CENTRE COUNTY — The Blanchard Bees completed their three-game sweep of the Mifflin County FoxPro with a 10-5 victory on Sunday afternoon in Blanchard.
The Bees rallied for nine runs in the middle innings, scored another in the bottom of the sixth, and held off the FoxPro for a sweep of the five-game series and another trip to the CCBL finals against either the Spike Island Pirates or the Howard Hawks.
After Mifflin opened the game with runs in the first and second innings, Cade McCloskey got the Bees rolling with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second inning. McCloskey’s shot was followed with a double by Talon Falls, an error, another double by Connor Foltz and an RBI hit by Gardner Fravel. The result was a four-run inning and an early 4-2 lead.
The Bees added to that in the third inning with two runs on just one hit, by Falls, and three walks.
And then in the fourth inning, a leadoff walk, a base hit by McCloskey and a three-run home run by Nate Helms put the Bees firmly in the driver’s seat at 9-3.
Mifflin kept playing though, and FoxPro closed the gap to four runs with two runs in the fifth on a two-run double by Ethan Eichorn that scored Jayden Smith and Jaxson Pupo.
Relief pitcher Tayten Yoder held Mifflin without a run in the seventh inning to wrap up the win and send his team to the 2026 Finals.
Blanchard will now wait for the result of the other semifinal series matching No. 2 Spike Island and No. 3 Howard. That series is presently 2-1 in favor of Spike Island, although Howard came through with a 14-10 victory on Sunday afternoon to stay alive.
The two teams will now play Game 4 on Tuesday at Howard and Game 5, if needed, on Thursday at Spike Island.
Blanchard will take on the winner of that series with the first game at home either Thursday or Sunday.
Howard 14, Spike Island 10
The Howard Hawks offense scored 14 runs, catcher Bryce Greene drove in seven runs, and relief pitcher Dylan Womer turned in a masterful performance as the Hawks stayed alive in their series against Spike Island with a 14-10 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Playing at Spike Island with a 2-0 deficit in the five-game series, Howard opened the game with seven runs in the first two innings to take an early 7-0 lead.
But, not to be outdone, the Pirates struck back immediately with a seven-run rally in the bottom of the second inning, and then they added another three runs in the third to take a 10-7 lead.
It was here that Dylan Womer entered the game and completely changed the momentum.
He shut down the Pirates the rest of the game with no runs and just one hit over the final four innings. He allowed four walks, and the one hit, but with the game on the line, he retired the final eight batters he faced in order.
As Womer was turning the game around, the Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Bryce Greene scored on a wild pitch which was followed by a two-run double by Parker Quick.
The Hawks then added insurance runs in the fifth on RBIs by Greene and Dan Cole and in the seventh on a two-run single by Greene.
Greene was the offensive star for the Hawks with four hits, including a home run, three runs scored and seven RBIs.
Cole had a two-run home run, Quick had two hits and two RBIs and Tyer Serb had two hits.
For Spike Island, Nate Gustkey hit a mammoth, second inning grand slam home run that tied the score at 7-7, and Conor Guenot had two hits, including a triple, and three RBIs.
Ike Tiracorda got two hits and an RBI, and Zac Tiracorda had a hit and an RBI.
The series will now return to Howard on Tuesday for Game 4 with Howard still facing an elimination game.
Another win for the Hawks, however, will send things back to Philipsburg for the deciding Game 5 on Thursday.
The winner of the series will face No. 1 Blanchard in the Finals.
