umpires opted to play one more inning.

And what an inning it was.

The fans who remained saw enough twists and turns for an entire season in the span of six outs. After being shut down in order in three consecutive innings, the Tigers roared for five runs in the top of the 13th. Phil Bondi and Nico Marocco, two offensive leaders for Moon the entire season, came through in a big way in the top of the 13th. Bondi who had been pitching nearly perfect relief, ripped a bases-loaded double to right-center field to score two runs and Marocco, who led the team with 27 RBIs during the regular season, knocked in two more with a triple.

The Hopewell bats, which had been equally as dormant from the 10th to the 12th innings, awoke shortly after 11:30 p.m. and produced five runs without recording an out to tie the game, 13-13.

Hopewell senior Alex George had a two-run double to make the score 13-10 and junior Scott Dierdorf tied the game with a 3-run double.

"It was back and forth the whole way," Santeufemio said. "We had a five-run lead in the 13th and we give up five runs. You would think with five runs in extra innings you are going to win the ball game. You have to give both teams credit -- they kept pushing."

With Hopewell's ticket to the WPIAL title game just 90 feet away, Moon pitcher Alex Knox, who had just been summoned from left field a few minutes earlier, sat down three consecutive Hopewell batters to preserve the tie. After Knox recorded the third out of the inning to get out of the jam, the Tigers celebrated as if they had won the game.

"Yeah it absolutely felt like we had just won," Santeufemio said. "I think everyone there expected that the game was going to end.

"After the game I told our guys I am proud of them and let's come back Thursday and finish the job. You have to be upbeat and confident."

Entering the game, Moon was a decided underdog. Hopewell was the top seed in Class AAA with a 20-1 record and the Vikings had defeated Moon twice during the regular season by a combined score of 15-3.

Vikings ace Max Vogel, who led all WPIAL pitchers with a 9-0 regular season record pitched the two regular-season wins against Moon, was on the mound.

"We went into the game figuring they had the pressure on them, they were the team that was supposed to win" Santeufemio said. "We had faced Vogel a couple of times and we just had a different mind-set again him."

"The regular-season losses are always in the back of your mind, but our guys just knew we were going to come back. Our mind-set was we felt as though we were going to score runs against them. It's just a shame that we couldn't hold them down."

Hopewell played the favorite well early on. It jumped out to a 7-2 lead but then watched as Moon chipped away with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

The Vikings have waited nine years to return to the playoffs. The last time they reached the postseason in 2000, coach Joe Colella, a 46-year coaching veteran at Hopewell, claimed his second WPIAL title. His first one came in 1979.

The winner of the suspended game today will move on to play Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL Class AAA title game Tuesday at Consol Energy Park in Washington. Chartiers Valley knocked off Trinity, 4-2, in a more conventional seven-inning game.