PINE GROVE — It was a fitting finish for Blue Mountain’s Sonny Amato in the Eagles’ 12-3 win over Marian on Monday night at Stump Field in the Schuylkill League baseball semifinals.

Amato, a middle infielder who moved behind the plate to catch, capped a standout night by recording the final out.

He threw out the Colts’ Mitchell Knock attempting to steal second base to complete a strikeout-double play and seal the victory.

The win sends the Eagles to Wednesday night’s championship game against familiar foe Tri-Valley, which defeated Williams Valley 15-5 in the opener of the doubleheader.

Amato starred offensively, driving in four runs while going 3-for-4 with two singles and a double.

“I just was looking for a pitch to hit,” said the humble sophomore. “I got a fastball on that last at bat, and really hit it hard ... I just want to hit it hard somewhere.”

Blue Mountain manager Jarrod Kramer praised Amato’s performance.

“We’ve been seeing him play all the way up (from Little League) and we knew he was aggressive, he’s tough,” Kramer said.

Before Blue Mountain’s offense broke through, Marian held the lead.

The Colts jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning despite collecting only one hit. They took advantage of three walks, while designated hitter Rocco Griguoli delivered an RBI single and Brayden Grant added another run with a groundout.

“The way we started surprised me,” Marian manager John “Pilsey” Petrilyak said with a smile. “You know, we haven’t done that all year, getting a first-inning lead.”

Marian added just one more run the rest of the way, scoring in the sixth on singles by Noah Bauder, Griguoli and Grant, whose RBI single drove in the run.

For much of the game, Marian sophomore right-hander Roman Bednarek kept Blue Mountain’s powerful lineup under control.

The Eagles finally broke through in the fourth inning, scoring once after taking advantage of two Marian errors. Amato singled, Frankie Russo laid down a sacrifice bunt and Brady Strause scored on the second error of the inning.

Blue Mountain tied the game 2-2 in the fifth. Two walks, an Amato single and a passed ball helped even the score.

At that point, momentum had clearly shifted toward the Eagles.

Kramer never panicked after his team’s rough start.

“That first inning I think we walked three batters,” Kramer said of starting pitcher Riley Sebastian. “That hurt, I think he threw 30-some pitches, but he settled down. We always tell our pitchers if we could just throw strikes and make plays, we’re going to be in the game.”

With Blue Mountain’s offense, it felt like only a matter of time before the bats came alive.

That happened in a huge sixth inning. The Eagles scored eight runs while sending 11 batters to the plate. Blue Mountain pounded out seven hits in the inning, including five singles. Amato and Aiden Finn both drove in two runs, while Evan Setlock’s triple capped the rally.

Blue Mountain added two more runs in the seventh to finish off the comeback, highlighted by Amato’s booming double to left-center field.

As impressive as Amato was at the plate, Sebastian also praised his work behind it.

“He is so easy to pitch to, he gives me a great target and frames (the pitches) and it is so easy with him,” said Sebastian, who also catches when he is not pitching. “I had a rough start, but Sonny stayed with it, he called a great game. I relied on my fastball mainly.”

Marian, which entered the game as the Schuylkill League Division 2 champion, now turns its attention to next week’s District 11 Class 2A tournament.

“It is great to be here first of all, we battled, we played good for five-and-a-third (innings), then we gave up some slap singles,” Petrilyak said. “But it is a learning experience that we can take into districts.”

QUOTABLE I ... “They’re a pretty good outfit. I give them a lot of credit, but when you have (six) errors you are not going to beat a team of that caliber.” — Marian skipper Petrilyak on how things unraveled.

QUOTABLE II ... “If you would have told me that (Sebastian) would have been at less pitches than Bednarek at the sixth inning, I would have told you you are crazy the way the first inning (went).” — Kramer on Sebastian recovering after throwing 30-plus pitches in the first inning.

11-4 ... The hit advantage for Blue Mountain over Marian.

GREAT DEFENSE ... Marian center fielder Chase Quinn-Gutsie continued to show his potential. He tracked down five fly balls, four of which appeared headed for extra bases, and made them look routine.

THE ROCK IS BACK ... Griguoli has returned to the lineup over the past two weeks after missing most of the season with a broken foot suffered during basketball season in December. He finished with two singles and two RBIs. Bauder and Grant added Marian’s other hits.

Blue Mountain 000 118 2 - 12 11 1

Marian 200 001 0 - 3 4 6

Sebastian, Clemas (7) and Amato; Bednarek, Grier, Bauder and Labenburg, Reamen (6). W - Sebastian. L - Bednarek.

Records: Blue Mountain (18-4); Marian (16-4).