Baseball

Communities make night memorable

Tyrone senior pitcher Rodney Shultz said last week that a lot of bad memories from losing his junior season due to the coronavirus pandemic could be wiped out with a win over Central in the PIAA Class 3A state baseball semifinals on Monday.

But even Shultz couldn't have imagined the moment he got with two outs in the top of the seventh inning at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown signee reached his 105-pitch limit after getting LSU-commit Paxton Kling to line out and walked off the mound to standing ovation from one of the largest crowds to ever watch a high school baseball playoff game in Pennsylvania.

A few moments after Shultz got the chance to tip his cap, Aiden Coleman struck out Devon Boyles with the tying run at first, and the Golden Eagles earned their first-ever trip to the PIAA championship game with a 4-2 win.

"The roar of the crowd when I walked off the field is something I'll never forget in my life," Shultz said. "I have never played in front of a crowd like this, and I don't know if I ever will again, but that's something I'll remember until the day I die."

Monday's game will likely stick with most of the players and fans in attendance for quite some time. According to District 6 baseball chairman Chuck Gojmerac, 2,433 tickets were sold for the 3A championship game.

"I do not recall any baseball game, including our finals, that has drawn this well in my tenure," PIAA Chief Operating Officer Mark Byers said. "Kudos to both communities for supporting their teams tonight. Special night. Genuinely happy for the kids that lost a season last year to be able to play in front of this crowd tonight. It's what makes high school athletics so unique.

"This would not be possible without the Altoona Curve staff making themselves available for the game. We are certainly appreciative of their willingness to host."

When hosting high school baseball games, PNG Field usually restricts access to its upper levels, but the staff had to open those areas Monday, and they were filled with Central fans in red and Tyrone supporters wearing black.

"As a Cove resident myself, growing up there, it's super exciting," Central athletic director Stacy Kuster said. "The Cove has always been very supportive of its student athletes in multiple sports, not just baseball. It's fantastic. It's a great community to live in, raise our kids in and it just brings me a lot of pride to see this sea of red."

Tyrone and Central were meeting for the fourth time this season. The Golden Eagles won the first game en route to winning the Altoona Curve Classic, but the Scarlet Dragons won the next two, including for the District 6 3A crown. The game marked the final contest between the two rival schools before Central leaves the Mountain League for the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference next season.

"The support from the community has been outstanding," Tyrone athletic director Luke Rhoades said. "Central is our long-time rival, and this game was even more interesting with them leaving the Mountain League after this season. More than 2,000 tickets sold for a high school baseball game is exciting, and for these kids to get a chance to play in front of this crowd is going to be exciting and something these kids always remember."

Coleman, a Penn State commit, had to deal with coming in from right field to record the final out on the mound, but he said the crowd fueled him.

"This was unbelievable playing in front of this crowd," Coleman said. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I promise you, anywhere in the country, you will not get a crowd or an atmosphere like this at a high school baseball game anywhere. You will never get this again."

Central has played in four baseball state championship games and was playing in the state semifinals for the sixth time, but Monday was Tyrone's first semifinal appearance and its community, long known for its support of the high school football team, has been there.

"I haven't been off the phone for weeks, because everyone wants to know if they can do anything or help," Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner said. "I have had way more support than I could ever dream of, and for this group to get this is so awesome after having last year taken away from them. I'm so happy for them.

"I used to joke with (Tyrone football coach John) Franco when he first came back that I'm making this a baseball town. But he knows I'm a football guy too, so I definitely think there's room for both."

Central senior Hunter Klotz, who had an RBI double that put the Dragons ahead 2-1 in the fifth inning, played his final high school baseball game and was very emotional after the loss, but he was quick to point out what playing for his community meant to him.

"Playing in front of a crowd like this isn't something a lot of people get to do," Klotz said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. This community does so much for us that isn't seen. We have people we don't even know that would do anything for us. It means the world to us.

"I never really let my emotions get to me, but standing on second, looking into a sea of red, I kind of just stood there in the moment and really made sure I took it all in."

It seemed from the tears streaming down many of the Dragons' faces following the loss and the wide-eyed jubilance of the Eagles following the win that many of the players in Monday's game were able to live in the moment and appreciate what happened at PNG Field.

That's a good thing, because people will be asking them about it, and talking about the day Central and Tyrone packed PNG, the rest of their lives.

Michael Boytim can be reached at mboytim@altoonamirror.com or 814-946-7521. Follow him on Twitter @BoytimMichael.