CENTRE COUNTY — The season is beginning to heat up for our local high school baseball teams and every one of the Centre County teams was in action last week.
In the big showdown of the week, Bald Eagle Area was able to hold on at Bellefonte on Monday afternoon for a 9-8 victory over the Raiders, while the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties took their fifth win of the year with an LHAC win over Central.
State College rebounded after three straight losses in a 10-run, non-league victory at Punxsutawney, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy was 2-1 with wins over Penns Valley and East Juniata.
Here’s a closer look at each team:
BEA 9, BELLEFONTE 8
The Bald Eagles took a six-run lead into the bottom of the sixth inning at Bellefonte on Monday afternoon and then withstood a furious, late-game rally by the Raiders in a thrilling 9-8 LHAC victory.
RBI doubles by Takoda Ripka and Isaac Johnson in the top of the sixth inning gave the Eagles what looked like a solid 9-3 lead going into the final two innings.
But Bellefonte came roaring back.
The Raiders’ Braeden Fortney doubled in two runs in the bottom of the inning, and then Zach Lehman followed that with a three-run home run that suddenly made it a one-run game.
Ripka, on the mound in relief, was able to get out of that inning with no more damage, and then he went on to complete the save with a no-hit seventh that gave the Eagles their second win in a row and fourth overall.
BEA knocked out 15 hits all told in the game including home runs by Kaleb Irion and Luke Hosband.
Hosband finished the game with three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs, while Ripka also had three hits and two RBIs.
The win for BEA came after a 3-1 conference win at Richland on Friday afternoon.
BEA scored all its runs in the first inning on an error and fielder’s choice ground outs by Runkle and Ripka.
Then Irion took over on the mound and threw a complete-game six-hitter with one run, a walk and seven strikeouts. Irion retired the last nine Richland batters that he faced.
BEA will next take on Clearfield, Chestnut Ridge and Central at home.
For Bellefonte, the loss to the Eagles was its second of the season after starting with seven straight wins.
The Raiders’ first loss came at home against 8-1 Hollidaysburg on April 8 after the Tigers broke a 5-5 tie with six runs in the top of the seventh inning that gave them an 11-6 win.
Bellefonte nonetheless collected 11 hits in the game — two each by Lehman, Evan Mattern, Oliver Thornburg and Quentin Crouthamel — but four errors and five unearned runs led to its first loss.
Two days later, on April 10 at Central Cambria, Mattern and Thornburg both had two-run hits in the top of the 12th inning as the Raiders outlasted CCHS, 11-9, in a wild LHAC game.
Central Cambria rallied to score two 12th inning runs but Bellefonte reliever Isaac Gall got the final outs to save the win.
Mattern and Thornburg combined for five hits and seven RBIs on the day as Bellefonte won its eighth game of the season.
Next up for the Raiders will be big showdowns at Philipsburg-Osceola on Thursday and at Penns Valley on Monday.
ALTOONA 12, PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 2Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties ran into a very good Altoona team in the First Round of the Curve Classic Tournament in Altoona on Thursday and fell behind early in a 12-2 loss to the Mountain Lions.
Altoona opened with seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, added three more in the third and then skated home from there.
P-O got RBI hits from Ryan Kolbe and Fischer White but otherwise could not close the gap and took its second loss of the season.
In the second round, P-O took on LHAC rival Central on Friday and rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out an exciting 4-3 win over the Dragons.
White, Connor Matier and Nick DeSimone each had RBI hits in the inning with DeSimone’s a walk-off single that scored Jake Lucas with the winning run.
Central took a 3-1 lead into the seventh, but a walk, an error and White’s hit got things rolling for the Mounties.
P-O had to immediately travel to Central on Monday for the regularly scheduled league game against the Dragons.
This time, there was not quite as much drama as P-O scored in every inning except the fourth and rode to an 8-2 win.
Ahead 2-1 in the third, Zach Yoder and DeSimone hit consecutive RBI doubles that gave P-O a 4-1 lead it would not lose.
The Mounties went on to score single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh to take their fifth win of the season overall and fourth in the LHAC.
