Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Genna Peacock scores from second on a AJ Good pop fly to left field.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — With Hollidaysburg trailing by one run, sophomore third baseman Maya Gearhart made a tremendous play to get to a ball but then bobbled it briefly before recovering just in time to throw out an Altoona runner.

The entire Lady Tigers infield and pitcher Mikaylah Vincent came over to hug Gearhart and reinforce to her how proud they were of her for sticking with the play and making the out.

A couple innings later, Gearhart did something to make all of the Hollidaysburg faithful proud.

With Friday’s game against crosstown rival Altoona tied 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Gearhart blasted a leadoff double off the bottom of the fence which led to the eventual game-winning run coming home when Lexi Peacock drew a bases loaded walk to give the Lady Tigers a 9-8 win.

“As soon as the ball hit the bat and I saw it fly, I was praying it went over the fence for a walk-off,” Gearhart said. “It feels great, but it’s all through teamwork. We all got this win and did it together. I’m very thankful for this team. My teammates are all family to me. I’m very grateful.”

Hollidaysburg coach Mike Harris wasn’t surprised that his older players were there to support Gearhart before her big hit.

“We had good leadership from our veteran players,” Harris said. “They kept the young kids in the game and kept giving them high-fives and talking everybody up.”

The victory was a highlight in a season that hasn’t had many. The win bumped Hollidaysburg’s record to just 3-17. But you couldn’t tell that from the raucous celebration on the field following the game that included Harris being doused by water from the Sideline Cancer championship cup the Lady Tigers earned with the victory.

“I love it. I absolutely love it,” Harris said. “We’ve had a rough season, but we ended it on a positive note. We’re going to the playoffs, but this was great for the kids. It was a back-and-forth game. They went up 3-0, and then we got up 4-3. In the dugout, I told them that was how it was going to be and to just go with it. I’m so proud of the kids. They are so excited, and they did great.”

Friday’s game started around 7:30 p.m. and was played under the lights in front of a big crowd there to support Sideline Cancer and Lennox Barnhart and his family. Barnhart, just 2½ years old, threw out the first pitch and helped raise more than $4,000.

“It was the biggest crowd, and it was fantastic,” Harris said. “Everybody came out to help out a family in need during tough times, and it was just crazy. The kids were like — ‘look at this place, there’s people everywhere,’ — it was a night game. There were so many people here, food trucks, raffles, prizes — it was awesome. It was a great atmosphere. Sideline Cancer is phenomenal for bringing communities together for events like this to help somebody out.”

Altoona, despite coming out on the losing side, was also proud to be part of Friday’s event.

“Every year this is a great experience,” Altoona coach Alyssa Fasolo said. “It’s a game we look forward to. Not only are we playing for a great cause with the Sideline Cancer foundation and the people that it benefits, but there’s an energy with the rivalry between us and Hollidaysburg. It gets two great communities together, and that motivates the girls in itself.”

Altoona jumped ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning with the help of an RBI single by Kendall Cogan — who finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a double.

Hollidaysburg took its first lead in the bottom of the second inning on Vincent’s two-run single.

The Lady Lions tied it in the next half inning on another RBI single by Cogan.

“We’re working on building our program from the ground up,” Fasolo said. “From the junior high program to the high school program, we have a pretty good core group of kids that have been together for a couple of years. We’re focusing on the fundamentals. We’re playing in a really tough conference, and we’re seeing the impact of that. We’re improving from the tough competition we’re facing.”

A.J. Good, who went 2-for-3, put the Lady Tigers back ahead in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run single, but Altoona went ahead, 8-6, with a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Hollidaysburg cut it to 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth before Gearhart’s nifty defense kept it there in the top of the sixth.

“She played really well,” Harris said. “She played third last year, and then we have been kind of mixing people in to see what they could do, and she’s played shortstop and outfield, but she did a great job at third tonight. She was a vacuum getting everything. She’s been coming on the last three games playing third and getting better and better.”

Lexi Peacock tied the game on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth.

Altoona got a runner on in the top of the seventh, but Hollidaysburg catcher Jenna Snyder threw her out to end the inning just before Gearhart’s leadoff double.

Harris said he thought about tackling Gearhart if she would have hit it over the fence.

“If she hit that out — I was,” Harris said. “I saw it, and she was going crazy. I thought it was going to be out. On a warmer night, it probably would have been out. She played fantastic.”

Altoona got two hits each from Kaya Sprankle and Natalie Baker but fell to 1-15. Despite the loss, the Lady Lions have seen plenty of improvement this season.

“One thing that we have been telling our kids is that you’re not always going to see the victories just in the win-loss column, and you have to celebrate the little wins,” Fasolo said. “Being competitive in some of the games we’re in against some of the top teams in the state, we’re focusing on that and improving a little along the way.”

Hollidaysburg’s next game will come in the postseason, and Friday’s win has the Lady Tigers feeling confident.

“Heck yeah,” Gearhart said. “This gives us momentum going into playoffs for sure.”

ALTOONA (8): Sprankle c 422, Baker ss 512, Yost 3b 410, Worley 2b 311, Reed cf 310, Price dp 400, Schneider p 000, Klein pr 000, Cogan 1b 413, Delozier rf 411, Bettwy lf 401. Totals — 35-8-10.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (9): Hicks cf 431, Vincent p 412, Morris 2b 500, L. Peacock lf 412, G. Peacock ss 311, Good dp 312, Hall ph 100, Snyder c 000, Chandler 1b 311, Gearhart 3b 211, Stevens rf 200, Mitchell rf 200. Totals — 33-9-10.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Altoona 301 130 0–8 10 1

Hollidaysburg 132 011 1–9 10 5

2B–Baker, Cogan, Gearhart. RBI–Cogan 3, Baker 2, Sprankle, Vincent 2, L. Peacock 2, Good 2, Stevens, Mitchell. WP–Vincent. LP–Schneider. SO–Vincent 4, Schneider 4. BB–Vincent 2, Schneider 6.

Records: Altoona (1-15); Hollidaysburg (3-17).

JV: Altoona, 20-10