May 30, 2017 3 min read

The strategy for being dominant has been pretty simple for the California High School baseball team.

It begins with not having to worry about doing too much at the plate and having a whole lot to do with what happens after the Trojans secure the first 90 feet to first base.

The difference between a fast sprint to beat a throw, a slow jog after a walk or a winding route with the possibility of looking for extra bases doesn’t really matter to head coach Nick Damico. Just as long as someone gets on base.

What California does after that makes the Trojans, who will play Freedom in the WPIAL Class AA Championship game today at 5:15 p.m. at Wild Things Park, even more dangerous than their senior-dominated lineup indicates on paper.

Through 21 games this year, California has stolen 125 bases – nearly six steals per game – on its way to scoring double-digit runs in eight games.

The Trojans (19-2) also have taken full advantage of the newly implemented PIAA pitching rules with their patient approach, drawing 120 walks.

“We have pretty good plate discipline,” Damico said. “If the pitcher is going to challenge us, then we will swing. Our overall team speed isn’t too fast but we make sure to practice it a lot. We practice getting good jumps and mix it with stealing at random times and counts.”

Freedom (16-4), which is riding a 12-game winning streak with maybe their most impressive performance coming in the upset of No. 1 seed Serra Catholic, 6-2, in the semifinals, is playing in its first championship in school history.

The Bulldogs are led by brothers Nick and Noah Henderson, who each have 28 RBI this year. Freedom’s first-round win over Bentworth was its first in the playoffs since 2009.

Random has turned into regularity for the Trojans as they are competing in their third championship in four years. They are searching for a title that escaped them last year in a 6-4 loss to Greensburg Central Catholic.

With only one home run all season, the California lineup doesn’t depend on power. They are led by seniors Nate Luketich, John DeFranco, Tyler Jacobs and Alex Adams.

Luketich is leading the Trojans in batting average (.413), RBI (28) and doubles (10). DeFranco, the team’s catalyst at shortstop, is hitting .403 in the leadoff spot. He has scored 28 runs.

“Our lineup is full of three-year starters,” Damico said. “They’ve seen everything come at them and understand what pitchers are trying to do to them. It just comes down to a lot of practice and work. Those guys are great hitters. That’s the bottom line.”

In the Trojans last championship in 2014, where they defeated Carmichaels, they were helped by the dominant pitching of Josh Luko. This year, Damico has built a full staff. Four pitchers have started multiple games and appeared in at least eight games for California.

California’s team earned run average is 1.87 and the staff hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than five runs.

The two losses for California came against higher-classification teams in Waynesburg and West Allegheny, where the Trojans scored only one run in those games combined.