Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Dave Compo slides under the tag of Hampton catcher Chris Beatty to score in Moon's PIAA quarterfinal win. Click photo for larger image.

The best Moon could do in the regular season was tie for third in its section. Now, the Tigers are one of only four Class AAA baseball teams still standing in the state.

Moon's postseason good fortunes continued yesterday when it earned a spot in the PIAA semifinals with an 8-2 victory against Hampton in a quarterfinal game at Shaler's Matulevic Field.

Moon will play in the semifinals Monday against Pine-Richland, which defeated Hershey, 3-2, in another quarterfinal yesterday.

Senior shortstop Dan Walsh tried to explain this Moon team, which had a 9-10 record in the regular season.

"During the regular season, we would have good pitching one game and only good hitting the next," Walsh said. "Then our infield would be good one game and bad the next. Now we're putting it all together."

Moon (14-11) had pretty much everything together against Hampton. The Tigers had 12 hits, played excellent defensively and got an admirable pitching performance from Ben Smith, who scattered eight hits.

"When you see someone who is in the playoffs with a below .500 record, teams usually say, 'They're beatable,' " said Moon coach Dom Santeufemio. "But at the same time, our tradition in the playoffs has been we usually get the job done. Win or lose from here on out, we've accomplished a lot with a team that has been downplayed."

Moon won back-to-back PIAA titles in 2000 and '01, and lost in the WPIAL semifinals both years. This year, Moon lost to Hampton (18-7) in the semifinals two weeks ago. The Tigers avenged the defeat yesterday.

"We definitely didn't bring our 'A' game today. I don't even know if we brought our 'B' game," said Hampton coach Gary Wilson, whose team committed four errors in the first four innings. "But I'm not making any excuses. Moon deserved every bit of that win."

Hampton's miscues in the field enabled Moon to jump to a 7-0 lead after four innings, and Hampton couldn't recover. Hampton had been averaging eight runs a game in the postseason, but Smith got 17 ground-ball outs and held the Talbots to their lowest run output of the season.

Hampton catcher Chris Beatty, who was 11 for 18 with 14 RBIs in five postseason games, was 0 for 2 with a walk.

For Moon, catcher Casey Williams and third baseman Brian Walsh were 3 for 4.

"There's no pressure on us," Williams said. "We're just going out, opening some eyes and having some fun."