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Hollidaysburg Little League erases 5-0 deficit to capture sectional crown

Little League Section 4 championship

By Matt Michelone 5 min read

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- After having fallen to Hollidaysburg, 14-1, earlier in the tournament, State College couldn't have asked for a more perfect start to Tuesday night's Pennsylvania Section 4 Little League Championship at Joe M. Sheetz Field.

The visitors scored five runs on five hits before Hollidaysburg could get to the bat rack in the top of the first inning.

"The first inning or so, we faced a little adversity, and I'm proud of the boys for chipping away at it," Hollidaysburg coach Charlie Burger said. "In my book, that's the sign of a good team to not get down when you're down, to keep battling and fighting. That's the name of this game."

But once they did, they reminded everyone that sometimes, slow and steady does indeed win the race and they finished the comeback in grand fashion.

Hollidaysburg put the game away for good as Heath Hanlon blasted a grand slam over the batter's eye in centerfield to capture the tournament crown, 8-5.

"That was a great State College team, we've played them a lot over the past years," Burger said. "Hats off to those guys. Those guys came out swinging the bats, played tough, at the end, I'm proud of the boys for battling and pulling out the win."

State College's first-inning outburst started with a two-run home run to right field from Liam Williams which helped the build a 3-0 lead.

They weren't as they cashed in the long ball again as Quentin Kith sent over the centerfield fence to make it 5-0 after the first.

"We told our kids we have to come out and set the tone," State College coach Jay Neal said. "We did that. We had them a little bit nervous. That's a team right there you can't make mistakes. We have to play perfect baseball, and unfortunately we did not.

"I made some bad calls on balls coming in from the outfield to put them on extra bases. The margin for error against a team like that is absolutely zero. "

That's where the rally begins for Hollidaysburg. Zion Shubik reached on a walk before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Trey Muth to cut the deficit to 5-2 after one.

Walks continued to haunt in the second, as Sam Mikolajczyk reached on a free pass before scoring on a State College error, which helped make it 5-3. Shubik scored in the fourth to cut the deficit down to one.

The glovework was also crucial saving the day for Hollidaysburg in the top of the third, as Mikolajczyk snagged a line drive which helped set up a 4-3 double play.

After the first inning, Hollidaysburg's Blake Chamberlain settled in nicely giving up two more hits and finished with two walks and six strikeouts over 4ª innings. That helped set up Aiden Anderson and Jace Dodson to shut the door.

"I'm proud of him. I've been coaching most of these boys since they've been eight-years old, and we've been pounding it into their head, you got to stay calm, you got to stay cool, and you got to keep fighting. I'm proud of him. He did a great job," Burger said.

Bottom of the third Muth added an RBI-walk which cut the deficit down to one before the game-winning grand slam was registered in the next inning.

State College did give themselves a chance in the fifth. Berkley Ingold reached on a single and Quentin Neal reached on an error before a fielder's choice thwarted their last best chance.

"Our kids battled," Neal said. "If you told me the other night after a 14-1 loss that we would come back and have them down 5-3 in the fourth inning, and they're throwing their big pitchers at us, I really would've loved to force this game to a game two.

"Hollidaysburg is a fantastic team. If that's not a Little League World Series caliber baseball team, I don't know what one looks like."

Hollidaysburg now awaits the state tournament which begins next week in Pittston with the winner of that event advancing to the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bristol, Conn. The winner of that will advance to South Williamsport for the Little League World Series.

Burger is hoping past experiences winning at the state and regional level will come in handy for Hollidaysburg.

"That says a lot about our team," Burger said of the comeback. "There's some guys on this team that can swing the bat, but we got those kind of guys up and down the lineup. We can play small ball, we can play over the fence, we can do a lot of things, and hopefully that's going to payoff next week."

STATE COLLEGE (5): Sommerson cf-cr 211, Steinbugl lf 311, Williams p-1b 211, Kepinski 3b 300, Baker ss-p 211, Callahan 2b-ss 200, Kith eh-rf 211, Morris eh 200, Horn rf-2b 201, Ingold 1b-rf-1b 201, Neal c 200. Totals: 24-5-7.

HOLLIDAYSBURG (8): Shubik cf 221, Chamberlain p-ss 201, Burger rf-1b 110, Anderson ss-p 201, Dodson 1b-p 200, Bridenbaugh 3b 100, Diehl c 100, Mikolajczyk 2b 020, Wertz eh 100, Pavlik eh 010, Hanlon eh 211. Totals: 15-8-5.

SCORE BY INNINGS

State College 500 000 - 5 7 1

Hollidaysburg 211 40X - 8 5 1

HR - Williams, Kith (SC); Hanlon (H). RBI - Williams 2, Kith (SC); Muth 2, Hanlon 4 (H). SO - Williams 2, Baker 3 (SC); Chamberlain 6, Anderson 1 (H).

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