Brett Hileman struck out 14 Punxsutawney batters as Hollidaysburg defeated the Chucks, 7-4, in the opening round of the Curve Classic high school baseball tournament Friday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
"Brett was very good," Hollidaysburg manager Jon Szynal said. "He threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. He had his fastball today, and he pitched a really good game."
Aaron Burger tripled and drove in a pair of runs for the Golden Tigers, who improved to 2-3. Jordan Baum added a triple for Hollidaysburg, and Andy Crum had a pair of hits and an RBI.
Hileman was coming off a rough outing against Altoona in which he left with a knee injury.
"I worked a lot this winter on my pitches," Hileman said. "I had instant pain in my knee against Altoona, but our trainer took care of me and I was ready to go the next day."
The Golden Tigers will take on Bishop Guilfoyle in the semifinals today at 3 p.m.
"BG has a good ballclub with a really good record," Szynal said. "They have some good pitchers over there, but we approach every game the same. It is just the next one on the schedule."
PUNXSUTAWNEY (4): Baker cf 310, Sloniger c 402, Dale cr 020, T. Zimmerman ss 311, G. Zimmerman lf-rf 403, Bush p-1b 400, Falgout cr 000, Janocha 1b-lf 301, Bevak dh 200, Phillips rf 000, Burkett rf 100, Klingensmith 2b 200, Geer 3b-p 300. Totals 29-4-7.
HOLLIDAYSBURG (7): Claar cf 220, Burger 3b 211, Hileman p 412, Storm 2b 301, Crum dh 302, Ford 1b 000, Miller c 300, Glass ph 101, Baum ss 412, Sell lf 200, Russell lf 211, Gallagher rf 211. Totals 28-7-11
Score by inning
Punxsutawney100 110 1 4 7 3
Hollidaysburg101 230 X 7 11 0
E-T. Zimmerman, Janocha, Geer. 2B-Gallagher, Sloniger, G. Zimmerman. 3B-Baum, Burger. RBI-G. Zimmerman 3, Janocha, Burger 2, Hileman, Storm, Crum, Russell. WP-Hileman. LP-Bush. SO-Hileman 14, Bush 4, Geer 3. BB-Hileman 2, Bush 2.
Umpires: Mike Bryja (HP), Dave Adams (bases)
Records: Punxsutawney (4-2); Hollidaysburg (2-3)
