PIAA baseball: West Chester Rustin rallies to make first 5A semifinal appearance
CALN - For the first time in program history the West Chester Rustin baseball team is headed to the PIAA 5A semifinals.
The Golden Knights punched their ticket with a come-from-behind 9-5 win over Springfield (Delco) on Friday afternoon at Coatesville High School. Rustin will face the third place team from District 3, Greencastle-Antrim, on Monday at 2 p.m. at Millersville University.
Rustin (18-6) rallied with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning, then added three more in the fifth.
Rustin pounded out 11 hits and was aided by five errors. Ryan Wood had two hits, including a huge two-run single to highlight the fourth-inning rally.
"We are a very deep team and we work hard all seasoned all off-season," Wood said. "We battle at the plate and try to work counts and walk if we do not get a pitch to hit. It is not just one guy on this team. It is a total team effort and we are a very tight knit club. This is just a fantastic feeling to be going to the semis for the first time in school history."
Springfield had a 3-2 lead after three. They were helped by a catcher's interference call in the second. Two batters later, Dan Meakim singled in a pair.
Rustin has been coming from behind all season, so they wasn't troubled by trailing. Springfield starter Nolan Dulski struck out the leadoff batter in the fourth.
Cole Hoffmayer singled to left and went to second on an errant throw back into the infield. JJ Dorsey-Hubbard walked to put runners on first and second.
Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, then Ryan Wood drilled a Dulski fastball to center field to bring in Hoffmayer and Dorsey-Hubbard to put the Golden Knights in front 4-3. Xavier Wood followed with a bunt single to chase Dulski from the game.
Jackson Roche greeted reliever Jack Rae with a single to bring in another run. JP Hoffmayer capped the innings with an RBI base hit to build a 6-3 advantage.
The Cougars cut the deficit to two in the the fifth to force Rustin starter Aidan Cugini, who earned the win, from the game. Brady Shuffler entered in relief and was greeted by a single by John Hopkins to make it 6-4.
Rustin added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth. JT Tiberio led off with a single and went to second on a hit by Cole Hoffmayer, his third of the afternoon.
"I was seeing the ball real well today," Cole Hoffmayer said. "We never back down as a team. We keep fighting and coming backing games. Our goal is to win every inning and that is what we tried to do today."
Rae walked Dorsey-Hubbard to load the bases. Ryan Wood then knocked in his third run of the game with a single to make it 7-4. Xavier Wood drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Cole Hoffmayer.
JP Hoffmayer hit a liner to second that was fielded by Jake Lennon, who injured his ankle after leaping in the air. He fell and the ball dropped from his glove as a run scored and the Golden Knights drew off to a 9-4 lead.
Springfield recorded its final run in sixth on a single to left by meakim off Brogan Walsh. The Cougars were looking to close the gap more, but Walsh induced the dangerous TJ Valletti to ground out to end the rally.
Sean O'Reilly worked a one-out walk, but pinch-hitter Landon Regin hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and come to within one more win of playing for a state crown.
"This is a resilient bunch," Rustin coach Brad Harkins said. "They are always ready to fight and scrap and they did today against a scrappy team. Honestly, I feel we are a complete and deep team. We do not have to rely on two guys. It is a different guy every game and you never know who is going to step up for us."
Springfield, which was trying to get back to the semifinals for the first time since 2018.
"We were out of sync on defense and had some bad overthrows that hurt us today" Springfield (Delco) coach Brian Francis said. "We have been good defensively all season, but we just made too many mistakes today to win a ball game."
West Chester Rustin 9, Springfield (Delco) 5
Springfield (Delco) 120 011 0 – 5WC Rustin 101 430 x – 9
WP - Cugini. LP - Dulski.
2B - Valletti, O'Reilly.
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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 6:49 AM.