The start of the 2022 high school baseball season has been in a bit of a holding pattern because of some unseasonably cold weather, but the six Centre County teams should get their first games in by the end of March. The first weeks of the new season shape up as interesting ones with all six teams jumping right in with important league and rivalry games. Here is a brief look at the early going for each team:
BEA OFF TO FAST START
Bald Eagle Area broke open its game with St. Joseph’s Academy on March 25 with a nine-run second inning and went on to a 16-6, five-inning win.
Hayden Vaughn and Cameron Watkins each hit threerun home runs in the decisive second inning for BEA as the Eagles sent 13 men to the plate and broke out to a 12-5 lead. Watkins, Vaughn, McGwire Heverly and Kahale Burns each had three RBIs in the game and Burns and Heverly led the team with three hits each.
Heverly was the winning pitcher for the Eagles.
The win began a season in which BEA will return an experienced core of players after a 13-6 campaign in 2021. Ethan Koleno, Alex Gavlock, Ryan Kresovich, Hayden Vaughn and McGwire Heverly all hit over .300 last season (Vaughn hit .438), and all will be back in the BEA lineup this season. And although three top starters on the mound graduated, Gavlock, Gavin Eckley and Wyatt Coakley all are returning with pitching experience.
That overall experience will likely be needed as the Eagles open the season against three local rivals before traveling to Clearfield to take on the always-contending Bison on April 5.
RAIDERS FALL IN OPENER
The Bellefonte baseball team fell behind by five runs through four innings against Williamsport on March 25 and could not recover in an 11-6 loss to the Millionaires on March 26.
The Red Raiders did come back in the fifth to make it 5-4 after a two-run homer by Trevor Johnson, but Williamsport responded with four runs in the top of the sixth to take control of the game.
Bellefonte finished with six hits in the game (two by catcher Braedyn Kormanic), but the team was hurt by untimely fielding errors.
The Raiders are coming off a 12-8 season in 2021 which saw them finish fourth in the Mountain League with a 7-6 record.
Bellefonte had some impressive wins over teams like Williamsport, DuBois, and Clearfield, but two losses to Tyrone and another two to Central hurt its chances in the league.
The Raiders lost many of their top hitters to graduation, but Alex Ebling, Quinn Tooker, Triston Heckman, Trevor Johnson, and Derek Fravel (.393), will return for the new season.
Fravel also saw action on the mound with eight appearances and a 4-2 record.
The Raiders began their regular season on Saturday, March 26 at home against Williamsport after a scrimmage against Central Mountain on March
22.
RAMS TO RETURN TOP HITTERS
After playing close to .500 ball into the beginning of May last year, the Rams went into a tailspin and lost 7 of their final 8 games and finished with a 6-12 record.
PV did get wins over Clearfield, Huntingdon, and SJCA, but many close league losses doomed the Rams to a losing record.
The good news is that many of their top hitters from that team will return this season, including Malachi Thompson, Miles Brooks, Ty Houtz, Dakota Brodzina, Maclain Welshans and Rylee Brungart.
In addition, Thompson, Mason Lieb, Houtz, Brodzina and Welshans all return with pitching experience.
The Rams will scrimmage against East Juniata and then begin their season against Juniata at home on March 25.
MOUNTIES AIMING HIGH
Philipsburg-Osceola was back in the playoffs in 2021, but the Mounties took a tough loss to Tyrone in the first round and finished 8-9 for the season.
P-O began the year with six straight wins, but three consecutive one-run league losses in May hurt their chances for a higher playoff seed and a first-round home game.
Although the Mounties lost four lettermen from last season — Ryan Whitehead, Nate Gustkey, Caleb Pelllerite and Tommy Stephens — there are two multi-year lettermen back in Nick Coudriet and Jeremy Whitehead, along with eight other lettermen and a large group of newcomers.
P-O batted .312 as a team last season and averaged just over five runs per game, and if it can again match that production, it should lead to another playoff appearance.
After a practice game against Cambria Heights on March 22, the Mounties will open their season at Clearfield on March
28.
WOLFPACK LOSES TO BEA
The St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy saw its two-run early lead over Bald Eagle Area disappear in a nine-run BEA rally and eventually fell to the Eagles, 16-6 in five innings on March 25 in Wingate.
The Wolfpack had just scored five runs in its half of the second inning, taking a 5-3 lead, but three-run homers by Hayden Vaughn and Cameron Watkins sparked BEA’s big inning and SJCA could not recover.
J. Dribelis led the team with two hits and two RBIs, but the Wolfpack was held to just five hits by two Eagle pitchers.
The loss ruined the start of what SJCA is hoping will be a bounce-back year. The Wolfpack last season finished with a 5-7 record after falling to Juniata Valley, 5-2, in the first round of the District 6 playoffs.
St. Joseph’s managed just four hits in that game but still led 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. An error in the bottom of the inning, however, opened the gates and Juniata Valley took advantage with a five-run rally.
This year the Wolfpack will looking to return to the postseason, and they will begin play with a scrimmage against West Branch on March 19 before beginning the regular season on March 25 at Bald Eagle Area.
SC BEGINS LEAGUE PLAY MARCH 29
Overall, the State College Little Lions lost 12 seniors to graduation from last season’s 6-10 team.
However, there are a number of experienced players returning for the 2022 season including Cooper Ryan, Drew Moerschbacher, Ethan Schimony (.471 in 2021), and TJ Yoder.
After a 4-3 start, the Lions slid off and lost 7 of their final 9 games, including the District 6, 6A Championship game to Mifflin County, 4-3, on June 1.
This year, SC will begin with a scrimmage against BEA before starting the season in the Forest Hills Tournament on March 26 at Forest Hills.
The Lions will open their Mid-Penn Conference schedule at home against Central Dauphin on March 29.
