Then, in its first game of districts against Penns Valley, senior right fielder Alexa Baney had hit a two-out single to center to bat the tying run Taylor Habovick home, with Habovick’s ensuing two-out single winning the Eagles the game one inning later. At the time, it was a relief to just move on, but that close call didn’t change the overall mission.

In fact, it was inspired by it. All the way back in the District 6 Class AAA quarterfinals, the motto it’s carried out for years had come into full effect.

“We can’t stop here; we have to keep going,” said Baney when recalling her mindset during that at-bat, with the team’s overarching goal in mind. “We can’t end it like this.”

“We have a saying that’s ‘unfinished business’ and that business needs to be finished this year because it’s our last chance,” said Habovick, weeks later with the team heading to the PIAA Class AAA championship. “We’ve been in the state semifinal for four years in a row but haven’t quite gotten what we wanted.”

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bald Eagle Area’s Gabby Perry runs onto the field to run as a pinch runner during Monday’s PIAA Class AAA semifinal against Susquenita.

When it’s come to establishing a legacy, this Bald Eagle Area senior class — headlined by four four-year starters Habovick, Kailey Eckert, Sydney Thompson and Sierra Albright and one three-year one in Baney — has already more than left its mark. That’s not just in regard to program history, either. That’s referring to Centre County and Express area history as a whole.

But while there’s pride to come with that, pride which the seniors expressed after winning their fourth District 6 title, reaching their fourth straight state semifinal and advancing to their second state final, there’s one accomplishment missing from their vast array of goals. That being the most coveted of all — a state championship.

As sophomores, a team with more underclassmen starting than upperclassmen made it all the way to the Class AA title game, ultimately falling to a 26-0 juggernaut in Everett, 12-1, to close out 2023. 2024 saw another deep run fall short, this time to District 4’s South Williamsport.

Just like that, those sophomores had become seniors. And with one more chance to take that final step forward, they’d be tasked with guiding the ship.

But there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation heading into the season, even as the Eagles moved back up to Class AAA. It was all controlled urgency, with the seniors striving to keep improving and the underclassmen making strides to be ready for heightened roles come 2025.

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Bald Eagle Area’s Alexa Baney swings at a pitch against Susquenita on Monday in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals. The Eagles play Pine Grove today in the state championship game.

Two-year starter Addie Burns would lead an infield featuring three first-year starters with grace. And those three sophomores – Raelee Repasky, Maelee Yoder and Kendall Gavlock – would prove up to the task of making an impact alongside its vastly experienced squad, stepping up considerably throughout the postseason.

After winning ten games in a row to cap the regular season, they survived that aforementioned 11-inning quarterfinal, another nailbiter in district semis, and have since gone on to overcome four more tough foes to clinch a spot in the PIAA Class AAA championship. The latest in that stretch – Susquenita – was tabbed as the end of the road by doubters.

It’s all been about getting back to this moment. And while excitement, confidence and pride have been parts of the equation leading up to this point, satisfaction hasn’t.

“We need to do it again. We need to win this time,” said senior Sydney Thompson following Monday’s win over Susquenita. “We knew we could hit on them, and we did and hopefully, we just carry that into our championship game, which we need for redemption.”

“We’ve made it, but we can’t be satisfied,” emphasized head coach Don Lucas. “You can’t just say you made it and be done; you’ve got to be able to win it. That’s what we want to do.”

TIM WEIGHT/For The Express Alexa Baney reacts during Monday’s PIAA Class AAA semifinal against Susquenita. The Eagles are in the state final today against Pine Grove.

As expected heading into a championship game, Bald Eagle Area’s upcoming opponent, Pine Grove (26-2), is no slouch to say the least. Like the Eagles, the Cardinals haven’t lost since April, have overcome tremendous obstacles to get to this point and can win at all three levels.

To get to this point, Pine Grove edged out 21-4 Palisades, 2-1, to take home a District 11 title, comfortably beat Trinity to advance to state quarters and proceeded to endure two grueling tasks through its next two rounds.

Against Kutztown in quarters, it faced a six-run deficit with three outs remaining and managed to miraculously work its way back, nixing the gap to extend it to extras before winning in walk-off fashion in the tenth. Then, it shut out Mid Valley on Monday, a program that won a state title in 2023.

The Cardinals have two pitchers — Chelcy Clark and Jamie Dinger — that have each logged over 85 innings pitched, struck out over 100 batters and posted ERAs below 2.00, with Dinger having an ERA of 0.72 and 150 strikeouts. Offensively, three of their starters — Callee Leffler (.543), Madison Shiffer (.449) and Addison Zimmerman (.418) — bat above a .400, with Leffler and Shiffer combining for 13 homers and all but two starters batting above .300.

With that in mind, the mindset heading into today has been similar to the one it had leading up to Monday, just with additional weight. They’ve acknowledged the challenge, prepared accordingly, and will now look to keep doing what they’ve been doing in hopes of checking that final box.

“Gotta come into practice, practice hard like you have all year and just win,” said Habovick on the focus heading into the matchup. “We beat a great team today, and we’ve just got to keep that motivation going into the finals Friday.”

“The focus is probably to win, do good,” emphasized Thompson. “That’s it.”

Having made it to this point, one win away from gold, one question goes out directly to the players. Do you have what it takes to finish the job?

Henry Huber is the sports editor at The Express. Email comments to hhuber@lockhaven.com. Follow him on Twitter at @HenryHuber_.