Wildcats claim third straight D6 crown; strong defense, Probst dinger key win
WINGATE, PA – Unheralded Hollidaysburg more than made a game of it against favored Central Mountain in the District 6 Class 5A title game at BEA’s Doc Etters Field on Monday. The underdog Golden Tigers had pulled to within a 6-5 deficit in the sixth inning, but Wildcat designated hitter Kelvin Probst all but sealed the ‘Cat win with a bases-loaded homerun in the bottom of that inning. And after reliever Chase Brush pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Central Mountain game home with a 10-5 win and another district title.
The win moved the Wildcats to 20-1 on the year and ended Hollidaysburg’s season at 8-11. Central Mountain is now off until Wednesday, May 31 when they will return to Wingate to face a team to be determined from Districts 8 and 9 in what will be a PIAA tournament play-in game.
Hollidaysburg scored first with a second inning run off Wildcat starter Brady Myers but the Wildcats answered with three in the bottom of the inning Levi Schlesinger singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single to left from Connor Foltz. One out later Gardy Fravel picked up the first of his three singles and, after a walk to Nate Helms, Kevin Grenninger blistered a groundball down the third base line, scoring two more.
The Golden Tigers notched another run in the top of the third, but again the Wildcats answered with two: Cru Stover reached based on an error, Schlesinger drew a walk and Foltz dropped a perfect bunt to load the bases. Braylen Corter knocked in run number four with a sacrifice fly to right and Fravel’s second single scored the second run of the inning.
Hollidaysburg put up two runs in the fifth which saw Brush replace starter Myers. That brought the Blair County team to within a 5-4 score but again the Wildcats answered in the bottom of the inning. It happened with two outs as head coach Mike Kramer used the delayed steal to steal what looked to be an insurance run at that point. It happened when Corter drew a two out walk and went to third on Fravel’s third single. With Fravel on first and Corter on third, Fravel broke for second, drawing a throw to second from the Hollidaysburg catcher. But Fravel stopped midway between the bases and meanwhile Corter took off for home, scoring easily to make it 6-4, CM.
Again, Hollidaysburg would answer in the top of the sixth with a single run to draw within one at 6-5. But the game turned for good in the bottom of the inning. Grenninger led off with a single and Gabe Johnson bounced a long flyball over the fence for a ground rule double, runners on second and third with no one out. Tiger coach John Szynal had his left-handed pitcher Landon Perry walk the left-handed hitting Stover, loading the bases for the right-handed hitting Probst. One pitch later the game was all but over. The powerful Probst hopped on the first pitch he saw, sending it over the centerfield fence for a grand slam homerun and a 10-6 lead.
Probst said in that situation he was looking to put “something in the air” to at least hit a sacrifice fly to produce an insurance run. His bases-clearing dinger proved to be much more than that. The Davis & Elkins-bound senior described the game-altering hit as “it was good” and said, ‘It was my turn to do my part.”
Coach Kramer said the coaches teach the team to “be consistent with what you do…and trust the process.” He said the Wildcats “train hard so in games like this…against a competitive team, they can face adversity and come through.” He said they “put themselves in a position in which they can shine.” He said he was “very happy for Kelvin,” that Probst’s shot “took the pressure off.”
Central Mountain finished with 12 hits, led by Fravel’s three singles. Foltz and Grenninger had two each, along with Johnson’s double and singles from Helms, Schlesinger and Corter. Fravel added three stolen bases and Corter had one.
Myers went the first 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits, four runs, walking one and striking out three to earn the win. Brush put in 2.2 innings, giving up one hit, one run, striking out four and walking four.
The Wildcats played perfect defense, including a highlight reel play when second baseman Corter had to run to his left, snare a groundball and make the throw to Myers covering first base for the putout.
The Tigers’ Matt Smith and Tucker Rossman had two hits each; Smith was the starter and loser, going 2 innings, giving up seven hits and five runs, three of them earned. Perry went 3.1 innings, giving up five hits and five runs.
H 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 = 5-8 -1
CM 0 3 2 0 1 4 x = 10-12-0
