Bald Eagle Area baseball headed to 2A state semifinals after defeating Karns City, 6-0

The Eagles’ twin brothers came alive Thursday afternoon to push Bald Eagle Area over Karns City in the PIAA 2A baseball quarterfinals.

Led by Kahale Burns, playing shortstop, who went 3-4 and an RBI and catcher Kaden Burns, who hit 3-3 for three RBIs, the Eagles handled business to defeat the Gremlins 6-0 at Showers Field and head to the semifinals.

“They’re great kids, it’s a great family,” head coach Jim Gardner said postgame. “These kids played a lot of ball together and they don’t get rattled. They stay positive in all situations.”

Starting pitcher Tyler Serb lasted all seven innings, striking out nine across a scoreless effort to push Bald Eagle forward.

Serb, the Eagles’ ace and “No. 1” pitcher, as Gardner puts it, was lights out across Thursday’s action in DuBois.

“He set the tone for us, he throws hard, he has a really good curve that it gets over and keeps him off balance all day,” Gardner said of Serb. “I always say that starting pitching really sets the tone of the game for you. And he does that really well for us.”

The offense came alive quickly for Bald Eagle, with Kahale touching all four bases after a leadoff walk turned into a free trip to third base, thanks to an overthrow attempting to toss him out on a stolen-base attempt at second.

The next at-bat, Kahale found himself in a rundown after a routine grounder hit by second baseman Tayten Yoder. After some back and forth between the third and home, Karns City dropped the ball and in came Kahale for Bald Eagle’s first run of the day.

“Kahale’s amazing,” Gardner said. “Having a kid like that make those plays, he makes those plays all the time, you just saw it today. He’s just amazing.”

Perhaps envious of his twin brother’s first-inning action, Kaden joined in with a second-inning base hit, eventually scoring on single from right fielder Gavin Eckley to make it 2-0.

The bats only continued swinging from there, with the help of some lackluster Gremlin defense.

A dropped routine-fly to right field from Kahale scored two more runs in the third inning before two more followed in the fifth, highlighted by an RBI triple from first baseman Parker Quick, who added a double and a single to finish the game 3-3.

Despite a seventh-inning push from Karns City, loading the bases with no outs, Serb handled business without allowing a run.

“They just stay positive,” Gardner said. “It’s a great bunch of kids, and they’ve come to work every day and believe in themselves and just stay positive and get after it.”

The Eagles will face Sharpsville on Monday in the semifinals.