Local teams win District 6 championships

Centre County has four district diamond sports champions.

Both Bellefonte softball and baseball teams won AAAA district championships, and the State College baseball team won another one in AAAAAA. On May 30, the Philipsburg-Osceola Lady Mountie softball team won a district champions.

All four of those teams will advance into PIAA play.
 

BELLEFONTE BASEBALL

In baseball, it was all about pitching for the Bellefonte Red Raiders. More specifically, it was all about senior pitcher Adam Armstrong.

In their two playoff victories over Somerset and Forest Hills, the Raiders gave up a total of just one run, and Armstrong picked up complete-game wins in both games.

In the 5-1 victory over Somerset in the May 18 semifinal, Armstrong threw a five-hitter, struck out eight and walked just two. CJ Funk had three hits in the game, including a home run, and two RBIs to lead the Raider offense, while freshman Bobby Marsh chipped in with a hit and two more RBIs.

Then, on May 24 in the final against Forest Hills at Altoona’s Peoples Natural Gas Field, Armstrong turned in an even better performance.

The Raiders pushed across two runs in the second inning and Armstrong made them stand up in a 2-0 win for the D6 title.

Armstrong gave up just three hits, struck out eight and walked none. He was never in trouble in the game as his team advanced into the PIAA AAAA tournament.

STATE COLLEGE BASEBALL

The State College baseball team chose a slightly different method in their championship win over Altoona on the same day at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The Little Lions pounded the Mountain Lions with a barrage of early runs and cruised to a 12-1, five-inning victory. SC finished with 15 hits on the day and scored 10 runs in the first three innings of the game. Matt Tomczuk, Tyson Cooper and Brenden Franks all had three hits for the Little Lions, and the trio accounted for five RBIs.

David Shoemaker did his part on the mound, giving up a run on five hits in five innings of work. Shoemaker struck out four and walked two, and his team played flawless defense behind him.

The win, the fourth in a row for the streaking Little Lions, evened their record for the season at 10-10.

BELLEFONTE SOFTBALL

In softball, Bellefonte won its third consecutive District 6 championship and 20th overall with a five-inning, 10-0 victory over Somerset. It was the second consecutive year in which the Lady Raiders beat Somerset for the title.

Bellefonte scored in every inning except the third, chipping away early before essentially putting the game away with a five-run fourth inning.

Lissi Przybys hit a three-run homer to top the inning, giving Bellefonte an 8-0 lead and pitcher Lexi Rogers more than enough runs to work with.

Rogers pitched a complete-game win, struck out nine batters, allowed no runs and just one hit, hit one batter and walked two.

The win puts the Bellefonte record at 16-2 going into the PIAA tournament.

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA SOFTBALL

In AAA softball, Philipsburg-Osceola has not had very much room for error. The Lady Mounties needed four seventh-inning runs to overcome Tyrone in the first round of the D6 bracket.

Then, in the semifinals, P-O emerged from a pitching duel against Ligonier Valley with a tense 1-0 win that advanced the team into the finals against Central.

For the second year in a row, P-O’s Kam Harris and Ligonier Valley’s Jane Garver matched wits with D6 championships on the line. And, for the second year in a row, Harris prevailed.

The senior pitched a complete-game, three-hitter and needed only Kendra Carns’ RBI double in the second inning to steal the win and a shot at another district championship.

Garver gave up only four hits, and neither team committed an error in what was truly a championship-calibre game on both sides. It was also another example of P-O’s poise and ability to perform under pressure.

In a game that was scheduled for May 30 at St. Francis University, the Lady Mounties were scheduled to take on No. 6-seeded Central for district honors.

Central was set to arrive at the game after a convincing 10-1 victory over Bald Eagle Area in the semifinals May 24.  The Lady Dragons rallied for seven second-inning runs and cruised out on the arm of pitcher Dylan Claycomb for the win and a chance at the title.

Central amassed 14 hits in all against BEA freshman pitcher Madison Peters and was set to face Mountain League foe Philipsburg. P-O won both outings against Central this season, although both were close games. The Mounties won 6-5 at Central on May 3 and then came back home and won 7-5 on May 9.

Since District 6 will send two teams from AAA softball into the PIAA tournament, P-O and Central have both already qualified and will begin play Monday, June 4.