Karns City's Jacob Jones (8) and the Gremlins advanced to Wednesday’s District 9 championship game after beating Union/A-C Valley on Monday night. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Morgan Phillips

If Karns City baseball’s going to make a long playoff run, it might have to do it without arguably its best player, Adam Manuel.

But Monday in the semifinals of the District 9 Class 3A playoffs, the Gremlins were in good hands with Tyson Frazer. The right fielder roped a first-inning double to right to score Mason Sherwin and Brennan Harmon, and the Gremlins went on to beat Union/A-C Valley 4-3 and advance to the district championship.

Manuel, KC’s No. 4 hitter and No. 2 pitcher, is out with an ankle injury, coach Josh Smith said, and it’s unclear when he’ll return. So in stepped Frazer into Manuel’s spot in the lineup, himself healthy after an early season injury, to drive in key runs. He finished 1-for-2 and scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

“He earned the right to jump in that four-hole,” Smith said.

Karns City’s coaches also made an educated gamble, taking ace Jacob Jones out after 50 pitches in the middle of the fourth inning, up 3-2, and replacing him with Colton Christie to try to keep Jones available for Wednesday’s title game. The strategy worked, as Christie allowed just one unearned run the rest of the way. He also ground out and drove in Tyler Kelly for an insurance run.

“Us coaches talked, we felt confident in pulling Jacob and Colton going for us (the rest of the way),” Smith said.

The Falcon Knights’ Cody Bobbert went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Sebastian Link (2-for-4) doubled and drove in a run, and Trent Fleming (2-for-3) scored one.

Karns City faces St. Marys, a 2-1 winner over Brookville, in Wednesday’s championship at a site and time to be determined. The winner advances to the PIAA tournament.