State College tops MC to earn D6 title bid

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: May 18, 2019

Photos by Kathy Reed

By BRIAN CARSON

LEWISTOWN – State College shook off the stunning loss to Mifflin County last week and made sure there was no dramatic comeback in a 6-2 win over the Huskies in the District 6 Class 6A semifinal game on Friday evening.

In fact, it was the Huskies who squandered numerous opportunities against the Little Lions in the rubber game between the two rivals.

Mifflin County had bases loaded with no outs in the first, a runner on third with two outs in the second and runners on first and second with an out in the seventh. None of them scored with the Huskies stranding 11 runners total. It was a role reversal for State College, who had bases loaded with no outs last week against Mifflin County and failed to score.

“I thought we handled (starting pitcher) David Shoemaker pretty well. Our hitting was fine, but we weren’t able to group anything and that hurt,” Mifflin County coach Bernie Howard said. “I thought we played extremely well. Our defense was outstanding.We just couldn’t catch a break when we needed it and they were a little more opportunistic than we were.”

State College (8-10), snapped a four-game losing skid and meets top seed Altoona (10-6) in the district finals Wednesday at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona. Mifflin County ends its season at 8-11.

It was nice having two days of practice. We focused on getting better, winning each inning and winning each pitch. Ultimately, these boys want to compete and they came to compete today,” State College coach Jeremy Dinsmore said.

The Little Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Jack Hurley ripped a 2-1 pitch to right field for the solo homer.

“The pitch was a down-and-in fastball. I cleared my hips early, got my foot down and let it go. It felt good to get around on the ball,” Hurley said. Brian Yetter is a great pitcher. He throws the ball really hard. I play a lot with him in the summer. He’s one of my good friends. He threw me a good pitch and I got a hold of it. We beat Altoona earlier in the year, so we are confident going in. We will play our hearts out no matter who it is.”

The bottom dropped out for the Huskies in the fourth with State High plating two runs on wild pitches. Brandon Franks had an RBI double to left for the other run.

Shoemaker walked to start the inning and courtesy runner Trevor Beck stole second. A.J. Arnold sacrificed Beck to third. Tyson Cooper was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner Cameron Pease went to third on the wild pitch, scoring Beck. Franks doubled home Pease and later scored on a wild pitch.

“They scored three runs on only one base hit. There was a couple of wild pitches uncharacteristic of us,” Howard said. “ It’s a shame. I feel so bad. This is a terrific group of guys.”

Mifflin County cut the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Bryce Dobson reached with a lead-off walk and advanced to third on a double to center by Evan Mock. Tyreen Smalley scored Dobson with a grounder to short. Mock would later come home on a Little Lion error.

State College added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Jake Cooper and Joe Nastasi scored on an error.

The Huskies squandered a golden opportunity in the bottom of the seventh.

Yetter doubled to right, Evan Smith walked and Noah Wright ripped a base hit to left. On Wright’s single, Smith took off for third but Yetter didn’t notice him and ran late for home. When both runners tried to go back to their original bases, Yetter was caught in the rundown and tagged out at third. Nastasi struck out the next two batters looking to end the game.

âWe had to persevere and show that grit. It’s about going out there and battling,” Dinsmore said. “Shoemaker and Nastasi coming in did a great job. They are finding their niche right now and there is not a better time for them to do that. The goal is to get better each practice and get ready to take on a good team in Altoona.”

Shoemaker picked up the win, going four-plus innings with two strikeouts and four walks. He allowed two runs with only one earned. Nastasi earned the save with two-and-a-third innings of scoreless ball. Yetter took the loss for Mifflin County. He gave up four runs, all earned, on three hits. The Husky junior fanned four and walked two.

Mock led the Huskies with two hits. Neil Singer collected two hits for State College.

“The seniors are heartbroken right now, we all are. I’m so proud of them. They battled and never quit,” Howard said. “There’s big things in the returning guys future, I’m sure. We will move on, it hurts right now, but we’ll bounce back from this. I’m confident weáll be back.”

State College 6, Mifflin County 2

State College 010 300 2 – 6-6-1

Mifflin County 000 200 0 – 2-7-1

WP: David Shoemaker. LP: Brian Yetter. SV: Joe Nastasi. SO: Shoemaker 2, Nastasi 2 (SC); Yetter 4, Colby Bodtorf 3, Tristin Lockett (MC). BB: Shoemaker 4, Nastasi (SC); Yetter 2, Lockett 2, Bodtorf (MC). HR: Jack Hurley (SC). 2B: Brandon Franks (A); Yetter, Evan Mock (MC). MH: Neil Singer 2-3 (SC); Mock 2-4 (MC). RBI: Hurley, Franks, Jake Cooper (A); Tyreen Smalley (MC)