They’re back.
The defending state champion Bald Eagle Area Bald Eagles and Bellefonte Raiders are going back to the PIAA baseball tournament to defend their 2023 titles.
Bellefonte edged old Mountain League foe Clearfield in a D6/D9 regional championship on Tuesday, May 28, and will now take on either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed from District 7 in the PIAA tournament.
Bald Eagle Area will play West Branch in the AA, District 6 championship game, with both teams advancing to the tournament.
In 6A, State College fell to Mifflin County in the D6 championship game, and its season came to an end.
Here is a closer look at each team:
BEA beats Mount Union in the D6 semifinals
Bald Eagle Area’s Tayten Yoder hit two home runs and knocked in four runs as the Bald Eagles pulled away from Mount Union in the District 6 semifinals on Wednesday, May 22, in Wingate.
The Eagles broke up a 2-2 tie in the second inning by scoring seven runs in the next two innings to take control of the game.
After opening the game with a home run in the first inning, Yoder struck again with a two-run shot in the third that gave his team a 4-2 lead.
Kaden Burns followed Yoder’s home run with one of his own, giving the Eagles a 5-2 lead, and then Yoder knocked another RBI hit in a fourth-inning rally that put Bald Eagle Area in command at 9-2.
The Eagles would go on to score two more in the bottom of the sixth after a two-run homer by Carson Nagle, and they were on the way to their 19th win with only two losses.
Bald Eagle Area totaled 13 hits in all with four home runs and a double by Westin McClain.
McClain was the winning pitcher, going seven innings with 10 hits, three runs and striking out five.
The win set up a meeting with No. 3 West Branch in the 2A championship game scheduled for Tuesday, May 28, at Vet’s Field.
Unfortunately, the game will take place too late to be included with this issue of the Gazette, but win or lose, the Eagles will return to the PIAA tournament.
The PIAA first round will take place on Monday, June 3, at sites yet to be announced.
Bellefonte will defend its PIAA title beginning on June 3
The Bellefonte Raiders clinched a PIAA tournament berth on Tuesday, May 28, with a 4-1 victory over Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference foe Clearfield at Vet’s Field in Altoona.
The Raiders scored four runs in the first two innings against the Bison, and then pitchers Braedyn Kormanic and Peyton Vancas made the runs stand up for the victory.
The game was the final in the 4A, D6/D9 regional playoff with the winner moving on to the state playoff. The loser’s season came to an end.
After taking out Juniata, 14-0, in the District 6 championship game on Thursday, May 16, Bellefonte went on to eliminate Carrick, 17-2, in the first regional game.
Against Carrick, the Raiders went into the fifth inning nursing a slim 2-1 lead and then exploded for eight runs in the top of the fifth.
In the fifth, the Raiders put eight consecutive men on base with Levi Purnell, Josh Brown, Ryan Fraley, Ethan Tomasacci and Trevor Johnson all collecting RBI hits.
Then in the top of the seventh, the Raiders added six more runs on another six hits that included RBI hits by Peyton Vancas, Purnell, Oliver Thornburg, Fraley and Tomasacci.
Kormanic was the winning pitcher, going three innings on five-hit baseball, while Vancas also pitched three innings and gave up one run on two hits.
Then against Clearfield in the final, the Raiders strung together five singles in the second inning by Johnson, Vancas, Kormanic, Purnell and Brown which resulted in three runs and a 4-1 lead.
The rest was up to pitchers Kormanic and Vancas who combined held Clearfield to just five hits and one run.
The win was Bellefonte’s 19th of the season, and the team will now open PIAA play on Monday, June 3, at a site yet to be announced.
Mifflin County wins the District 6, 6A championship
The State College Little Lions fell behind early to Mifflin County and never fully recovered in a 10-5 loss in the District 6, 6A championship game in Lewistown on Thursday, May 23.
Mifflin scored five runs in the first two innings and then four more in the bottom of the fifth that essentially wrapped up the win.
Mifflin had only eight hits in the game, but it took advantage of three State College errors and 13 bases on balls to gain its 14th win of the season and a berth in the PIAA tournament.
With the loss, State College’s season came to an end with a final record of 10-11.
