There were two playoff nail-biters along with the Yoder-Bisel show in Wingate on June 5 as all three Centre County high school baseball teams in the 2023 PIAA tournament won their first-round games.
Philipsburg-Osceola took eight innings to finally overcome Avonworth, while Bellefonte held on against Greater Latrobe. And BEA smashed three home runs and 14 hits and raced away from McConnellsburg.
Everyone will be playing again on June 8 in the quarterfinals.
Here’s a closer look at each team:
P-O topples Avonworth
It looked good for Philipsburg-Osceola in the top of the seventh inning against Avonworth on the afternoon of Monday, June 5, but then in the span of one swing of the bat by the Antelopes’ Ben Barns, it turned very, very bad.
That’s because the Mounties coaxed a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and took a 2-1 lead into the final inning, and they were looking to close out the game.
But then with one out and a runner on first base, Barns sent one just inside the foul pole in left field, and suddenly Avonworth was the team on the brink of victory.
The Mounties, with two outs and none on in the bottom of the seventh, still did not lose hope, especially after Jake DeSimone hit a line-drive single that kept things alive.
Parker Lamb then followed with a hard grounder that squirted past the Avonworth third baseman, putting runners on first and second with TJ Wildman due up at the plate.
Wildman took a strike and then slugged a clutch single to left field, scoring DeSimone and lifting his team back into a 3-3 tie game.
Avonworth followed by putting two men on in the top of the eighth with two outs, but P-O pitcher Gavin Emigh got the third out on a fly ball to set up a dramatic bottom half of the inning.
With one out, Mountie Lucas Peterson walked, and then Brandon Hahn reached on an error, putting runners at first and third with Sam McDonald coming to bat.
McDonald took the count to full before slapping a single to right field that scored Peterson and set off a wild, relief-filled celebration behind first base.
The 4-3 win advanced Philipsburg into the rarified air of the PIAA state quarterfinals against District 9’s No. 1 seed Punxsutawney (19-2) on June 8 at a site and time to be announced.
It was also P-O’s 17th win against five losses and its fifth in a row since May 19.
Punxsutawney won its seventh game in a row with a 9-1 win over 7-2 Neshannock on June 5 in the PIAA first round.
The Chucks are 19-2 this season and are led on offense by pitcher/infielder Nevin Day, who has a .519 batting average.
Day also leads the team in hits, runs and RBIs, and he is second on the team with a 1.13 ERA (Coy Martino leads with an 0.71).
The winner will face either 7-1 and undefeated Riverside or 10-1 Fairview on Monday, June 12, in the Semifinals. Riverside defeated Tyrone in a close one, 3-2, in the first round and Fairview beat East Allegheny, 3-1.
Bellefonte hangs on
The Bellefonte Raiders were cruising along after taking a 10-2 lead in the fourth inning against Greater Latrobe in the first round of the PIAA tournament on June 5 at Governors Park.
They subsequently had to hold on, however, against a furious late-inning charge by the Wildcats to preserve what turned out to be a tense, 10-9 win that went down to the final out.
Bellefonte took a 10-2 lead after a two-out, four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was highlighted with hits by Peyton Vancas, Alex Ebeling, Braedyn Kormanic and Dominic Capperella, and it had the home crowd thinking about going to the 1quarterfinals.
But Latrobe wasn’t done. The Wildcats scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning and then pulled to within one run after Logan Bradish hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.
Latrobe subsequently put two men on after walks before reliever Vancas finally got the last out on a ground ball to third base.
Vancas, Capperella and Triston Heckman all had two hits for the Raiders in the game, while Trevor Johnson and Capperella both hit home runs. Capperella also had five RBIs and was the starting and winning pitcher.
Bellefonte will now take on District 7’s No. 4 seed, Indiana, on June 8 at a site to be determined in the PIAA quarterfinals.
Indiana is 16-10 for the season and beat 3-1 East Pennsboro, 2-1, in the first round in East Pennsboro on June 5.
The Little Indians are led by Steven Budash with a .418 batting average and sophomore pitcher Ryan Okopal, who has a 2.42 ERA.
Budash also leads the team in home runs, slugging percentage and triples.
The winner of the quarterfinal will face either 7-1 Hopewell or 10-1 Cathedral Prep on Monday, June 12, in the semifinals.
Yoder, Bisel lead BEA over McConnellsburg
Taten Yoder and Justin Bisel combined to hit three home runs and drive in eight runs in Bald Eagle Area’s 10-4 first round PIAA win over McConnellsburg on June 5 in Wingate.
Yoder had three hits, a home run and five RBIs in the game and Bisel hit two homers and knocked in three runs as BEA took an early 8-0 lead and never looked back.
The Bald Eagles collected 14 hits altogether — five for extra bases — while pitchers Wyatt Coakley and Westin McClain held McConnellsburg to just five hits in all and one earned run.
Coakley took the win with 6.1 innings of work with five hits, one earned run, a walk and three strikeouts.
Ahead 8-1, McConnellsburg closed to within 8-3 in the top of the fifth inning, but a two-run home run by Bisel in the bottom essentially closed the door and sent the Eagles into the next round.
BEA will now see Karns City, the No. 2 seed out of District 9.
Karns City is 16-7 this season, and the Gremlins knocked off 7-1 Seton LaSalle, 2-1, in the first round on June 5.
Pitcher/infielder Mallick Metcalfe leads Karns City with a .426 batting average, and sophomore Jacob Jones leads the team with a 1.64 ERA.
KC lost to Redbank Valley in the D9 playoffs, 8-0, but rebounded nicely against Seton LaSalle.
The winner of the quarterfinal will advance to take on the winner of the 10-1 Sharpsville against 7-3 Burgettstown game in the semifinals on June 12.
