On Thursday, Sept. 4, the first half champion State College Spikes will host second half champion West Virginia Black Bears in the 2025 MLB Draft League Championship Game.

The Spikes will compete in their first Draft League title after finishing the first half 17-12 and entering the final game of the regular season at 37-36 across the entire 2025 season. The Black Bears enter Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 29-14 in the second half and 45-27 across the entire year. West Virginia will compete in the finale for the third time in the league’s five-year history, winning both times in 2022 and 2023.

First Half Summary

It took until the very last day of the first half for the Spikes to clinch home-field for the Championship with an 8-3 win and Black Bears loss. In that game, right-handed pitcher Luke House struck out a then-summer-best nine batters through six innings with the run support of a Harrison Didawick home run and Cole Pladson two-RBI performance.

At the conclusion of the first half, the Spikes led the league as a team in walks (183) and second in being caught stealing the least (8), on-base (.377) and BABIP (.329). What carried State College through the half was pitching efforts like the last game from House as the team was the only pitching staff to have a team ERA under 3.00. The Spikes also led in least number of hits allowed (230) and second in WHIP (1.43), batting average against (.241) and walks (130).

Amongst individual players, State College had two first half players selected in the 2025 MLB Draft and eight signed as undrafted free agents. A ninth round selection by the Boston Red Sox, RHP Jacob Meyers appeared in the exhibition game against the Cape Cod Baseball League and two regular season games for the Spikes’ where he totaled 6 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts, surrendering one run. In the 13th round, RHP Ethan Storm was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays, making 12 appearances with as many innings and 15 strikeouts, including a four-strikeout inning. Following the draft, RHP Dayne Pengelly was one of the first in the league to be signed on a UDFA deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Pengelly led the team with 30 strikeouts in five starts and a 3.16 ERA. Following as part of the 2025 roster was RHP Jonah Conradt (NYM), RHP Brayden Heidel (TOR), RHP Bobby Olsen (STL), RHP Ty Boudreau (NYY), RHP Treyson Peters (PIT), RHP Caden Wooster (NYM) and OF Caden Shapiro (PIT).

In West Virginia, the Black Bears finished one game back to the Spikes in the first half, and could have even taken the title had they won their final game on account of holding the tiebreaker.

They finished first in the league in runs (418), doubles (128), RBI (345), fewest strikeouts (504), SLG (.379), OPS (.748) and tied at the top in triples (18). Pitching-wise, the Black Bears finished first in WHIP (1.37) and batting average against (.240) and in second behind State College in ERA (4.38) and hits allowed (234). West Virginia also featured some of the first half’s premier hitters as Tyler Pettorini led the league in batting average (.327), slugging (.469), hits (37) and total bases (53), with Judah Morris, a player featured on the second half roster, leading in OPS (.862).

In the draft, all five West Virginia alumni selections appeared in the 2025 season. Catcher Bryan Arendt was selected in the 13th round by the Athletics after appearing in Morgantown as a two-way player, finishing top 10 on the team in walks and runs with eight and holding one of the team’s seven saves. RHP Joe Ruzicka, a 16th round pick by the Detroit Tigers, made three starts for the Black Bears, striking out eight in nine innings. RHP Owen Puk was taken in the 18th round by the Washington Nationals, striking out eight in four innings. RHP Cannon Pickell was selected in the 20th round by the Miami Marlins. A two-year Draft League player (Frederick 2022), Pickell also struck out eight batters but in 4 1/3 innings. The following pick was RHP Sam Tookoian by the Los Angeles Angels, most notable for starting his time with the Black Bears without allowing a hit through his first 7 1/3 innings, striking out 16 in 12 2/3 by the end of it. Three more players were signed as undrafted free agents as Pettorini (PHI), OF Jonny McGill (LAA) and RHP Aiden Moffett (CHC).

