Philipsburg-Osceola baseball defeats Bald Eagle 3-2 behind game-winning double
It’s not every day that a starting pitcher also slaps a walk-off hit.
Philipsburg-Osceola’s Colby Hahn accomplished that on Thursday in a 3-2 victory over Bald Eagle. With a 1-1 count in the bottom of the seventh inning , Hahn slapped a double off of Eagles starter Wyatt Coakley to right-center field, scoring Parker White. Hahn also pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five.
“It was a tough loss last game – it’s just great to bounce back, especially in that kind of fashion,” Hahn said. “We had a good win against a good team out there. Their pitcher was pitching well all game, it was just nice that we were able to piece him up a little bit in the last inning.”
It’s the first time in a while that Jeremy Whitehead has been able to play since suffering an ankle injury. Due to the injury, head coach Doug Sankey inserted him into the lineup as a designated hitter. It all worked out with Whitehead setting the table for the Mounties in the seventh inning with a two-out home run to tie the game at 2-2. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Mounties in hits.
“I’m just trying not to get out,” Whitehead said. “I know this team (Philipsburg-Osceola) is so good. If I can just get on-base, there’s a really good chance of me working around and have a good chance to score. Our team is so deep – 1-9, we’re really good. I don’t think anyone is an easy out, which is really nice to be in a lineup with that. The pressure is not as bad – you’re just trying to get on.”
White ended up earning the victory on the mound for the Mounties. White lasted one inning, allowing zero hits and zero runs while striking out two and walking one. Coakley took the loss for Bald Eagle Area. The hurler went six and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out two.
Sankey praised his team for being able to break through Coakley’s vice grip.
“We played them in our first game of the year in a close game just like that and guys were getting a little frustrated in the middle of the lineup,” Sankey said. “Coakley is such a good pitcher that he can keep us off-balance. He could give us one ball and two strikes or no balls and two strikes, and our guys are thinking fastballs and he’s throwing changeups and curveballs. He’s getting us to ground out and I’m just so happy to have Jeremy back in the lineup.”
Bald Eagle jumped onto the board in the first inning with Hayden Vaughn plating a run on a groundout for a 1-0. The Mounties answered back with a two-out single by Ben Gustkey to score Brandon Hahn in the fourth inning. Alex Gavlock knocked in a sacrifice fly to score Ethan Koleno in the top of the fifth inning for a 2-1 lead for Bald Eagle.
Philipsburg-Osceola found themselves down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning and had two outs. Whitehead smoked the ball to right-center field for a home run, followed by White reaching second base on a single and advancing to third on a balk by Coakley. Hahn doubled to plate the game-winning run.
Bald Eagle head coach Jim Gardner gave credit to his team’s Mountain League rival for their victory.
“There’s good traditions at both schools and they’re (Philipsburg-Osceola) one of our bigger rivals in that we’re in the same division and the same division for the playoffs,” Gardner said. “There’s great baseball tradition here and our pitcher pitched a heck of a game. To keep a good team to one run through 6 2/3 innings — he did a great job. Our whole issue is that we had opportunities to score to add onto that and we didn’t do it.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 9:25 PM.
