Baseball

Pitching, timely hitting put Tigers in quarterfinals

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- In Jon Szynal's quarter-century as Hollidaysburg Area High School's head baseball coach, the Golden Tigers had never made it to the quarterfinal round of the PIAA state tournament.

That all changed Monday afternoon, when Hollidaysburg punched the school's first ticket to the PIAA quarterfinals under Szynal's direction by posting a 4-2 victory over Franklin Regional in a PIAA 5 Class A first-round playoff game at the Golden Tigers baseball field.

District 6 Class 5A champion Hollidaysburg (15-6) used a bulldog-type starting pitching effort from senior left-hander Carson Kensinger, and a decisive two-run double by junior catcher Cayden Gibbons, to carve out Monday's hard-fought win and earn a quarterfinal-round matchup against WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Penn-Trafford (21-3 this season) advanced with a 3-2 first-round win over Lower Dauphin in a game that was played Monday at Plum High School.

Before Monday, Hollidaysburg had previously made it to the first round of the state tournament two times under Szynal's direction, but the Golden Tigers lost those games in both 2009 and 2012.

This year's Hollidaysburg team used timely hitting and solid pitching to clear that hurdle and make history for itself.

"We've made it to this game in the past, but we've never won it,'' Szynal said. "It feels great because the kids have worked so hard to get to this point. Franklin Regional is a good team, and there were two very good starting pitchers out on the mound today, so we knew that runs would be hard to come by. But we had that one big hit when we needed it, and that was the difference.''

That big hit was the two-run double by Gibbons to the right-center field gap with two outs in the fifth inning. The double scored Jake Hileman, who had singled, from third base, and Ethan Karageanes, who had reached on an error, from first base, snapping a 2-2 tie and giving Hollidaysburg a 4-2 lead.

Gibbons said that he was waiting for a fast ball from Franklin Regional senior starting right-handed pitcher Max Bernadowski, but he managed to adjust very well when he saw a curve ball instead.

"It was a curve ball, and he hung it right down the middle (of the plate),'' Gibbons said of the pitch that he drove for the game-winning double. "I was sitting fast ball there, but I jumped on the pitch after I saw him hanging it.''

Kensinger (9-0 this season on the mound), came within one out of pitching a complete game, throwing 6 2/3 innings before he reached the PIAA single-game pitch limit of 105 pitches while he was in the process of striking out Cole Brinker for the second out in the top of the seventh inning.

Kensinger spaced seven hits, and allowed just two runs, only one of which was earned. Kensinger wound up finishing the game with 109 pitches, striking out six batters and walking just one.

"Every time that I pitch, I have confidence in my team,'' Kensinger said. "I threw a lot of pitches today. Franklin Regional is a great team, and they had me working. I know at this point that we're never going to get an easy game, and that we have to prepare for every game that we play.''

Franklin Regional coach Bobby Saddler, whose team finished third in the WPIAL tournament and wound up the season with a 15-9 record, gave Kensinger due credit, and so did Szynal.

"We're proud of the way our guys played today, but their pitcher did an exceptional job of keeping us off-balance,'' Saddler said of Kensinger. "They were just able to scratch out a couple more runs than we were today, and that was the difference.''

Szynal said that Kensinger, who entered Monday's game with a 1.06 season earned run average, has been a team catalyst all throughout his four-year varsity baseball career at Hollidaysburg.

"He has been a bulldog for four years for us, and he has helped us not only on the mound, but with his hitting,'' Szynal said. "He was sharp again today, throwing three pitches for strikes. Franklin Regional has a good offense, but he was able to keep their offense under control.''

Franklin Regional took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Owen McKnight doubled and eventually scored from third base on Blake Bertucci's force out. An error extended the inning, and made that run against Kensinger unearned.

Hollidaysburg scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Kensinger ripped a one-out single, and after Gibbons walked and Banks was hit by a Bernadowski pitch to load the bases with one out, Kensinger scored on Brady Steiner's groundout. Keegan Hockey followed by lining a clutch single to right field, plating Gavin Bell - who had been inserted as a courtesy runner for Gibbons - from third base.

Franklin Regional tied the game, 2-2, with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Sinclair opened the inning with a single to right-center, moved to second base on Brinker's infield single, advanced to third base on Bernadowski's bloop single to right field, and scored on a groundout by Luke Williams.

After establishing a new team milestone in this postseason, Hollidaysburg - which defeated Central Mountain in the District 6 Class 5A championship game and Obama Academy in a subregional game to earn its matchup Monday - is hoping to continue its roll on Thursday.

"It feels amazing to set a new Hollidaysburg team record,'' Gibbons said. "We're going to go on and continue to play Hollidaysburg baseball, and keep winning.''

FRANKLIN REGIONAL (2): Brinker rf 401, Bernadowski p-ss 401, Williams ss 200, Bertucci 3b-p 300, Yarabinitz lf 300, Ramchandran 2b-3b 300, Catello c 000, DeRiggi dh 302, Lemke cr 300, Sinclair 1b 322. Totals - 28-2-6.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (4): Hileman cf 411, Karageanes 1b 310, Kensinger p-dh 311, Wedel p 000, Gibbons c 201, Bell cr 010, Banks 3b 200, Steiner ss 300, Hockey 2b 302, Michaels rf 200, Szynal lf 200. Totals - 24-4-5.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Franklin Regional 001 010 0 -- 2-6-2

Hollidaysburg 000 220 X -- 4-5-1

E--Bertucci, Williams, Banks. 2B--Sinclair, Gibbons. RBI--Williams, Bertucci, Gibbons 2, Steiner, Hockey. HBP--Banks (by Bernadowski). LOB--Franklin Regional 6, Hollidaysburg 6.

PITCHING

Franklin Regional: Bernadowski (L) 5IP, 4H, 4R, 2ER, 1BB, 4S0; Bertucci 1 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 1SO.

Hollidaysburg: Kensinger (W) 6 2/3 IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 6 S0; Wedel (SV) 1/3IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO.

Records: Franklin Regional (15-9); Hollidaysburg (15-6).

Umpires: Martin Knezovick (plate); Tony Kline (first base); Andy Lubert (second base); Brian Burns (third base).

Time of game: 1:49.