WINGATE — The Tyrone Area Golden Eagles have proven that there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat.

After opening the District 6 Class 3A baseball playoffs with a narrow 2-1, eight-inning victory over Huntingdon this past Monday in the quarterfinals, Tyrone unleashed an explosive 15-hit attack Friday afternoon to defeat Bald Eagle Area, 12-4 in a semifinal-round matchup at BEA’s Doc Etters Memorial Field.

Friday’s victory earned sixth-seeded Tyrone (12-9) a berth in next Thursday’s 6 p.m. District 6 Class 3A championship game against fourth-seeded Philipsburg-Osceola at Vets Field. Tyrone also guaranteed itself a spot in the upcoming state playoffs, which begin June 1, regardless of what the Golden Eagles do in the district championship game.

Senior catcher Brayden Parsons led Tyrone’s offensive outpouring Friday with four hits, two RBIs, and a run scored. Second baseman Conner Zupon added three hits, knocked in a run, and scored twice, while Wyatt Kustenbauder drove in three runs with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly for Tyrone, which had six different players hit doubles and eight players in its batting order collect at least one hit.

“It’s obviously very nice,” veteran Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner said of his team’s offensive display. “We’ve had games this year where we’ve had slow starts, but we came right out of the box hitting today. It was a pleasure to watch.”

Tyrone jumped out to a 7-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning and two runs apiece in the second and third innings.

Parsons started the game with a single to right field, moved to third on Jon Stroup’s double, and scored on Kustenbauder’s sacrifice fly. Zupon followed with a double down the left field line to score Stroup. Zupon moved to third on Conner McClure’s fly out, and scored the third and final Tyrone run in the first inning on a wild pitch.

In the second inning, Colton Frye was hit by a pitch, and stole second base. After Brandon McClure walked, Parsons doubled to right field to knock home Frye and send McClure to third base, from where he eventually scored on a BEA error.

Tyrone’s two-run third inning started with singles by Braylon Plummer and Frye, and both players scored — Plummer on an RBI single by Parsons and Frye on a throwing error.

“We came out and crushed the ball right out of the gate today,” Parsons said. “Everybody was hitting the fast ball and adjusting to the curve ball.”

Tyrone also got decent pitching from starting right-hander Carter Price, who worked 4ª innings for the win, allowing six hits and just one earned run, and Brandon McClure, who came on in relief to work the final 2• innings, holding BEA scoreless on just one hit.

“We had some good pitching today,” Soellner said. “Those two kids pounded the strike zone and had good control.”

Conner McClure hit a run-scoring double in the fourth inning, when Tyrone plated two more runs, and the Golden Eagles tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth inning on Stroup’s RBI groundout and Kustenbauder’s two-run homer to build a 12-1 lead and position themselves for a mercy-rule victory before second-seeded BEA stayed alive with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“I’m proud of what these kids accomplished this year,” BEA coach Ryan McNamara said of his team, which wrapped up a 15-6 season this spring just a year after BEA had won only four of 19 games a year ago. “To go from 4-15 last year to a second seed in the district tournament this year is a testament to the hard work that these kids put in all season.”

Tyrone is making its first appearance in the district championship game since 2023, and Soellner and the Golden Eagles are glad to be back in it.

“Philipsburg-Osceola is a good team,” Soellner said. “They hit well, pitch well, and field well. They’re a fundamentally sound team, so we’re going to have to come out against them and play a good game to give ourselves a chance to win.”

TYRONE (12): Parsons c 514, Bokulich cr 000, Stroup ss 521, Kustenbauder cf 211, Zupon 2b 523, Harper cr 000, C. McClure 1b 511, Oakes rf 300, Plummer lf 312, Price p 000, Frye dh 322, B. McClure 3b-p 221. Totals – 33-12-15.

BALD EAGLE AREA (4): White cf-rf 400, Hosband ss 311, Irion 1b 310, Runkle p-cf 412, Ripka 3b-p 311, Nagle rf 000, Bucha dh-3b 402, Clark lf 201, Stimer c 200, Johnson 2b 300. Totals – 28-4-7.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Tyrone 322 230 0 — 12 15 2

Bald Eagle Area 001 030 0 — 4 7 2

E–Stroup, B. McClure, Hosband, Stimer. 2B–Stroup, Zupon, Parsons, C. McClure, Plummer, B. McClure. HR–Kustenbauder. RBI–Kustenbauder 3, Parsons 2, Stroup, Zupon, C. McClure, Plummer, Bucha 2, Runkle, Stimer. SB–Frye 2, Hosband. CS–Frye (Stimer to Bucha); Runkle (Parsons to Zupon). SAC–B. McClure. SF–Kustenbauder, Plummer. HBP–Frye (by Runkle); Kustenbauder (by Runkle); Kustenbauder (by Ripka); Stimer (by Price); Stimer (by B. McClure); DP–Tyrone turned one. LOB–Tyrone 8, Bald Eagle Area 7.

PITCHING

Tyrone: Price (W) 4 2/3IP; 6H, 4R, 1ER, 4BB, 3SO, 95 pitches; B. McClure 2 1/3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 1SO, 39 pitches.

Bald Eagle Area: Runkle (L) 2IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 2SO, 74 pitches; Ripka 5IP, 11H, 7R, 6ER, 0BB, 1SO, 61 pitches.

Records: Tyrone (12-9); Bald Eagle Area (15-6).

Umpires: Cody Cogan (plate); Brian Becker (1b); Norm Gordon (2b); Jeff Holter (3b).