INDIANA, Pa. — In Monday's PIAA Class AAAA baseball semifinal game against State College, Seneca Valley saw early opportunities falling by the wayside.

Raiders coach Eric Semega, however, wasn't overly concerned.

Still ...

• The Raiders had runners at second and third and one out in the first, then one runner was thrown out at home and no runs scored in the inning

• In the third, the Raiders opened with three singles, then, following an RBI sacrifice fly by Gabe Grinder, loaded the bases again, only to have a hard grounder by Andrew Fornadel result in an inning-ending double play.

Four hits, just one run.

• State College picked up a run of their own in the third when the possible third out on a fly ball was dropped to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.

"We looked at how (the Raiders) approached their at-bats individually, and we knew we'd get to (Lions starter Austin Borden)," said Semega. "The first two innings, those were key hits and we were not getting them. I knew the kids had confidence."

The Raiders continued to hit the rest of the game, but they finally got those key hits — scoring four runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth inning — to send the Raiders to an 8-3 victory over State College and head to the PIAA championship game.

Shaine Patsilevas used a two-run double to tie the game at 3 and his three-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Raiders some much-needed breathing space.

Starting pitcher Kyle Helisek also helped the SV cause, limiting the Lions to one hit over the final three innings.

The Raiders will face Souderton — a 3-2 winner over Cumberland Valley — in the PIAA championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona.

"That's every kid's goal, to play in the last game of the year," said Semega. "They deserve this. They've earned it and they get the opportunity to show what they can do."

Having gotten four hits in the third inning, the Raiders knew they were starting to break through against Borden, who had shutout WPIAL runner-up Bethel Park 4-0 in the first round.

In the fourth inning, Tyler Bream walked, then Ryan Turner singled one out later before Patsilevas launched a two-run double over the head of Lions center fielder Phil Horne to tie the game at 3.

"I got ahead on the count, looked for a fastball and I got it," said Patsilevas.

After a fielder's choice moved Patsilevas to third base, Jim Burry lined an RBI single to give the Raiders the lead for good. Burry later stole second base and scored on a Grinder single to make it 5-3.

The Raiders tacked on three insurance runs in the fifth when Bream doubled and Phil Double singled with one out.

After Ryan Turner struck out, Patsilevas crushed a 3-2 offering from reliever Brook Hart over the left field fence.

All in all, a pretty good performance from a No. 9 hitter.

"Any time you have a full count ... and the runners are moving, you just want to put the bat on the ball," said Patsilevas.

For the second PIAA playoff game, SV had 15 hits. Patsilevas and the top three Raiders in the batting order had 10 of them and all eight RBI.

Not to be outdone, the Raiders got their third consecutive complete game of the PIAA playoffs. Helisek (8-0) dodged serious trouble early, but retired the final eight batters, four by strikeout.

He struck out five and did not walk a batter.

"I thought if I could hold them to three runs, we would win," said Helisek. "I never worry about this team. It's easy to stay confident when we're getting hits."

"That is how (Helisek) pitches," said Semega on Monday's game. "He keeps them off-balance. He called all his own pitches. That's how much confidence I have in him. Up, down, in out. He did a great job."

Seneca Valley will make its first PIAAchampionship appearance since 1995, which the Raiders won with Semega an assistant coach under Dave Florie.

Now, this year's group will try and make their mark in the program's history.

"Most of us have played together since we were eight, nine, 10 years old," said Patsilevas. "We know what everyone can do. It's an awesome feeling right now."

Seneca Valley 001 430 0—8 15 2State College 201 000 0—3 7 0Kyle Helisek and Ryan Turner; Austin Borden, Brook Hart (5, 3 K, 0 BB), Doug Suhey (7, 0 K, 1 BB) and Chad White.

W: Helisek (5 K, 0 BB).

L: Borden (4 K, 1 BB).

Seneca Valley (21-2): Ken Walrond 1B; Jim Burry 4-1B, RBI; Gabe Grinder 2-1B, 2 RBI; Cory Mazzoni 1B; Tyler Bream 2B; Ryan Turner 1B; Shaine Patsilevas 1B, 2B, HR, 5 RBI; Phil Double 1B, 2B

State College (17-6) Phil Horne 1B, 2B; Drew Yukelson 2B; Doug Suhey 1B, RBI; Tyler Mincemoyer 1B; Brendan Pifer 1B; Chad White 1B

Saturday: PIAAChampionship-Seneca Valley vs. Souderton, 2 p.m. at Blair County Ballpark, Altoona