CENTRE COUNTY — The Centre County Baseball League kicked off the 2026 playoffs with four first round games on Tuesday evening and there were already more than a few fireworks.
In Blanchard, Milesburg struck 18 hits and then held off a furious Bee rally to take an exciting 13-11 win
Second seeded Spike Island got a terrific pitching performance from Zac Tiracorda in a shutout win over Spring Creek, and Howard scored three late runs in a 9-5 victory over Lemont at Howard.
Here is a closer look at the games:
Milesburg 13, Blanchard 11
The No. 1 seeded and regular-season champion Blanchard Bees went into the last inning of their first round playoff game against Milesburg on the short end of a 13-6 score.
But the Bees were not done, and they mounted a last-inning rally that saw them bring the tying run to the plate with two outs.
In the inning, Blanchard put the first four men on base with two singles and two walks that made the score 13-7.
Toner Corl followed with an RBI single, and then Asher Corl made it 13-9 with a sacrifice fly.
After a second out, Talon Falls knocked a clutch two-run single to center field that scored Corl and Tayten Yoder and closed the gap to just two runs.
That brought up the tying run to the plate, but relief pitcher Gavin Fravel got a ground out up the middle that ended the game and gave the Iron Kings an emotional 1-0 series lead.
Before Blanchard’s rally, Milesburg almost put the game away with six runs in the top of the seventh inning.
The Kings got RBI hits from Nate Kerlin, Fravel, Felix Quendo, Timmy Shawley and Yafran Sanchez to shoot ahead by seven runs.
In all, there were 27 hits in the game, with Milesburg knocking out 18.
Sanchez, Shawley, and Levi Purnell each had three hits for Milesburg, while Quendo knocked in three runs.
Toner and Asher Corl led Blanchard with two hits and two RBIs each.
The win puts the No. 1 Bees in a tough spot in a three-game series.
They must travel to Milesburg on Thursday for what could be an elimination game and then win again at home on Sunday. Tough duty, especially if Milesburg continues to hit the ball like it did in Game 1.
Spike Island 9, Spring Creek 0
Spike Island’s Zac Tiracorda threw a complete-game, seven-hit shutout, and the Pirates broke open the game with six runs in the fifth and sixth innings in a 9-0 first round CCBL win over Spring Creek.
The Pirates took an early 3-0 lead, but it wasn’t until the fifth inning that they began to get on track.
After Connor Guenot led off the fifth with a double and Sam McDonald followed with a single, Ike Tiracorda tripled in two runs that improved the Pirates’ lead to 5-0.
Morgan Billotte then knocked in run No. 6 on a fielder’s choice ground ball.
With the score now 6-0, Billotte, Nate Gustkey, and Denny Prestash each drove in a run in the sixth, giving Spike Island a 9-0 lead
Spring Creek did put runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Zac Tiracora was able to get out of each jam without any damage.
Spike Island collected 14 hits altogether led by Prestash with four and two RBIs, and two each by Ike Tiracorda and Gustkey.
Billotte added three RBIs, with Ike Tiracorda and Gustkey both getting two.
Josh McConnell had two hits for Spring Creek with Derek Moriarta, Luke Duckworth, Jack Coleman and Jordan Brennan all getting one each.
Zac Tiracord finished with seven innings, six hits, no runs, one walk and 10 strikeouts.
The three-game series now moves to Spring Creek for Game 2 on Thursday with the Shockers having to win to extend the series.
Howard 9, Lemont 5
Things got very tight when the Lemont Ducks rallied for two sixth inning runs and drew within a run of third-seeded Howard on Tuesday evening in Howard.
The Hawks were tending to a 6-3 lead, but Sam Gapen crashed a two-run double in the top of the sixth inning that suddenly made it a one-run game.
Howard, however, was not shaken.
Brayden Dubbs followed with a one-out home run that made it 7-5, and then Bryce Greene’s two-run single finished the scoring and gave the Hawks a 9-5 win and a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
Lemont took an early 3-0 lead, but Howard struck back with three-run rallies in both the third and fourth innings.
Neither team scored until Gapen’s hit in the sixth.
Gapen and Matt Lingenfelter led the Ducks with two hits each, and Gapen finished with three RBIs.
Kahale Burns and Dubbs each had two hits for the Hawks, while Burns, Dubbs and Greene all had three RBIs.
On the mound, Tyler Serb took the win for Howard with a complete game, nine-hitter. He gave up five runs, four walks and struck out seven.
The series now moves to Lemont with the Ducks facing an elimination game. The game is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the State College Community Park Fields.
CCBL Playoff Schedule
Thursday, July 9
Howard at Lemont, State College Community Park Field, 6 p.m. Howard leads series 1-0.
Spike Island at Spring Creek, State College Teener League Lower Field, Airport Road, SC, 6 p.m. Spike Island leads series 1-0
Blanchard at Milesburg, 6 p.m. Milesburg leads series, 1-0.
Mifflin FoxPro at Spring Mills, Penns Valley HS Field, 6 p.m. As of Gazette press time, no score was available for Game 1 of this series.
