SLIPPERY ROCK — There was no wild celebration. No mob at the pitcher's mound. No gloves flying into the setting sun. No yelling. No screaming.

There were handshakes, hugs and a few pats on the back.

That was it.

The Grove City High baseball team won the District 10 Class AAA championship at Critchfield Park Monday evening.

But the Eagles have a bigger goal in mind.

“We want to win a state championship,” said Grove City pitcher Jon Anderson.

The Eagles took a step toward that goal with an 8-3 win over Warren in the district final. It was Grove City's second district crown in three years and avenged an upset loss at the hands of the Dragons last season in the semifinals.

There was no upset in the making this year.

Anderson saw to that.

The right-hander gave up just one run on one hit through six innings. He ran into a spot of trouble in the seventh, but Jeff Revesz turned in his catcher's gear to toe the rubber for the final out.

“He threw very well,” said Grove City coach Pat Forese of Anderson. “He made one mistake early (an RBI double in the first) and, really, that was the only mistake he made.”

Anderson, though, threw a lot of pitches on a 90-degree, hot and humid late afternoon. Anderson walked five and also hit three batters.

Forese was going to go with Revesz to start the final inning, but Anderson talked him out of it.

“I really wanted to finish it,” Anderson said. “I started something, and I wanted to finish it. But sometimes it doesn't happen the way you want it to happen.”

Still, Anderson gave up just two hits and struck out seven in the win.

Revesz picked up the save.

Both pitchers received plenty of support.

The first three Grove City batters of the game came around to score as the Eagles led 3-0 after a half inning.

Warren (14-3) cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning, but didn't get a runner past first again until the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were running at will against the Dragons.

Grove City (17-2) swiped nine bases and were caught just once. The aggressiveness also forced two throwing errors.

“We have great team speed. This may be one of the fastest teams I've ever had,” said Forese, who has been the baseball coach at Grove City for 24 years. “We had a green light to run until someone got thrown out.”

Using its speed, Grove City scored single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 6-1 lead. The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the sixth, the big blow coming on a RBI double by Anderson.

Warren made things a little interesting in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases on a single, error and hit batsman against Anderson, who then walked and plunked the next two batters to make it 8-3 with two outs and the bases loaded.

Revesz, though, came in and got a fly ball to center to end the game and send the Eagles into a ho-hum celebration.

“Winning the district title was just one of our goals,” Forese said. “As you saw, there wasn't a big dog pile at the end. They were excited to win it, but, really, they've been here before. They have more of a long-term goal in mind.”

Grove City will open the PIAA Class AAA playoffs Monday against the third-place team out of the WPIAL at Jerry Uht Park in Erie at a time to be determined.

Grove City 311 102 0 — 8 9 1Warren 100 000 2 — 3 2 3W: Jon Anderson 6.2 IP (7 K, 5 BB).

L: Hank Morrison 4.1 IP (4 K, 3 BB).

Grove City (17-2): Brian Murone 1B RBI 3-SB, Anderson 2B RBI, Jason Revesz 2-RBI, Jordan Orlowski 2B 1B RBI, Josh Doody 2B, Torin Smith 1B RBI

Warren (14-3): Morrison 2B RBI

Monday: Grove City vs. WPIAL No. 3 at Jerry Uht Park in Erie, time TBD