CENTRE COUNTY — It has been a difficult week weather-wise for the Centre County Baseball League with many postponed and suspended games.
One team that has seen significant action, however, is the Howard Hawks.
Since the Hawks’ tough loss to first-place Blanchard on June 21, they have been on a run.
On Tuesday, Howard made up for the loss with an exciting 12-11 victory at home against Lemont, in which the Hawks scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out the win.
Next, the Hawks made it two in a row with a 10-6 win over Milesburg on Friday, June 26.
And finally, against the other first place team in the CCBL, Howard kept rolling with an impressive 7-2 win over the Spike Island Pirates in Philipsburg on Monday evening.
In a game that was rescheduled after a Sunday rainout, the Hawks jumped ahead with five first-inning runs, added two more in the middle innings, and then relied on the seven-hit pitching of Tyler Serb in a 7-2 victory.
Howard shortstop Kahale Burns led off the game with a home run that set the tone, and then, after an unearned run on an error, Gavin Burns connected with a two-run double that gave his team a 4-0 lead. Gavin Burns would later score on a two-out passed ball as the Hawks took the five-run lead.
Philipsburg’s Nate Gustkey drove in a run in the bottom of the first inning that made it 5-1, but Serb bore down and kept the Pirates off the board until another single run in the sixth inning.
Gavin Burns drove in another run in the top of the third inning for Howard, and then Bryce Greene made it 7-1 with a fifth-inning RBI single.
Spike Island tried to rally in the sixth inning after Zac Tiracorda was hit by a pitch and driven home on a double by Connor Guenot, but Serb was able to end the inning with two strikeouts.
Gavin Burns led the Hawks 12-hit attack with two hits and three RBI on the day, while Kahale Burns and Bryce Greene each added two hits and an RBI.
DH Dylan Womer and Parker Quick each also had two hits for Howard.
On the mound, Serb threw a complete game with seven hits, two earned runs, three walks and nine strikeouts.
After giving up the run in the first inning, he allowed just one more run, in the sixth, and retired six of the final eight batters he faced.
For the Pirates, Ike Tiracorda and Dennis Prestash each had two hits while Gustkey and Guenot each drove in a run.
Spike Island, now 14-2, will take on Milesburg in its final regular season game.
In the win over Lemont, the Hawks went into the seventh inning down 11-4, but they then sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning. They knocked out five hits compounded with seven walks and clinched the win on a two-out, RBI single by Bryce Greene. Parker Quick and Jaden Jones also had RBI hits in the inning as the Hawks improved to 9-6 for the season.
Other CCBL Scores:
June 23
Spike Island 14, Mifflin 4
Howard 12, Lemont 11
Spring Mills 10, Milesburg 9
June 24
Milesburg 16, Happy Valley 6
June 25
Mifflin County 10, Baseball U 0
June 26
Howard 10, Milesburg 6
Standings
Blanchard 14-1
Spike Island 14-2
Howard 11-6
Mifflin County 8-6
Spring Mills 8-7
Lemont 7-7
Spring Creek 5-9
Milesburg 4-11
Baseball U 1-8
Happy Valley 0-15
Upcoming Schedules
July 2
Mifflin County at Spring Creek
July 3
Spring Mills at Happy Valley