The Mounties will now take their two-game streak into games at home against Bellefonte on Thursday and Penns Valley on Friday.
ST. JOE’S 10, PENNS VALLEY 9now 4-4 after two league victories.
Things did not go so well at Halifax on Friday afternoon, but otherwise the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy baseball team piled on the runs against Penns Valley and East Juniata.
It was 10 runs and 10 hits in a thrilling, walk-off 10-9 win over Penns Valley on April 8, and then seven hits and 15 runs in a five-inning, 15-5 win over East Juniata.
Against Penns Valley at home on Wednesday, the WolfPack went into the bottom of the last inning down by two runs, 9-7.
But two walks, singles by CJ Grove and Taylor Gigante, and then RBI hits by Haden Lingle and Ben Ranio tied the game at 9-9.
Ranio’s single loaded the bases, and then after the second out, Max Jennings was hit by a pitch and Lingle crossed the plate with the winning run.
The win broke a three-game losing streak and set the WolfPack’s record at 3-3.
At Halifax on Friday, SJCA opened with four runs in the top of the first inning, but that was all the WolfPack could get in a 12-4 conference loss.
Halifax countered with seven runs in the first three innings and then put up four more in the fifth to cement the victory.
Caleb Foytack had a hit and two RBIs in the game for Saint Joseph’s, and Lingle had a hit and an RBI.
The next day, at home against East Juniata, the WolfPack’s bats were back at it in a 15-5, five inning win.
SJCA scored six runs in the second inning, seven more in the bottom of the fifth and took their third win going away.
Grove had three RBIs, and Braeden Miller, Joey Gearhart and Foytack each had two as the team took its second conference win.
Saint Joseph’s will next be at home against Upper Dauphin on Friday and Greenwood on Saturday.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 6, STATE COLLEGE 5
State College’s non-conference game at Central Mountain on Saturday started strong for the Little Lions, but they could not hold on in a 6-5, eight inning loss to the Wildcats on April 11.
Ahead 5-1 going into the fifth inning, SC saw Central Mountain tie the game with a three-run rally in the sixth and then win it on an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
SC outhit Central Mountain in the game 12-8, with Connor Kulka leading the offense with three hits and an RBI, but four errors and the final unearned run led to the team’s fourth loss.
It left the Lions with an overall record of 3-4 and a Mid-Penn mark of 2-3.
Two days later at Punxsutawney, SC rebounded nicely in a 13-hit, 15-5 victory over the non-conference Chucks.
After a scoreless first inning, State College exploded for seven runs in the top of the second inning, five more in the third, and then finished up with three runs in the fifth.
The Chucks did score four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning in an effort to extend the game, but reliever Kellen Williams ended the threat and saved the 10-run rule win.
Kulka, Rowan Walker and Michael Powell each collected two hits for SC, while Davontae Hardison knocked in three runs.
Ryden Walker hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning that scored Rowan Walker with the Lions’ 14th run.
Now at 4-4, State College will get back into Mid-Penn Commonwealth play with games against Central Dauphin, Altoona and Mifflin County coming up.
CLEARFIELD 2, PENNS VALLEY 1
The Penns Valley Rams pulled to within a run at Clearfield on Monday afternoon in a last-ditch rally against the Bison.
PV’s Lincoln Shouey hit a one-out, seventh-inning RBI single that brought the Rams to within one run with the tying and possibly winning runs on base.
But a putout at home and a final strikeout ended the PV threat and saved the 2-1 win for the 8-1 Bison.
Until that final inning, the Rams were shutout on just two hits by CHS pitcher Connor Peacock, but a walk, an error and Shouey’s hit gave the Rams life.
PV pitchers Gavin Neidigh and Isaac Harpster held the Bison to just five hits and two runs (one earned) with a walk and two strikeouts.
Shouey had two hits total in the game and the only RBI for Penns Valley, while center fielder Rylan Birge had the other hit.
The loss was the fifth in a row for PV which now stands at 1-7 for the season.
The Rams have Richland, P-O, Bellefonte and Tyrone coming up on the schedule.
