Three common themes emerged at the 1999 Pennsylvania state tournament. The first was the continual presence of jittery sunbathers, due to the proximity of the Minersville community pool to the left field fence at Carl E. Ulmer Field. The second was controversial plays involving State College National Little League's Nick Bathurst. The third, which overrode the others, was the stellar pitching of State College hurler Curt McClusick.

McClusick pitched three complete game shutouts at the state tournament as State College National overcame an initial loss to Shippensburg to win its first ever state title.

State College's 4-3 and 2-0 victories over Shippensburg Area Little League were fueled by controversy. The Nationals rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of their 4-3 win to force a second championship game -- but the two run rally included a 22-minute delay and a phone call to Eastern Region headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, for a rules interpretation before State College completed the comeback.

With one out in the sixth and Shippensburg leading 3-2, Bathurst reached on an infield single, moved to second on McClusick's walk, and stood as the potential tying run as Matt McEwen came to the plate. McEwen took a pitch for a ball when the count was 2 and 1 -- but both the plate umpire and the scoreboard had tracked the count as 3 and 1. The plate umpire -- a veteran of the Little League World Series -- barked "ball four", McEwen jogged to first, and the runners began to advance to the next base.

That's when Shippensburg pitcher Riley Cameron, after receiving the return toss from his catcher, threw to third in an attempt to throw out Bathurst, who was presumably stealing on the 2 and 1 count. Bathurst was tagged out, but after extensive consultation among the umpires, vehement protests by Shippensburg's coaching staff, and a call to Bristol, the runners were returned to first and second because they had advanced on the umpire's mistake.

When the game resumed, McEwen walked -- this time for real -- and State College tied the game when Matt Moberg grounded to second and the Shippensburg catcher mishandled the throw home. Ben Gantner then hit a sharp grounder to second, and Shippensburg tried to turn a double play to end the inning. Moberg's hard slide at second prevented a throw to first, and McClusick scored the winning run.

The controversial ending obscured gritty pitching performances by Cameron and McEwen. Cameron took a four-hitter into the sixth inning, and allowed only Bathurst's two-run homer in the fourth prior to the final rally. McEwen -- who had not pitched in any of State College's 14 games leading up to the Shippensburg contest -- struck out seven in four innings and did not allow an earned run.

State College's win forced a final meeting between the two teams, and McClusick capped a stellar tournament with a one-hitter as State College edged Shippensburg 2-0. McClusick allowed no runs in eighteen innings at the state tournament, and ran his winning streak to eight consecutive starts.

No Shippensburg runner advanced past second base against McClusick in the title game win, and State College National had an equally hard time against Shippensburg starter John Nickey. The Nationals were hitless until the third, and eventually pushed across the game's only runs on a controversial play in the fourth.

Bathurst was again at the center of the action, as he opened the inning with a line single to center. McEwen followed with a walk, and McClusick then hit a bouncer to short that led to two runs scoring. The Shippensburg shortstop bobbled the ball, and flipped to second too late to force McEwen. Bathurst tried to score from second on the play, and Shippensburg catcher John Proctor appeared to receive the throw home in plenty of time to tag him out. However, Proctor was several feet up the third base line when he received the throw, so Bathurst did not slide. The two players collided, the ball rolled free to the backstop, and Bathurst scored. Proctor was hurt on the play, and before Nickey could retrieve the ball, McEwen had also scored. Despite heated protests by Shippensburg that Bathurst should have been called out for failing to avoid the contact, the play stood, and State College had a 2-0 lead. It was all McClusick would need.

State College and Shippensburg were both impressive in gaining the title game. Shippensburg opened by walloping Marion Center Area Little League, 10-0. A seven-run second inning outburst fueled the victory, and Cameron struck out ten while pitching a complete game shutout. Leadoff hitter Daniel Brubaker scored a run in the first, and then drove in two with a single in the second to ignite the attack. Luke Hockenberry also contributed a two-run single in the rally.

State College, which received an opening round bye, advanced with a shutout win over Newtown-Edgmont Little League. The Newtown offense, which scored 15 runs in an opening round rout of Plains Little League, could manage only four singles against McClusick. McClusick struck out 13, including the side in the fourth and sixth innings. McEwen roped a two-run home run near the swimming pool in the second, and Bathurst launched a towering two-run drive that landed on the pool's deck in the fourth.

Shippensburg and State College then met in the winner's bracket finals. The Nationals opened a 2-0 lead in the second, but Shippensburg stormed back with ten unanswered runs to advance to the title game.

Shippensburg converted a single hard-hit base hit into five runs in the second inning after State College took an early lead. Hockenberry singled, Derek Whittier walked, and Curtis Garland reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Two runs scored on Brooks Sagonas' bad-hop single off the second baseman's shoulder, and a third came in on Nick Spencer's infield single. Sagonas scored on a wild pitch, and Spencer came in when Brubaker walked and then intentionally trapped himself in a rundown. Corey Miley's grand slam homer in the third put the game out of reach.

The initial piecemeal rally was more than enough for Nickey, who retired eleven straight batters from the second inning through the top of the sixth. After walking two during State College's second inning rally, Nickey bore down and stayed ahead in the count the rest of the way. Nickey issued no walks after the second, and went to a three ball count on only one batter. For the game, he struck out five, induced eleven infield outs, and finished with a three-hitter.

Following the loss, McClusick shut out Newtown-Edgmont for the second time in three days to lift his team into the title game. McClusick relied on off-speed pitches more than his overpowering fastball in the win, and escaped jams in the first and third innings before retiring the last seven Newtown batters. N-E's biggest threat came in the third, when Matt Catania's double, a walk, and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. McClusick induced a short fly ball and a pair of force outs to preserve the shutout. Bathurst provided the offense with a two-run homer in the first and a single during State College's two-run fifth inning rally.

State College achieved an unusual feat en route to their state title -- they had more losses than any previous Pennsylvania state champion. The Nationals lost four times -- twice in the District 5 tournament, once in Section 1, and once at the state tournament -- before winning the title. The two district tournament losses both came in pool play games. State College National opened with losses to State College American Little League and Big Valley Little League before recovering to beat Mifflin County Little League, 5-0. The Nationals won a tiebreaker that enabled them to advance to the quarterfinal round, and then defeated three consecutive opponents to capture the district title.