It’s not time to celebrate yet for Liberty’s baseball team, but the Hurricanes are so close to putting the cherry on top of perhaps their greatest season in school history.

Liberty kept its dream season alive Monday with a 4-2 victory over Hazleton in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals to advance to Thursday’s state championship at Penn State.

The Hurricanes will take on Warwick at 4:30 p.m. with the opportunity to become the first East Penn Conference baseball team to win a state title.

A whirlwind Monday at East Stroudsburg University’s Creekview Park erupted into celebration when the final out came through, following a three-run sixth inning that saw Liberty reach its second state final since 2002, when it lost to Moon, 3-2.

For Hurricane head coach Andy Pitsilos, the joy of reaching the state finals is one thing, but he understands that it’s not time to celebrate just yet.

“I know we still have another game to play,” said Pitsilos. “It’s great to beat a team like Hazleton, but there’s another talented team in Warwick coming up. We just need to go out and do what we do. Just play it [the state championship] like it’s another game.”

Hazleton’s star-studded roster of Division-I talent led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning until Liberty (26-2) rallied to save their season. A leadoff double by JC Spinosa got the momentum going for the Liberty rally, as he eventually moved to third on a groundout.

Hayden O’Neill then chopped a ball up the middle, allowing Spinosa to score and tie the game. Hazleton committed two throwing errors on the play and O’Neill ended up on third.

Ayden Zabala then put another ball in play to bring O’Neill home after the throw to the plate got past catcher Jason Lazar giving the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead. Jacob Rivera then knocked in Zabala with an infield single to make it 4-2 and give Liberty some breathing room.

Sophomore pitcher Noah Gyauch-Quirk pitched his second straight complete game, throwing 91 pitches in the win, but being able to exhale in the seventh with the help of a double play and a strikeout to finish things off to send Liberty to the pinnacle contest of their historic season.

Gyauch-Quirk allowed four hits, struck out three, walked three and hit two batters in the win, but won’t be able to pitch in Thursday’s showdown with Warwick. Hayden O’Neill will take the mound to try and win the program’s first state championship and become the second Lehigh Valley team to ever do it, going back to Catasauqua’s state championship in 1997.

The win on Monday snapped Hazleton’s 22-game winning streak and set a single-season record for wins with 26 for the Hurricanes.

One more win would add to that record, as well as cement a fairy-tale ending to the school’s 100th year anniversary.

“We just find ways to grind out wins,” Pitsilos said. “They stay focused and confident. We just need to play our game.”