Wildcat baseball picks up 6-4 road win over Bellefonte

BELLEFONTE, PA – There was no letdown for the Central Mountain baseball at Bellefonte on Monday. Coming off their first loss of the season, a 4-2 Williamsport win on Saturday, the Wildcats bounced back Monday with a 6-4 win in a match-up of two league leaders, Central Mountain in the Heartland Conference and Bellefonte in the Mountain League.

As opposed to Saturday when the Wildcats fell behind early and never quite recovered, coach Mike Kramer’s team used a 3-run top of the first and never trailed. The Raiders answered with two runs off starter Cru Stover in the bottom of the first inning, but Central Mountain added single runs in the second and fourth innings to take a 5-2 lead and added an insurance run in the top of the seventh after Bellefonte had closed to a 5-4 deficit in the sixth.

Stover battled control issues, walking six, but made clutch pitches when needed, working 5.2 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs while striking out three. Dallas Alexander held the lead in relief of Stover in the sixth and Gabe Johnson came on with a perfect seventh inning to earn the save.

Johnson led an 8-hit Wildcat attack with a homerun and single; he finished 2-for-2 and two walks, three runs scored and two RBIs. Other hits came from Nate Helms, Stover, Elek Fravel, Levi Schlesinger, Connor Foltz and Braylen Corter; Schlesinger had two runs batted in, Stover with one.

The Wildcats moved to 14-1 with the win and presently sit in seventh place in the MaxPreps state rankings for all teams. Bellefonte fell to 11-4 with the loss.

Next up is a Tuesday trip to Shamokin (2-13), then Senior Day at the Mill Hall Community Park on Wednesday when Lewisburg (7-10) visits. The Wildcats finish a busy week Friday, hosting Mifflin County (5-10). PIAA District 6 playoffs begin later in May, CM the defending district champions.

CM 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 = 6-8-0

B    2 0 0 1 0 1 0 = 4-8-2