Bases loaded. Full count. One-run contest. Championship on the line.

Chartiers Valley's Mike Perhosky blessed himself before he stepped back into the batters' box. Moon relief pitcher Phil Bondi didn't need divine intervention. He needed a chill pill. This Phil was filled with emotion.

"Oh, I was so nervous," Bondi said.

A moment later, Bondi was in the middle of a pile of celebrating players. He went from nervous challenger to proud champion with one pitch. Bondi got a groundout to end the game and Moon got its first WPIAL baseball championship with a 3-2 victory against Chartiers Valley at Washington & Jefferson College's Ross Memorial Park.

"Everyone dreams about being in that position," Bondi said. "When you're in Little League, you think about pitching with a 3-2 count in a championship game. You think about what you would do."

What Bondi did was throw a strike, and Perhosky hit a soft ground ball to second baseman Scott Liller.

"I knew I threw a strike," said Bondi, who played shortstop before relieving starter Brad Schnelle. "Then I just said, 'C'mon Scottie, get to it.' "

The groundout ended Chartiers Valley's hopes of winning its first WPIAL baseball title.

"Mike had a good at-bat," Chartiers Valley coach Jim Jaskowski said. "It was a 3-2 pitch on the black of the plate. Bondi is a big-time player, and he made the pitch when he had to."

Bondi relieved Schnelle in the top of the sixth after Chartiers Valley (13-7) had tied the score, 2-2, on Perhosky's single and John O'Neill's double. Bondi, Moon's closer all year, faced only one batter in the sixth and got a groundout to end the threat.

An error helped Moon (18-4) score the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Schnelle reached when third baseman Brian Rodavich made a high throw to first on a groundball. Steve Karaffa was inserted as a pinch-runner. After one out, Alex Knox walked. Dom DeAngelis hit a grounder to shortstop and Chartiers Valley narrowly missed turning a double play when DeAngelis beat the throw to first.

It was an important play because it would have ended the inning. Instead, Liller hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Luke Horew stopped, but had no play, allowing Karaffa to score.

"I didn't expect a 3-2 game," said Moon coach Dom Santeufemio, whose team split two regular-season contests against Chartiers Valley.

"A 7-5 or 10-8 game is what I expected. In my mind, I thought [Schnelle] would pitch a good game and we'd score runs. But Chartiers Valley is a good team."

Chartiers Valley actually outhit Moon, 9-8, but Moon scored single runs in the first and second off starter Dan Colavincenzo, who pitched 52/3 innings.

"They pitched the guy they had to pitch against us," Santeufemio said. "He threw slow, slower and slowest, but we had trouble against him. I thought we lost some of our focus at the plate."

Liller started the game with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on sophomore Brett Hoffman's single. Although Moon had never won a WPIAL title, the Tigers won PIAA titles in 2001 and 2002, and Hoffman's dad, Tom, was the coach.

In the second, DeAngelis hit a one-out double and scored on Zak Schmidt's single.

Chartiers Valley's first run came in the fifth when Andy McIntyre stroked a two-out RBI single.

Moon had another scoring opportunity in the fifth, but Chartiers Valley left fielder Ryan Landy threw out Patrick Baer at the plate as he tried to score on a single.

Liller, Schmidt and Hoffman each had two hits for Moon while Rodavich, McIntyre and O'Neill had two hits for Chartiers Valley.

It was the second consecutive close win for Moon. The Tigers beat Hopewell, 15-13, in 14 innings in the semifinals.

"It's a shame anyone had to lose either of those two games," Santeufemio said. "I really mean that."