Baseball

Central takes advantage of Eagles’ miscues in getting win

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

TYRONE -- The playing surface at the Harry K. Sickler Athletic Complex in Tyrone can lead to some unexpected hops, good bunts rolling foul and weakly-hit ground balls turning into infield singles.

The Golden Eagles can usually use that to their advantage by playing stellar defense while their opponents struggle to make some routine plays, but Tuesday against Central it worked against them.

The Scarlet Dragons scored three unearned runs in the first inning with the help of two Tyrone errors, and the Golden Eagles never caught up in an 11-4 Central victory.

"We need to work on our attitude and playing the game the right way," Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner said. "I don't think we played it the right way today. We didn't attack the ball and made some fielding errors that made a difference. We overthrew cutoffs, which is one of my pet peeves. Those things we need to work on. But the nice thing is, we can fix those things. Central is always going to do those things right, and that's where we're trying to get to with this group."

Central kept the pressure on Tyrone all game with a defensive approach on two-strike counts, and none of the three Golden Eagle pitchers registered a strikeout.

"We hammer that to the kids and the kids hammer it to each other," Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. "That's our motto. We change the things we do with two strikes just to put the ball in play. We were able to barrel a couple up, and in high school baseball, if you hit the ball into the ground with two strikes, a lot of times, you are going to get on base."

Tyrone survived its first error of the game when Britton Marko hit into a fielder's choice that forced Hunter Smith out at home for the second out of the first inning, but after a Troy McNichol single, Lukas Black reached on an error to score one run and Jay Hoenstine followed with a two-run single. Hoenstine finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Tyrone loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but managed just one run. The teams traded runs in the second inning before Central broke open the game with a five-run fifth inning.

Griff Snowberger, Marko, McNichol, Black and Hoenstine came through with five straight singles and Tyrone made two more errors.

"We haven't had the same lineup yet, and it will probably change again tomorrow," Hoenstine said. "But I told the kids, any time you can win on the road in the Laurel Highlands, it's a good win. We'll keep coming together. We're still experimenting a little bit, but I'm happy everyone is buying into our program."

Snowberger finished 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

"We're off to a good start and trying to really have fun this year," Snowberger said. "It's the last year with the guys, and I'm trying to have fun with the game. We might not be as deep as we were the last couple years, but we have some talented guys and a lot of chemistry out there. I think we can do pretty well this season."

Smith and Snowberger, key parts of Central's state championship team from two years ago, hit first and second in Tuesday's lineup.

"Those are our two best hitters," Hoenstine said. "Hunter is not the prototypical leadoff hitter, but we're confident that the bottom of our order will get on base sometimes, and we want Hunter and Griff to get the most at bats. They set the tone for these younger guys."

The Dragons still aren't playing with their full lineup.

"Hopefully we get another senior, Baron Dionis, back soon," Hoenstine said. "He's recovering from a football injury. Hopefully he'll be back soon."

Dionis served as a courtesy runner in Tuesday's game and scored twice.

Tyrone got two hits and an RBI from Ashton Walk. Kendall Lehner, Brandon McClure and Wyatt Kustenborder doubled for the Golden Eagles, which fell to 2-3.

"Things we have been doing in practice carried over to here," Soellner said. "It's got to get better. I don't think we're an offensive team that's going to score 10 or 15 runs, so we have to rely on our defense. We have done that for years. We have never been a team that scored that many runs."

Mason Sparks went five innings for Central (4-1) and allowed just one earned run while earning the victory.

"Sparks did a good job tonight," Hoenstine said. "He has good stuff. He threw some for us as a freshman last year. We're counting on him. We didn't make some plays behind him that we usually make, but he pitched well."

With the entire Mountain League joining the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference this season, Tyrone and Central are once again playing in a league together. Bald Eagle Area and Bellefonte, which both won state titles last season, also are new additions to the LHAC.

"I'm a Mountain League guy, and I think the Mountain League was the toughest by far, but when you start adding teams like Forest Hills and those teams, it's definitely got to be the toughest at this level in the state," Soellner said. "Maybe not among 6A and 5A leagues, but at this level, it's definitely the toughest league."

CENTRAL (11): Smith 1b 511, Snowberger cf-2b 514, Marko c 501, Dionis cr 020, McNichol rf 422, Moushlian pr 000, Black 3b 221, Hoenstine 2b-lf 412, Dilling ss 401, Byler lf-p 300, Harbaugh cr 010, Sparks p 000, Z. Oakes dh 310. Totals -- 35-11-12.

TYRONE (4): Coleman cf 201, Jones cr-ph 100, Walk ss 422, Hamer c 401, Miller lf 000, O. Oakes dh 400, Kustenborder 3b-rf-p 411, B. McClure 2b-3b 301, C. McClure 1b 301, Postreich p 200, Ewing p 100, Parsons rf 100, Light rf 111, Lehner 2b 301. Totals -- 33-4-9.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Central 311 500 1--11 12 3

Tyrone 110 100 1--4 9 4

E--Hoenstine 2, Dilling, Walk 2, Kustenborder 2. 2B--Smith, Snowberger, B. McClure, Lehner, Kustenborder. RBI--Snowberger 2, Hoenstine 3, Marko, McNichol, Black, Dilling, Walk, Kustenborder, Parsons.

PITCHING

Central: Sparks (W)—5 IP, 6H, 2BB, 4K, 3R, 1ER, 99 pitches; Byler--2IP, 3H, 1BB, 0K, 1R, 1ER, 24 pitches.

Tyrone: Postreich (L)—3 1/3IP, 10H, 1BB, 0K, 10R, 4ER, 77 pitches; Ewing--2 2/3IP, 1H, 2BB, 1HBP, 1R, 1ER, 49 pitches; Kustenborder--1IP, 1H, 0BB, 0K, 0R, 0ER, 9 pitches.

Records: Central (4-1); Tyrone (2-3).