Amongst the entire league, both squads had several prospects named to the first MLB Draft League All-First Half Team. Along with leading in OPS, Morris’ selection was highlighted by ranking second in slugging (.462), doubles (9) and extra base hits (12) also finishing top 10 in RBI, walks, on-base percentage and total bases. Pettorini was also named to the All-First Half Team after leading in four categories with top 10 finishes in OPS (.858), runs (29), triples (2), stolen bases (15), extra base hits (10) and on-base percentage (.389). A combined five pitchers across both teams as well with Sam Cozart who started the year as back-to-back Pitcher of the Week (June 4 to 8 / June 10 to 15) and a 2.37 ERA and 1.05 WHIP for top five amongst starters. House carried a second-best 2.11 ERA amongst starting pitchers with a top 10 WHIP (0.98) and batting average against (.190). Tookoian was named as well after his dominant start and finished first amongst qualified pitchers in WHIP (0.47) and batting average against (.100). Pengelly made his way to the list with the second most strikeouts (30) and the seventh fastest max velocity on his fastball in the half at 98.6 mph, rounded out by Storm who averaged over one strikeout an inning.

For more on the MLB Draft within the MLB Draft League, see the Draft recap.

For more on the MLB Draft League All-First Half Team, see the full announcement.

Second Half Summary

After falling one game short of the first half title, the Black Bears dominated during the second half on the back of an eight game win-streak and a ten-game win streak. After dropping three of its first four, West Virginia reeled off eight straight wins and never relinquished first place from there, clinching the second half championship Aug. 26 with seven games remaining.

The Black Bears led the second half in runs scored (264), thanks to their second half-leading OBP (.368) and stolen bases (122). Not only did West Virginia lead the second half in creating runs, it led the way in minimizing them as well with 212 runs allowed over 43 games. The key for the pitching staff was keeping the ball in the yard as its 11 home runs allowed was the fewest in the league.

West Virginia had a pair of memorable individual moments in the second half, starting with Jason Bollman’s near perfect game. Bollman carried a perfect game down to the final out before settling for a complete game two-hitter. Offensively, Jace Rinehart dominated the month of August, claiming a Hitter of the Week honor, and making MLB Draft League history with a 21-game hit streak.

Highlighted by his streak, Rinehart led the second half in multiple offensive categories. Rinehart’s .403 average and .991 OPS were both tops in the second half with a strikeout to walk ratio of one (18 K-18 BB). While Rinehart spent more than half his time in the outfield, he also played multiple games at catcher, first base and third base. Similar to the first half where he finished second in home runs, Judah Morris continued to flex his muscle in the second half for West Virginia. The first baseman blasted five deep, good for second in the league again, and opened the second half with one of his two multi-home run games. Outfielder Alex Ungar was another key part in the offensive success, finishing with the top SLG (.530) and extra-base hits (19), second in stolen bases (23), tied for second in runs scored (35) and third in home runs (4).

Drew Collins was another mainstay in the Black Bears lineup with the ability to blend his speed and hit tool, helping him become the leader in triples with five and tied sixth with 13 total extra-base hits. His speed has also allowed him to take an extra base via steals with a sixth place 20 stolen bases, like Ungar this leads to runs where he ranks tied for sixth with 33.

Bollman, mentioned above for his near perfect game, was a workhorse on the mound and led the second half in innings (57 1/3). In nine starts, Bollman hurled two complete games and went eight-plus innings on four occasions leading to a pair of Pitcher of the Week honors (July 21 to 27 / Aug. 11 to 17). The right-hander led the second half in wins with six and second in strikeouts with 54. Left-hander Jake Lynch was another innings eater for the Black Bears, working 45 2/3 innings which was good for third in the half. Jacob Weaver led West Virginia’s starters with a 3.76 ERA over seven starts and struck out 31 while walking 13.

The bullpen was a significant piece of the Black Bears dominant second half as the team had five arms who struck out more than one per inning with sub-3.00 ERAs. Cameron LeJeune was the leader of the back end, allowing just two earned runs (0.67 ERA) over 27 innings with a .177 BAA and 0.96 WHIP. Joe Steeber was West Virginia’s other reliever with a sub-1.50 ERA (1.32) and he had some impressive strikeout numbers with 41 to just seven walks over 27 1/3 innings. Austin Eaton, Justin Needles and Wes Burton were the other three relief arms to own ERA’s below 3.00 while striking out more than one per inning.

For State College, the second half yielded opposite results of the first half as they finished towards the bottom of the standings; however, the Spikes still had standout individuals that, if clicking Thursday, can bring positive results.

