State High Baseball Optimistic and Motivated for 2021 Season

Video by Casey Kummer | Centre County Report

The State College baseball team’s season-opener on Tuesday marked the Little Lions’ first game since 2019. While they left Central Dauphin with a 3-0 loss, they’re optimistic about this season.

Head coach Jeremy Dinsmore says his team’s experience will help through the season and in developing younger players.

Last year the Little Lions were on their way to Myrtle Beach for the first game of the year when it was canceled due to COVID-19. Now the team feels an even bigger need to fill the shoes of those who came before them.

The loss of a season fuels some of the seniors’ motivation.

“It means a lot to all of us and especially the seniors on our team last year… Being a four-year varsity guy I played a lot with those seniors and was really close with a lot of them, so we’re doing a lot of this stuff for them,” senior Jake Cooper said.

This year the Little Lions will look to capture their fourth straight District 6 championship. The team includes 14 seniors, with seven of those set to play college ball.

With new restrictions the team will only play 15 games this year compared to the typical 21.

A winning tradition means high standards for this team.

“It means a lot,” senior Matt Lingenfelter said. “You want to kind of continue that tradition and continue to win just like how our teammates did in the past, how my brother [Brandon] did in the past.”

But having the opportunity to play together after a year of the pandemic means so much more.

The team is in agreement on what will bring them success this season: camaraderie and chemistry.

Next up for the Little Lions is a home game against Williamsport at 11 a.m. Saturday at Community Field followed by a trip to Red Land on Tuesday.

Around the County

By Pat Rothdeutsch | For The Centre County Gazette

After some fits and starts, the 2021 baseball season began in earnest this week with all six local Centre County high-school teams playing their first games.

In fact, two of those teams — Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area — opened their seasons with a Mountain League game against each other on March 29.

The Raiders, along with Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola, were victorious in their initial games, but unfortunately BEA, State College, St. Joseph’s all lost.

Here is a brief rundown about each team:

BELLEFONTE 7, BALD EAGLE AREA 0

Bellefonte’s Trevor Johnson had two hits, including a double and two RBIs, while pitcher Seth Shuey pitched a four-hit shutout in the Raiders 7-0 victory over Bald Eagle Area on March 29.

Both teams were playing their first games of the season, and the game began with neither team able to score through the first three innings.

Bellefonte finally came through with a run in the fourth, and then added single runs in the fifth and sixth to take a 3-0 lead.

The Raiders broke the game open with four more in the top of the seventh and then held on for their first win of the season.

Bellefonte altogether collected eight hits in the game with Shuey and Nick Capparelle also getting two and Zach Swanger, Quinn Tooker, Braedyn Kormanic, Shuey and Capparelle each with an RBI.

Shuey went 6.2 innings, gave up 4 hits, walked 2, and struck out 10. It was his 4th win in 10 career appearances for the Raiders.

Next up for Bellefonte will be a trip to Huntingdon on Monday. The Raiders will then return home for a big showdown against league rival Penns Valley on Tuesday.

For BEA, Alex Gavlock, Kyler Cunningham, Trey Foster, and Noah Williamson each had a hit, but the Bald Eagles were unable to push a run across against Shuey.

BEA will next be at Philipsburg-Osceola on Monday and then return home for another Mountain League contest against Clearfield on Tuesday.

PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 15, DUBOIS 7

It was smooth sailing for the Philipsburg-Osceola Mountie baseball team until the sixth inning against Du-Bois on March 30 in DuBois.

Things looked good as pitcher Ryan Whitehead was working on a 2-hit shutout, and P-O was comfortably ahead by a score of 9-0.

But the Beavers, who barely avoided being 10-runned in the fifth inning, still had some life and were able to push across seven runs in the final two innings against two Mountie relievers.

No worries, though. P-O kept pounding hits and came away with an offense-heavy, 15-7 victory in its first outing of the year.

The Mounties’ offense pounded out 20 hits, with Parker White, Nate Gustkey, Jeremy Whitehead, Jake DeSimone and Caleb Pellerite all collecting three hits apiece.

Gustkey had four RBIs on a 3-run home run, double and a single, and he also scored four times in the game.

On the mound, Ryan Whitehead pitched five innings and gave up two hits, no runs, walked a batter, and struck out six.

The game was a solid indication that P-O is ready to continue where it left off after its banner year in 2019.

Next up for the Mounties will be their Mountain League opener against Bald Eagle Area at home on Monday followed by a trip to Tyrone on Tuesday.

PENNS VALLEY 15, HUNTINGDON 0 (3 INNINGS)

The Penns Valley baseball team took care of business and went home early in a 15-0, 3-inning victory over Huntingdon on Tuesday, March 30 in Spring Mills.

The Rams broke out to an 8-0 lead after the first inning, added another in the second, and then closed out the mercy-rule win with six more runs in the bottom of the third.

It was the first win of the season for PV, and the Rams will be aiming for a 2-0 start Friday afternoon with another home contest against Southern Huntingdon. That will be followed by a home game against Tyrone on Monday then a trip to arch-rival Bellefonte on Tuesday .

ST. JOSEPH’S ACADEMY LOSES OPENER

The St. Joseph’s Academy Wolfpack lost its first game of the 2021 season to Midd-West, 9-1, on Saturday, March 27 in Middleburg.

The Wolfpack are coming off a 6-10 season in 2019, and they are expected to return as many as nine players from that team in 2021.

But opening day 2021 did not go well. Next up will be a doubleheader at Harmony on Tuesday

CENTRAL DAUPHIN 3, STATE COLLEGE 0

State College lost its opening Mid-Penn Conference game of the season to Central Dauphin, 3-0, in Harrisburg on March 30.

CD’s Nick Keene and Christian Foltz combined to throw a two-hit shutout against the Lions as the Rams move to 1-0 for the season.

Reilly Shafer, with two hits and an RBI, and David Shroyer, with a hit and an RBI, supplied the offense for Central Dauphin.

Next up for SC will be home games against Williamsport on Saturday.

After that, the Lions will take on Mid-Penn foes Red Land on Tuesday and Chambersburg on Thursday.