Central Mountain Baseball Moves on- Shuts-out DuBois, 6-0

By Tom Elling

WINGATE,PA-Brady Myers was masterful on the mound as he spun a two-hitter in his 6 2/3 inning of work. The hard throwing righty struck out 9 Beaver batters, while allowed just two singles. He did issue three walks with two of those coming in the 6th. The final was on his 100th pitch of the sunbaked afternoon.

Coach Mike Kramer noted that “Today Myers had it going. He established the zone then he mixed his speeds and pitches and he trusted his defense.” It was a combination that kept the visiting District 8/9 champ from crossing the home plate.

Myers had reason to trust the defense as they performed almost flawlessly. SS Gardy Fravel turned two hard liners at him into two double plays. “That had to take the heart out of DuBois,” Kramer offered.

The 32-year coach told reporters that his team had to figure out Beaver starter Davey Aughenbaugh.
“Fravel was clutch today, two hits, two RBI, and he worked a base on balls. Connor Foltz had a big hit in the third to knock in a run.” Another scored (Levi Schlesinger) on the hit as the left fielder misplayed the ball. After three CM held a 3-0 advantage.

The Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Gabe Johnson smashed a single to center. The CF allowed the ball to get by him and by the time he had retrieved, Johnson was perched on third. DuBois reliever got the next two batter on strikes- stranding Johnson.

The winners added two more in the bottom of the fifth. Foltz and Braylen Corter worked walks and pulled off a double steal. Fravel with his second hit plated Foltz with Corter moving to third. Catcher Nate Helms lifted a long sacrifice fly to right to score Corter, giving the ‘Cats a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Johnson greet the Beaver’s third pitcher Tycen Roy with a 2-2 shot over the left-center fence. Roy retired the next three in a row, sending the game into the top of the seventh.

Myers effortlessly retired the first two batters then the heat and possibly fatigue got to him, He walked two in a row, He had also reached his pitch limit with the last free pass.

Coach Kramer called on Chase Brush to shut down the threat. Brush came through with a game-ending strikeout to send the Wildcats to the next round of the PIAA Class 5A state tournament. Their opponent will be the District 7 third placer Penn-Trafford (15-6) and the game will be at a District 6 site to-be-named on Monday. P-T defeated Plum 3-1 to remain alive. Penn-Trafford’s last made the PIAA State tournament in 2019. They lost to Wilson (West Lawn) 6-5 in the first round.

The summary:
DuBois 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 runs, 2 hits. 2 errors
CM 0 1 2 0 2 1 x – 6 runs, 5 hits, 1 error

HR: Gabe Johnson
WP: Myers LP Aughenbaugh