LIVE BLOG: Updates, scores, photos and stories from Round 1 of PIAA softball/baseball playoffs
The first round of the PIAA baseball and softball championships kicks off Monday for all six classifications. Centre County has a total of four teams still in contention for a state title.
Bellefonte softball (18-2) takes the field first, with a 1:30 p.m. game against Chartiers Valley (14-8) at St. Francis University in Class 5A action. Bald Eagle Area softball (17-3) takes on Mount Pleasant (17-3) at 3 p.m. at Peterswood Park in Washington County in Class 3A, Bellefonte baseball (12-7) plays Eastern York (17-4) at 4:30 p.m. in Wingate in Class 4A, and Penns Valley softball (14-8) plays Brandywine Heights (13-7) at 7 p.m. at Lyons Ballfield in Berks County in Class 2A.
Here’s what happened so far:
Class 5A: Bellefonte softball 4, Chartiers Valley 1 (final)
Class 3A: Bald Eagle Area softball 0, Mount Pleasant 4 (final)
Mount Pleasant leaves two on base as the sixth inning ends.
Bald Eagle Area goes 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, bringing the game to a close. Mount Pleasant gets the 4-0 shutout win to advance to the PIAA quarterfinals, as BEA’s season ends at 17-4.
Class 4A: Bellefonte baseball 1, Eastern York 14 (final)
Bellefonte got on the board first, when Zach Swagner scored on a fielding error by third baseman Jake Myers in the bottom of the second. But Eastern York answered with five runs of its own, ending the top of the third up 5-1.
It was all Eastern York from there.
Bellefonte pitcher Seth Shuey exited the mound in the top of the fourth and Derek Fravel took over. Two walks with the bases loaded and a Bellefonte throwing error made it 9-1 heading into hte bottom of the fourth.
A wild pitch and an Eastern York triple made it 12-1 with one out in the top of the fifth.
Gavin Fravel entered the game as pitcher for Bellefonte, and struck out his first batter, but Eastern York was able to score on a wild pitch. Eastern York then made it 14-1 on a fly ball single to right field on a 2-2 count. Eastern York popped out to catcher Braedyn Kormanic to end the inning.
Bellefonte went 1-2-3 to end the game in the fifth inning. The Raiders end their season 12-8.
Class 2A: Penns Valley softball 2, Brandywine Heights 3 (final)
Penns Valley ended its season Monday night, falling in another heartbreaker, 3-2, to Brandywine Heights in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs at Lyons Ballfield.
Brandywine Heights scored first, on an error, to make it 1-0 after the first inning. Penns Valley took the 2-1 lead in the third when Avery Dinges hit in Allie O’Brien on an RBI single, then scored herself on an error.
Brandywine Heights tied things up again in the third, and took the lead on a safety squeeze in the sixth.
Kendra Bumgardner had seven strikeouts in the loss.
PIAA baseball/softball brackets
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 2:24 PM.