Wildcat Streak Hits 6; Down Lancers 7-5

MILL HALL – Put together continued solid pitching and some timely hitting and you get a win over the defending PIAA Double-A state champion Loyalsock Lancers.

The Central Mountain baseball team did just that Thursday, a 7-5 win that runs the Wildcat winning streak to six and puts their overall record at 8-2 with a home game coming up Friday with Penns Valley.

Two juniors, starter Kenny Heverly and reliever Zach Skrtich, combined to fire a 1-hitter at the Lancers. Their effort overcame the first shaky defensive showing from the Wildcats this year; Central Mountain was a team which had committed just eight errors in its first nine games but coughed up five, allowing Loyalsock to stay in the game.

The visiting Lancers opened a 3-0 lead early, taking advantage of some CM miscues. The Wildcats tied with three in the bottom of the third off Lancer ace Kyle Datres, using singles from Trapper Kunes and Skrtich and doubles from Dylan Kerstetter and Cayden Stover. They took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth as Loyalsock came briefly undone; the Wildcats made the most of three Datres walks, an infield error, a catcher’s interference and a two-RBI single from Skrtich.

Loyalsock would answer with single runs in innings five and six, both without benefit of a base hit. But Skrtich came in to shut down the Lancers with a man on and no one out in the fifth and after hitting the first batter he faced he went on to retire six in a row and preserve the win for Heverly.

Kerstetter, Stover and Skrtich all had two hits apiece, Kerstetter with a double and an RBI, Stover with a double and triple and two RBIs and Skrtich plating three runs with his two singles.

After the Friday game with Penns Valley, the Wildcats Monday will have a rematch with State College, hosting a Little Lion team which edged Central Mountain for the District 6 AAAA title a year ago.