State College baseball looks back on season after falling to Altoona in District 6 Class 6A championship
State College entered the District 6 Class 6A District championship with the opportunity to knock off Mid Penn rival Altoona on Saturday.
The Little Lions were able to hang close until the fifth inning. Then, things unraveled with a four-run inning in the fifth and a six-run inning in the sixth to end the game at 10-0 in favor of the Mountain Lions.
State College head coach Jeremy Dinsmore had six seniors on this year’s roster. Their names are Charlie Bakken, Drew Moerschbacher, Ethan Schimony, Owen Stout, TJ Yoder and Brady Bendik. Four of the seniors were penciled into the starting lineups with Bendik taking the ball as the starting pitcher.
Dinsmore will miss each of them and appreciate the improvements that they made to the program.
“Man — they are a special group,” Dinsmore said. “Those six, we’re very fortunate to be able to call themselves coaches to them have no doubt about it, put State College’s baseball’s uniform in a better spot. That’s a goal that we strive to accomplish this year and these six were very close, not only together, but to bring this whole team together. I couldn’t have been any more proud as I was for the hard work that they did on the field, but off the field as well.”
Bendik and Schimony shared a pitcher-catcher bond for years. The two went back and forth with strong play at the plate and keeping batters guessing. With each heading their separate ways — Bendik to Navy and Schimony to Akron — Bendik is appreciative of the friendship and the camaraderie that he built with Schimony and the rest of his senior teammates.
“I’m going to miss it,” Bendik said of his time with Schimony. “I know that he’s going great places. I’ve been playing with him for awhile and I told him in the huddle that I’m going to miss him catching those nice curveballs. I can’ t thank him enough for everything he’s done.”
Aidan Steinbugl scored by Lucas Muffie in the bottom of the fourth for a 1-0 lead over State College.
Muffie notched his second RBI on the day, when he singled to score Tysen LaRocco with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Connor Blough later took a base hit to left field to score Steinbugl and Muffie to increase Altoona’s lead to 4-0. Blough scored on an error by the shortstop to increase the Mountain Lions’ lead to 5-0.
Erik Rhodes scored Matt Moyer in the bottom of the sixth with one out. Ethan Hielman dropped a bloop single into shallow right field to plate Muffie. Sean Bettwy walked with the bases loaded to score Rhodes. Michael Riccio walked with the bases loaded to plate Blough. Evan Alwine singled in Ethan Hielman for the final run and the 10-0 victory in the sixth inning.
This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 11:31 PM.
