Hollidaysburg will be staying very close to home, while a pair of baseball teams from the city of Altoona will be sticking together when the PIAA baseball and softball playoffs get under way on Monday.
The Golden Tigers will be going just a couple of miles up the road to Peoples Natural Gas Field in Lakemont, site of their District 6 Class AAA baseball championship game win, to meet District 3 consolation game winner West York on Monday at 2 p.m. District 6 Class AA champ Mount Union follows up against South Fayette at 5.
Meanwhile, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic and Altoona Area High School's baseball squads will be in action in back-to-back games at Butler's Pullman Park. Guilfoyle, which lost to Bishop McCort in the 6-A finals, starts things off at 4 against WPIAL champion Neshannock and Florida State recruit John Sansone.
At 7 p.m., it will be a clash of Class AAAA district champions when the Mountain Lions face District 7's Seneca Valley.
District 5 Class AA winner North Star will be in action at Pullman Park preceding the Altoona schools.
The fourth PIAA baseball qualifier from the Mirror coverage area, Philipsburg-Osceola, will be at Williamsport's Bowman Field to meet the victor of today's District 4 championship game between Loyalsock and South Williamsport. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
In softball, Bellwood-Antis and Claysburg-Kimmel will start far apart on a road they hope leads to a rematch of their District 6 Class A championship game at Penn State. The Lady Devils return to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field to meet District 10 champ Saegertown in the second game of a quadrupleheader at 2:30; 6-AA and defending PIAA titlist Philipsburg-Osceola takes the field at 5 against Neshannock.
Claysburg, meanwhile, will have to travel all the way to Bloomsburg University to meet up with District 4 champion Northeast Bradford. That game is slated for 2 p.m.
Central and Chestnut Ridge also will be in action in Class AA. The 6-AA runner-up Lady Dragons are set to go to Brockway for a 3 o'clock first pitch against District 9 champion Cranberry, while the four-time defending District 5 champion Lady Lions are headed to Berks County's Lyons Park to play Kutztown, the District 3 tourney winner, at 5.
Here's a complete list of District 6 and 5 teams' PIAA first round contests:
MONDAY
PIAA FIRST ROUND
BASEBALL
CLASS AAAA
Altoona (6-1) vs. Seneca Valley (7-1), Pullman Park, Butler, 7
CLASS AAA
West York (3-3) vs. Hollidaysburg (6-1), Peoples Natural Gas Field, Altoona, 2
CLASS AA
North Star (5-1) vs. Ellwood City (7-1), Pullman Park, Butler, 1
Philipsburg-Osceola vs. South Williamsport or Loyalsock (4-1), Bowman Field, Williamsport, 4
South Fayette (7-3) vs. Mount Union (6-1), Peoples Natural Gas Field, Altoona, 5
CLASS A
Camp Hill (3-2) vs. Conemaugh Township (5-1), McConnellsburg, 4:30
Bishop Guilfoyle (6-2) vs. Neshannock (7-1), Pullman Park, Butler, 4
California (7-2) vs. Bishop McCort (6-1), First Commonwealth Field, Homer City, 4
SOFTBALL
CLASS AAAA
Greensburg Hempfield (7-2) vs. Central Mountain (6-1), Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, University Park, 12:30
CLASS AAA
Big Spring (3-3) vs. Bellefonte (6-1), Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, University Park, 7
CLASS AA
Chestnut Ridge (5-1) vs. Kutztown (3-1), Lyons Park, Lyons, 5
Central (6-2) vs. Cranberry (9-1), Brockway High School, 3
Neshannock (7-3) vs. Philipsburg-Osceola (6-1), Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, University Park, 5
CLASS A
Claysburg-Kimmel (6-2) vs. Northeast Bradford (4-1), Bloomsburg University, 2
Saegertown (10-1) vs. Bellwood-Antis (6-1), Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, University Park, 2:30
Sto-Rox (7-3) vs. Fannett-Metal (5-1)
