CENTRE COUNTY — Opening the new 2025 CCBL season in Milesburg, the defending CCBL champion Spike Island Pirates essentially picked up where they left off in 2024.
Last July, the Pirates took home the league championship trophy after a convincing 15-0 victory over Blanchard that completed a three-game sweep over the Bees.
Fast forward to the season opener on Sunday, May 11, against the Iron Kings, and Spike Island promptly put up nine runs in the first inning on the way to a 22-hit, 22-5 win over the Kings.
The Pirates scored in every inning of the five-inning victory in which they took a 16-2 lead after three innings and then sewed it up with another six runs in the fourth and fifth.
Former West Branch star Zac Tiracorda led the onslaught with three hits, four RBIs and two runs scored, while Ike Tiracorda had four hits, including a home run and a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
They were helped by Jake DeSimone with two hits and two RBIs and McGwire Heverley, Jeremy Whitehead and Ryan Whitehead, who each had two hits and two RBIs.
Ryan Whitehead took the win on the mound and allowed two runs on six hits, and he was relieved by Heverly who finished the final two innings.
Milesburg did knock out 11 hits, led by Kelvin Probst and Tim Shawey, who each had three, but the Iron Kings never recovered from the Pirates’ first-inning rally.
Next up for the Pirates will be a home game against archrival Howard on Thursday, May 22, and Milesburg will also take on the Hawks on Tuesday, May 27, in Howard.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
May 18 — Blanchard 4, Port Matilda 1
- Blanchard was able to hold off the newly formed Port Matilda Woodpeckers after scoring three runs in the fifth and sixth innings and then shutting out the Woodpeckers in the seventh on three strikeouts.
May 11 — Port Matilda 4, Spring Mills 3
- The Woodpeckers won their first CCBL game after rallying for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 4-3 victory over the Braves.
- Keen Furmanek, with his team down 3-2 in the seventh inning, hit a clutch single that scored Nick Belinc with the eventual winning run.
- Spring Mills had gone ahead 3-1 with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Port Matilda rallied with two hits, two walks and an error to take the win in the seventh.
May 11 — Spring Creek 14, Milesburg 4
- Spring Creek took its first win of the season with a five-inning, 14-4 win over Milesburg on Sunday, May 11 at home.
- Rudy Hersh, Jon Pelky and Alex Evans led the Shockers’ offense as they put up six runs in the first inning and never looked back.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
- May 22 — Howard at Spike Island
- May 27 — Spring Creek at Blanchard
- May 27 — Milesburg at Howard
- May 27 — Lewistown at Spring Mills
