CENTRE COUNTY — In local baseball news, both the Bellefonte Raiders and BEA Eagles have reached double-digits in wins, while Philipsburg-Osceola is close at 9-4. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy broke a losing streak with a win over Line Mountain, and State College is now 7-7 after tough losses to Altoona and Williamsport.
Here is a closer look at where everyone stands:
BALD EAGLE AREA
The BEA baseball team broke into double digits in wins on April 27 with a 10-0 LHAC victory over Bishop Guilfoyle in Altoona.
The Eagles took a tight, 2-0 lead into the fifth inning and then scored eight runs over the final three innings to sweep to the shutout victory.
Luke Hosband had three hits and four RBIs in the game while Takoda Ripka had a triple and three RBIs.
On the mound, Teagun Runkle threw a complete-game four-hitter with two walks and nine strikeouts. Runkle retired nine of the last 10 batters that he faced on the way to his third victory of the season without a loss.
The Eagles knocked out 12 hits altogether with Hosband finishing the scoring after a two-run single in the top of the seventh that gave his team a 10-run lead.
Grayson White also had three hits for BEA and Riley Bucha had two hits, an RBI and scored two runs.
The win was the second in a row for the Eagles following an 8-4 win over Bedford at home on April 24.
BEA shot out to a quick 6-0 lead after two innings and held off Bedford from there to record its ninth win.
Hosband led again with three hits and an RBI, while Bucha had two hits and three RBIs.
Ripka took the win on the mound with one earned run, seven hits and four strikeouts in seven innings of work. It was Ripka’s first win of the season.
BEA will now take on Penn Cambria, Tyrone and Hollidaysburg.
BELLEFONTE
Bellefonte pitchers Zach Lehman and Triston Heeman combined for a two-hit shutout, and the Raiders belted out 13 hits in a 10-0, non-league victory over St. Marys Area Dutchmen on Monday afternoon.
Lehman threw four innings of two-hit ball with no runs, no walks and eight strikeouts, and Heeman finished up with two innings with no hits, no runs and a strikeout.
Quentin Crouthhamel led the offense with three hits (including a home run), four RBIs and a run scored.
Evan Mattern had two hits and two RBIs, and Lehman and Braeden Fortney each had two hits.
The win was No. 11 for the Raiders and it was also the eighth time they have scored in double-figures this season.
Next up will be games at Bedford, Clearfield and Tyrone.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
The Huntingdon Bearcats held off a last-inning rally by Philipsburg-Osceola and saved a tense 7-5 victory over the Mounties.
Down 7-4 going into the seventh inning, P-O led off with singles by Parker Lamb and Zach Yoder. They were followed by an RBI single by Nick DeSimone that scored Lamb and put the tying run on base.
Huntingdon reliever Matthew Gutshall came into the game at this point and was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout, fly out and a pop out that secured the Bearcat’s ninth win.
P-O, down 7-2 in the fifth inning climbed back into contention after a two-run single by Demarcus Law made the score 7-4 and set up the last-inning rally.
The game followed a 14-2 washout over Richland on Friday at home in Philipsburg.
The Mounties collected 13 hits and ended the game with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take their ninth win.
Archer Baughman put a giant exclamation point at the end of the game with a walk-off grand slam home run that scored Law, Connor Guenot and Warren Rafferty ahead of him and ended things at 14-2.
It was Baughman’s second hit of the day, while Yoder had three hits and Law, DeSimone and Fischer White each finished with two.
DeSimone took the win on the mound with a complete game five-hitter. He allowed no earned, walked two and struck out nine.
P-O will next face Penn Cambria, Bishop McCort and Bishop Guilfoyle.
ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC ACADEMY
The St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy baseball team fell into a mini-slump with three consecutive losses in mid-April, but that streak came to an end with an important, 9-6 home win over Line Mountain on April 24.
The WolfPack, down 6-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, rallied for seven runs and raced past Line Mountain for their sixth win of the season.
SJCA sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning that jump started with a two-run home run by CJ Grove that pulled the ‘Pack to within 6-4.
Grove’s drive was followed with hits by Caleb Foytack, Haden Lingle and Ben Ranio, along with an error and three walks, and before the dust cleared the WolfPack had a 9-6 lead.
Reliever Thomas Rokita took the lead into the seventh inning and closed out the victory.
Foytack and Grove each had two hits for SJCA, and Rokita pitched two innings with two hits, no runs and a strikeout.
Next up for the WolfPack will be games against Susquenita, East Juniata and Bucktail.
STATE COLLEGE
The Williamsport Millionaires scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and then held off State College in a 4-3, non-league victory in Williamsport on April 27.
State College held a tenuous 3-1 lead going into the fifth, but two hits, a hit batter, and an error led to three Williamsport runs and a 4-3 lead.
SC did put runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings but could not break through with the tying run.
Earlier, the Lions took the lead on an RBI double by Rowan Walker in the first inning and then RBI hits by Connor Kulka and Davontae Hardison in the second.
But Williamsport was able to respond and take the win.
For State College, the loss was the team’s third in a row with Mid-Penn games against Cedar Cliff, Mechanicsburg, and Cumberland Valley coming up on the schedule.
PENNS VALLEY
The Penns Valley Rams scored seven total runs in the fifth and sixth at Tyrone on April 27, but it was not enough to overcome the Golden Eagles in a 13-8 loss.
Rylan Allegretto hit a three-run triple for PV in the fifth, and then Isaac Harpster, Parker Feltenberger and Carter Shouey all had RBI hits in the sixth as the Rams rallied to within four runs of the Eagles.
But Tyrone added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and then got the Rams without a hit in the seventh to end the game.
The loss for PV was its 10th, and the Rams will now have a chance to get back on track with games against Moshannon Valley, Bishop Guilfoyle and Central next on the schedule.