In similar fashion to the consistency of Rinehart, State College has seen production by catcher Jaden Collura who carries a 20-game hit-streak through the beginning of September. The Spikes’ catcher also earned Hitter of the Week honors during his streak for Aug. 18 through 24. In his streak, Collura slashed .383/.429/.469 with a .898 OPS, a home run and 15 RBI with a season line of .333/.400/.406 and an OPS of .806.

Behind Collura in the Spikes’ lineup, Conor Higgs has presented to be a true power threat towards the end of August as the defending Hitter of the Week. With eight extra base hits in the final month including three home runs that have averaged 419 feet (longest of 432 ft) and an exit velocity of 105.7 mph. The outfielder ranks top 10 in the second half in SLG (.495) and OPS (.886). State College has also seen power production from shortstop T.J. Salvaggio, who is tied for third in the second half with four home runs, most recently a grand slam to open September. Next to him at third base, Cole Caruso has delivered for the Spikes with 27 RBI, 46 hits and 26 walks. In the outfield, Chenar Brown ranks fourth with 21 stolen bases and eighth in doubles with 10 behind another Spikes’ outfielder, Dan Tauken with 12.

Despite a last place finish in the second half, starting pitching in State College has seen several bright performances by Michael Quevedo, Carter Holjes and Alec Sparks. Ranking second, seventh and ninth respectively amongst all qualified pitchers in ERA to contribute to a team ERA of 4.36 in the second half, second behind West Virginia. Leading the team in strikeouts, Holjes (50) and Quevedo (40) have played a large part in State College having 388 strikeouts as a team, second behind the Black Bears. In eight starts (seven in the second half), Sparks has accounted for 37 strikeouts with a league seventh-best 41 innings pitched with a 2.63 ERA. Jack Hagan and Jeff Heinrich, meanwhile, anchor the bullpen. Behind West Virginia’s Steeber, Heinrich sits second amongst qualified pitchers with a batting average against of .160, only 12 hits in 75 at-bats through 16 games. Hagan led the second half team with 17 games out of the bullpen, limiting batters to hit .175 against him (fourth in league) and carrying a WHIP of 0.88 (second in league).

Starting Pitchers

From hosting State College Spikes, Carter Holjes will be tasked with the start going against West Virginia’s Jacob Weaver.

Holjes returned to the Spikes after appearing out of the bullpen in the first half where he allowed two earned runs in 14 2/3 innings. To begin the second half, the right-hander from Florida Atlantic worked long-relief with one earned run and 14 strikeouts through 10 innings. In August, Holjes transitioned to starting and put together an impressive five-inning performance with one earned run and four strikeouts. A week later, he went four innings with two earned runs on six strikeouts before ending the season on a three-game stretch where he struck out 26 batters in 16 innings, including two games with nine strikeouts. Overall, Holjes ranks across the second half’s top 10 in ERA (2.57), strikeouts (50), batting average against (.209) and WHIP (1.11). Excelling at retiring batters with his four-pitch mix (fastball, changeup, slider, cutter), the 24-year-old has seen an accelerated rate of strikeouts (33.9%), plenty of chases (30%) and whiffs (33.3%).

Weaver joined the Black Bears in the second half after making 15 starts as a senior with Austin Peay, striking out 56 in 70 1/3 innings. With West Virginia, the 22-year-old has made seven starts to the tune of a previously mentioned 3.76 ERA, striking out 31 batters in 40 2/3 innings. Over the course of August, Weaver has worked as deep as 7 2/3 innings and has struck out as many as nine batters in a game. The right-hander uses a deep arsenal (fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, changeup) and has impressed with his ability to keep pitches in the zone (52.4%) and limit walks (7.3%, 17 walks against 177 total batters faced) while putting his pitches along the edges of the zone 33.8% of the time.

State College makes its first MLB Draft League Championship appearance after finishing as high as second place in the first halves of the 2022 and 2024 seasons. West Virginia will play for the MLB Draft League title for the third time in the past four seasons after winning in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. The 2022 championship came after clinching homefield advantage with a first half title and defeating the Williamsport Crosscutters, with 2023 coming on the road as the second-half champions against the Trenton Thunder.

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