CENTRE COUNTY — In local Center County high school baseball action, Bellefonte won its seventh game with a triumph over Tyrone, Penns Valley broke through with its first victory, and P-O kept pace with wins over BEA and Chestnut Ridge.
Here is a look at where things stand after Week 3:
BELLEFONTE 6, TYRONE 0
After a five-inning, 13-3 win over Bellwood-Antis on April 1, the Bellefonte Raiders stayed hot with a 6-0 shutout at home over old rival Tyrone on Monday afternoon.
Evan Mattern and Quentin Crouthamel both homered while Zach Lehman took the win on the mound with six shutout innings, a walk and seven strikeouts.
The Raiders took a three-run lead early on Mattern’s home run in the first inning and then a two-run single by Lehman in the bottom of the second inning.
Crouthamel finished the scoring in the fifth with a two-out, two-run home run that scored Jack McHail before him and sent Bellefonte to its seventh win of the season without a loss.
The Raiders scored all their runs on just five hits — one each by Lehman, Isaac Gall, Mattern, Crouthamel and Braeden Fortney — as Lehman and reliever Cameron Lucas were shutting out the Golden Eagles.
Lehman and Fortney did allow eight hits, but errorless baseball, just one walk, and a big double play kept Tyrone off the scoreboard.
Earlier against Bellwood at home, Bellefonte scored eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings on the way to a 13-3, five-inning win over B-A.
Crouthhamel also homered in this one—a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning—and knocked in five runs as seven of the nine Raider starters hit safely in the game.
Lehman took the win in a complete game six-hitter with three runs, a walk and 10 strikeouts.
Bellefonte is now 7-0 with games against Hollidaysburg, Central Cambria and BEA coming up.
PENNS VALLEY 6, BALD EAGLE 4
Penns Valley’s Rylan Allegretto hit a home run, two doubles, scored three runs and drove in two more as the Rams came through with their first win of the season, 6-4, over BEA at home on April 1.
PV took a 4-3 lead after three innings and then took control with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on RBI hits by Allegretto and Gavin Neidigh.
BEA did threaten in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with one out, but reliever Rylan Birge got the final two outs by snagging a line drive and completing a double play that ended the game and gave the Rams victory No. 1.
PV knocked out 13 hits as Isaac Harpster, Parker Feltenberger and Kaleb Nixon each added two hits to Alegretto’s three.
Feltenberger took the win on the mound with six innings pitched with seven hits, three runs, four walks and two strikeouts.
Penns Valley could not keep the momentum going, however, and the Rams fell to both Huntingdon, 6-4, and Mount Union, 15-6, in subsequent games.
Against Mount Union on Monday at home, the Rams crept to within two runs, 8-6, after a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning capped with a two-run double by Brayden Kurtz.
But Mount Union answered with a crushing seven-run rally in the top of the seventh that cemented its win.
PV now has games coming up against St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and Bedford, both away.
For Bald Eagle, the loss was its third in five games and came after a high-scoring 16-12 win over Bellwood-Antis on March 30.
The Bald Eagles did get eight hits, led by Teagun Runkle’s three and two by Takoda Ripka, but saw their last-ditch rally in the last inning fall short.
The Eagles are now 2-3 for the new season with games at Richland and at undefeated Bellefonte on the schedule.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 10, CHESTNUT RIDGE 1
The Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties held a three-run lead going into the last two innings at Chestnut Ridge on Monday afternoon, but they saw that lead shrink to two runs after the Lions pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth.
No problem.
P-O answered with an overwhelming seven-run rally in the top of the seventh that led to a comfortable 10-1 win over CRHS.
P-O sent 13 players to the plate in the inning, knocked out six hits, drew three walks and had two players hit by pitches.
The big blows came from Nick DeSimone, Ryan Kolbe, Parker Lamb, pitcher Archer Baughman, and Zach Yoder.
Lamb also homered and finished with two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. Baughman and Yoder also got two hits, and Connor Matier added two RBIs.
On the mound, Baughman allowed the single run in the sixth, eight hits, one walk and had six strikeouts. He finished the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The win was P-O’s third in four games with a non-league tournament game coming up at Altoona on April 9 and then an away conference matchup at Central on April 13.
SUSQUENITA 17, ST. JOE’S 12
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy baseball team wasn’t shy on offense at Susquenita on Monday afternoon, but a 10-run Susquenita rally in the bottom of the fifth inning was too much to overcome.
With the WolfPack ahead 8-7 after a run in the top of the fifth, the Blackhawks turned the game around with a six-hit, 10-run sixth inning that essentially put the game out of reach at 17-12 and handed SJCA its third loss in five games.
The WolfPack did score 12 times on 11 hits on the day with Cameron Guss leading with way with four hits, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Braeden Miller, CJ Grove and Will Balazik also got two hits each, while Caleb Foytack added three RBIs.
SJCA took the 8-7 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Guss that scored Miller.
The WolfPack are now 2-3 for the season and have games against Penns Valley, Halifax and East Juniata coming up.
MECHANICSBURG 8, STATE COLLEGE 3
After coming from behind at Cedar Cliff on April 2 for an exciting 7-6 Mid-Penn victory, the State College Little Lions could not keep it going against Mechanicsburg on Monday afternoon at home.
SC, behind 6-0 in the fifth inning, pulled back into contention after a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but Mechanicsburg had an answer.
The Wildcats strung together three hits, a hit batter and a sacrifice in the top of the seventh to push across two insurance runs that eventually led to an 8-3 victory.
State College did threaten in the bottom of the inning with two baserunners, but reliever Micah Solomon was able to get the final two outs to end the game.
Alex Ruocco, Ryden Walker, Connor Kulka, Kellen Williams and Davontae Hardison each had hits for SC, and Ruocco and Michael Powell each knocked in a run.
But in the end, the Mechanicsburg offense had done just enough to take the win.
Against Cedar Cliff on April 2, SC tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the fourth inning, and then a fielder’s choice grounder by Powell in the top of the fifth put the Lions ahead for good.
Relief pitcher Ben Gracie-Griffin shut out Mechanicsburg over the final three innings to take the win.
State College is now 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-Penn with a conference game against Cumberland Valley coming up.
