CENTRE COUNTY — This is what it looks like when two pitching aces get together in one of the biggest games of the year.
Spike Island’s Ryan Whitehead and Howard’s Dylan Womer faced off on Sunday, July 27, in Philipsburg in an all-important Game 2 of the 2025 CCBL Finals.
Whitehead and Womer were in top form all day — there were only seven hits in the game — but Spike Island snuck across two fourth-inning runs and Whitehead made them stand up in a tense, 2-1 victory.
The win was especially crucial for the Pirates, who were down 1-0 in the series going into Game 2.
A loss, and Spike Island would have had to sweep the final three games, including two in Howard.
But Whitehead pitched a complete game with just one earned run, no walks and 11 strikeouts.
He was given a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when the Pirates scored on a hit batter with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly by Landon McDonald.
Ike Tiracorda and Keegan Soltis had earlier singled with SI’s only two hits in the game, and that was followed by an error that put McGwire Heaverly on base.
Jeremy Whitehead stepped in and he was hit by a pitch, scoring Tiracorda with the first run, and then McDonald lofted a fly ball that scored Soltis and gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Howard responded with a run in the top of the fifth on a single by Bryce Greene and an RBI double by Parker Quick that made it 2-1.
Now, with teams locked in a one-run game with two innings to play, neither pitcher allowed another run.
Womer allowed just a walk-in the bottom of the sixth, while Whitehead gave up a walk-in the sixth and a leadoff hit to Bryan Greene in the seventh.
With Greene representing the tying run, Whitehead finished the game with a fielder’s choice, a strikeout and a ground out.
The 2-1 win tied the series and sent it back to Howard for Game 3 on Tuesday, July 29.
Womer also pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Bryce and Bryan Greene, Kahale Burns, Quick and Logan Bernier accounted for the Hawks’ hits, while Quick had the team’s only RBI.
For the Pirates, Tiracorda and Soltis accounted for the hitting, and Jeremy Whitehead and McDonald each had an RBI.
The series is now down to three games, with Howad hosting Game 3 on Tuesday, July 29.
