Championship push continues for some local teams, others go home

As the Centre County high school teams weave their way through the District 6 softball and baseball tournaments in 2017, there is always one thing that year after year seems to be true.

The Philipsburg-Osceola Lady Mounties, somewhere along the line, always seem to find themselves in a classic showdown.

This year is no exception.

No. 2 seeded P-O faces No. 3 Penn Cambria in the D-6 semifinal, Thursday, May 25. The game will be played on the Mounties’ home field in Philipsburg.

The stakes for both teams couldn’t be higher. The winner of the game will advance to the district championship game against either No. 4 Ligonier Valley or No. 1 Central. Of all the teams in District 6, only two — State College and Bellefonte — have won more softball titles than Philipsburg-Osceola, and the Mounties would love to add another one to that collection.

There’s more, however. Since two D-6 teams will advance to the PIAA Tournament, which will begin Monday, June 5, both teams in the championship game will go to the state tournament. The winner of the semifinal, consequently, will qualify, win or lose, in the championship game.

The team that loses the semifinal will see its season end.

Penn Cambria will come into Philipsburg with an impressive record. The Lady Panthers are 19-2 overall and roared through the Laurel Highlands Conference with an unblemished 16-0 record.

The Panthers advanced to the semifinals with a 4-2 victory over Bald Eagle Area on May 22 in Cresson. PC broke a 2-2 tie with two late runs and held off BEA for the win, which ended the season for the Lady Eagles.

Penn Cambria has two strong pitchers. Macy Sral does the bulk of the work for the Lady Panthers, and in her last regular-season outing she pitched a three-hitter in the team’s 5-3 win over Central Cambria. Casey Reese took the mound for PC against BEA and threw a complete game against the Lady Eagles to get the win.

Elizabeth Kleman, Lexi Strasser and Sydnie Reese lead a very productive offense for PCHS, a team that without question has its sights set on a D-6 title.

Philipsburg-Osceola has put together a solid season of its own. The Mountain League champion Mounties are now 16-3 overall and are coming off an impressive 10-0 win over West Shamokin in the first round.

Kamryn Harris threw a six-inning no-hitter against the Lady Wolves, just one base runner short of a perfect game, and P-O crashed 13 hits. Harris and Maddie Lucas both had two-run home runs to lead the attack.
P-O has a solid combination of pitching, hitting and defense which, along with its extensive playoff experience, will make it a tough out in this tournament.

Game time is set for 4 p.m.

In other softball action, both Bellefonte and State College are alive in D-6 play, but both will be  in district championship games played too late for this edition.

Bellefonte scored four runs in both the fourth and sixth innings and ran away from Huntingdon, 8-0, in the semifinal game played May 22 in Bellefonte.

Tara Baney pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out 10, against the Bearcats and also had two hits, including a home run. Alexis Wetzler had three hits, Lissy Prysbys and Angela Capperelle each had two hits, and Wetzler and Capperelle each had two RBIs in the win.
Bellefonte’s win put it into the D-6 final against No. 2 seed Somerset at the Nittany Lions Softball Park.

The State College Lady Little Lions followed Bellefonte’s lead almost exactly. SC sophomore pitcher Emma Wolf pitched a complete-game, seven-strikeout shutout in the Lions’ 3-0 win over Altoona on May 22.

State College had just six hits — led by Kyla Hawbaker’s double and two singles — but that’s all it needed with Wolf on the mound.

The No. 3 seeded Lions advanced to play No. 1 Mifflin County in the D-6 championship game with a trip to the PIAA 6A tournament on the line.

The Centre County baseball teams, unfortunately, have not fared as well as their softball counterparts.

Philipsburg-Osceola played an exceptional game in its 7-0 victory over West Shamokin in the first round of the 3-A bracket, but the Mounties could not keep it going against No. 1 seed Central.

Despite a solid effort by Cam Domblisky, P-O fell to a late inning Central rally by a score of 7-3 in the D-6 semifinal. The loss ends the Mounties’ season with a final record of 12-8.

In the single-A bracket, St. Joseph’s Academy reached the semifinal with a convincing 12-6 victory over Blacklick Valley. The Wolves fell, however, in that game to No. 2 Homer Center, 3-1, May 23 in Homer City.

Nate Davis threw a three-hitter for Homer Center as it broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the win. SJCA ace Bryce Herman pitched well — he gave up just six hits — but the loss ends the Wolves’ season with a final record of 11-5.

No. 4 seeded Bellefonte romped over Johnstown, 12-1, in the 4-A first round, but No. 1 Somerset ended the Red Raiders’ season with a close, 3-2 victory in the semifinals.

Both teams had five hits on the day, but Somerset scored three runs in the first two innings and the Raiders could not make up the difference, despite mounting a two-run rally in the seventh inning.

The loss ended the Raiders’ season with a final record of 12-9.

The State College baseball team was seeded No. 1 in the District 6 6-A bracket and received a bye. The Little Lions will play Altoona for the championship at a date and time still to be determined.