Tyrone's Wyatt Kustenbauder advances from second to third on a single by Owen Oakes and scores on a throwing error as Altoona third baseman Eric McAllister can't corral the ball. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The two Mirror core coverage area high school baseball teams which have won PIAA championships most recently — Central and Tyrone — both will enter the District 6 Class 3A playoffs as less than ideal seeds.

But baseball is the one sport where that hasn’t mattered much over the years.

Last season was an exception to that — of the six District 6 tournaments, the champion was the top seed in each bracket except Class 1A where second-seeded Homer-Center won the title.

However, since the district stretched the playoff tournament out, lower seeds with top pitchers have been able to pull off some upsets over higher seeds.

“In the playoffs now, you can throw your ace every game,” Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. “Years ago, you couldn’t do that — which I kind of liked that setup a little bit better — but it is what it is. If a team has a standout pitcher, they can run the table.”

Tyrone coach Kevin Soellner pointed out the 2019 season when Philipsburg-Osceola rode pitcher Ryan Whitehead in the District 6 playoffs and to a win over the WPIAL champion in the state playoffs.

“We have never really been in a situation where we had one dominant pitcher,” Soellner said. “Even in the year we won (the state title), we had two great pitchers in Rodney Shultz and Aiden Coleman, so I don’t really have an opinion on it either way.”

This year’s Central team has two starters in Mason Sparks and Coltin Harbaugh who have a lot of playoff experience and who have won big games, but over the course of a season, especially in weeks where the team plays five games, they can’t pitch all the time.

Of course, that works the other way too. Some teams with losing records can beat a top team if that top team is out of pitching in the regular season.

“I talk to the kids about that a lot. It’s why baseball is such a great game,” Hoenstine said. “In the majority of other sports, the favored team is always going to win. In baseball, you never know. You look at some of our scores this year, and we have beaten some really good teams handily. We have also lost to some teams that we probably should have beaten. But that’s baseball, and that’s why you have to love it.”

Richland is currently at the top of District 6 Class 3A along with Bald Eagle Area, Huntingdon and Philipsburg-Osceola.

As of Thursday afternoon, Tyrone was ranked No. 5, and Central was No. 7. Six of the top seven teams are from the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, including each of the top five.

“It’s always a tough conference,” Hoenstine said. “Especially the old Mountain League teams. Richland is the top seed, but after that you have all the old Mountain League schools, and I think anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”

Tyrone lost five of its first seven games this season but rebounded to win the Curve Classic, a run that included wins over Class 6A Altoona and 5A Hollidaysburg, but the Golden Eagles have also lost to BEA and P-O in the weeks since.

“I truly believe any team one through five could win,” Soellner said. “Everyone has the ability to beat the others. It’s just going to be a matter of which team gets hot at the right time.”

Central lost six of its first nine games but won six of its last seven going into Thursday.

“We’re confident in our arms going into the playoffs,” Hoenstine said. “You get hot at the right time in the playoffs, and you never know what’s going to happen. Obviously we’d like to be a higher seed, but we’re in the playoffs and anything can happen.”

The two teams that make the District 6 finals will both advance to the PIAA playoffs with the champion hosting the WPIAL third-place finisher and the runner-up traveling to the WPIAL champion.

Class 1A

Claysburg-Kimmel and Juniata Valley, lower seeds in last year’s tournament, both nearly knocked off champion Homer-Center.

The Bulldogs lost a large lead in a 10-9 quarterfinal loss, and the Green Hornets fell 6-5 in the championship game.

This year, Juniata Valley enters Thursday’s play as the top seed, and Claysburg-Kimmel is third.

The Green Hornets have won 11 of their last 12 games, and while the Bulldogs have had their ups and downs, one of their losses — 3-2 to Southern Fulton — was an encouraging sign that they can compete with anyone in the state.

The Indians won the PIAA championship last year and have plenty of talent back and have been dominating District 5, but C-K had them on the ropes until the final inning.

Mason Campagna and Gavin Treon are both returning all-state baseball players, and Campagna wants to leave his mark at Claysburg before heading off to play Division I baseball for Penn State.

Portage and Williamsburg will likely both have to win first-round games to get a shot against higher seeds.

The teams that make the District 6 final will both advance to the PIAA playoffs with the champion hosting the WPIAL runner-up and the runner-up traveling to the District 5 champion — likely Southern Fulton.

Class 2A

Bellwood-Antis has put itself in position to host a District 6 Class 2A quarterfinal game with a hot finish to the regular season.

The Blue Devils have wins over 3A teams Central, Penn Cambria and Philipsburg-Osceola over the last couple weeks.

But the team at the top of the rankings — Mount Union — is an annual District 6 favorite and a team that’s had plenty of success in the PIAA tournament.

If Cambria Heights enters the playoffs, the Highlanders could get Mount Union in the first round.

Class 4A-5A-6A

Only Bellefonte and Juniata are in Class 4A, and the Red Raiders would be the clear favorite if Juniata opts to enter the postseason.

Hollidaysburg has been state-ranked and the top team in the area most of the season, but a recent loss to Bishop McCort dropped the Golden Tigers below Central Mountain in the District 6 Class 5A rankings.

As usual, the defending champion Wildcats have a great team. Ironically, the one time in recent history the Golden Tigers got past Central Mountain, they went all the way to the PIAA championship game.

That type of run isn’t out of the question for whichever team wins what will likely be a great game between the Wildcats and Tigers.

Altoona is currently ranked No. 2 between top-ranked Mifflin County and third-ranked State College in Class 6A. The Mountain Lions have beaten both Mifflin County and State College — but they have also lost to both teams.

Altoona has been plagued by inconsistency, but it plays a tough schedule and has obviously shown it is capable of winning a District 6 title this season if everything comes together at the right time.

In Class 4A, 5A and 6A, only the champion’s season will continue.