The Cochranton baseball team started out the season 4-4, but then won its final eight games. Linesville, on the other hand, started the year off with 10 straight wins, and then went 3-3 down the stretch.

So, while they took different paths the Cardinals (12-4) and the Lions (13-3) have both ended up at the same destination — the 2008 District 10 playoffs. And to be more specific, they’re in the same game.

Linesville, the 2008 Region 2 champ, will face region runner-up Cochranton in the semifinal round of the District 10 Class A playoffs today at 4 p.m. at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.

This will be the third meeting between the two teams. On April 7, Linesville beat Cochranton 10-3 in the middle of the Cards’ early-season losing streak. Then on April 29 the Cardinals turned the tide, beating the Lions 8-5.

The difference between those two games was academic. Linesville hit the ball in the first game. Cochranton hit the ball in the second. Linesville’s pitchers were effective in the first game. Cochranton’s were effective in the second.

Whichever team can do it again this time around is heading to the D-10 championship game.

Cochranton, having won the latest game, is simply looking to maintain its hot streak. Starting with a 13-12 win over Union City on April 21, Cochranton swept the second half of the season, winning eight straight.

“We knew (during the Union City game) — we were 4-4 — that we couldn’t afford to lose any more games if we wanted to make the playoffs,” said Don Check, Cochranton’s head coach. “And we’ve been playing playoff ball ever since then. That was three weeks ago.”

Linesville has won eight conference or region titles in the last ten years. However, the Lions are still looking to turn things around after a stumble-filled run to the finish.

“I’m not happy with way we ended,” said Linesville coach Pat Gould. “We definitely have work to do. The defense needs to step up and make the routine plays that they had in the beginning. They just need to get focused.”

In the second meeting between the two teams, Cochranton had 11 hits. Among them were two home runs by Cards first baseman Zach Staudt.

Staudt has eight homers on the year and is one of the top bats for Cochranton, hitting .519 with a whopping 37 RBIs. Pitcher/shortstop Andy Boughner leads the team in batting average hitting .556. He’s also tops in doubles with seven.

The Cards — hitting .311 as a team — also have catcher Mike Boughner hitting .347 while outfielder Travis Peterson is batting .341.

“Cochranton plays a real nice game,” said Gould “They’re getting a lot of clutch hits. They’re getting guys on and clutching up.”

Gould’s Lions, meanwhile, are batting .350 as a team. In the first game against Cochranton, the Lions had eight hits including a grand slam by Cody Norwood and a two-run dinger by Doug Williams.