That formula, which has worked for the most part all season for the Hollidaysburg Area baseball team, helped the Golden Tigers claim their second District 4-6 Class 5A championship in three years over Central Mountain, 7-3, at Bald Eagle Area’s Doc Etters Memorial Field on Tuesday.

“I’m so blessed to be part of this program and this team,” Hollidaysburg senior Josh Banks said. “These guys — it’s just great to win this with all of them. We’re just so close-knit and have been playing together for so long, and I think that helps us win games like this.”

After a scoreless first inning, Hollidaysburg’s Tanner Rossman reached on an error in front of a Nate Phillips single. Rossman scored, and Phillips went to third when Mack Layton reached on an error with one out on a ball that looked like it might end up as an inning-ending double play.

Braden Hatch brought home Phillips on a sacrifice fly, and Banks scored Layton with a two-out RBI double that made it 3-0.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Josh Banks is greeted at home plate on his solo homerun.

“We definitely took advantage of their miscues,” Hollidaysburg coach Jon Szynal said. “Especially early on.”

Central Mountain pushed across a run in the bottom of the third inning after a walk and a bunt single, but Mason Mierley extended the Hollidaysburg lead to 5-1 with a two-run single.

Phillips doubled and scored on Layton’s grounder an inning later to increase the lead to five.

Two outs into the bottom of the fifth inning, Golden Tigers starter Vince Boland had allowed just the bunt single. But Felix Oquendo hit a sharp single just before a towering two-run home run by Central Mountain’s Blake Walker that made it 6-3.

“We’re very special,” Boland said. “This is one of the best hitting teams I have ever seen. It’s awesome. As a pitcher, that’s great to have. You have a lot more confidence, because you know even if you make a mistake like I did today, we still have enough support to win.”

That support and backup came almost immediately as Banks led off the sixth inning with a home run to make it 7-3.

“They were getting momentum a little bit,” Szynal said. “Him hitting that home run swung the momentum back in our direction.”

Boland got the first out of the bottom of the sixth before allowing a single and a walk that brought him to 106 pitches and forced his exit from the game due to the PIAA’s pitch-limit rule. Boland, who has pitched in high pressure games for the Golden Tigers the last three seasons, got a standing ovation from his teammates and the fans in attendance as he walked off the field.

“I focus on my relationship with the Lord,” Boland said. “That’s the most important thing to me. Keeping that and carrying that into the game, living by His word helps me stay focused mentally leading up to the game and throughout the game. That’s the biggest thing for me.”

Central Mountain coach Michael Kramer wasn’t outwardly involved in the ovation, but Boland certainly earned his respect.

“We didn’t have the right approach at times, and he was taking advantage of that,” Kramer said. “He commands three pitches that had us stymied. He has a plus-fastball that you need to be ready to hit, but you also have to be aware of that slider and curve that he has that keeps you off balance. He did an excellent job.”

With the tying run on deck and just one out, Hollidaysburg went to Cole Hartman, and he struck out the next two batters to end the inning and maintain the four-run advantage.

“That was huge,” Szynal said. “He’s a strike thrower. We thought switching up from a hard-throwing righty to a left-hander would be beneficial for us, and it was.”

The Wildcats got two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Phillips made a diving catch to seal the game.

“We just did not have our best stuff on the mound today,” Kramer said. “You have to be pitching ahead and can’t fall behind and put balls out over the plate, because that’s when they get hit.”

With the victory, Hollidaysburg clinched a spot in the PIAA Class 5A tournament and will take on the WPIAL runner-up at a District 6 site on Monday in the first round. That championship game, between WPIAL No. 12 seed Upper St. Clair and No. 10 seed South Fayette, will be played at 7 p.m. tonight.

The last time the Golden Tigers made the PIAA playoffs, they went all the way to the state championship game.

“We got (Central Mountain) two years ago. They got us last year, and this year we were able to keep the pressure on them throughout pretty much the whole game with our offense,” Szynal said. “The pitching from Boland and Hartman was spectacular. We hit the ball hard. Even some of the outs were hit hard. We played an all-around great game.”

HOLLIDAYSBURG (7): Banks rf 322, Mierley ss 402, McGough 2b 301, Hartman 1b-p 400, Boland p 000, Rossman dh-1b 410, Phillips cf 322, Miller 3b 402, Layton lf 410, Hatch c 301, Detrick cr 010. Totals — 32-7-10.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (3): Oquendo cf 411, Walker p-3b 411, Probst c 201, Jones 1b 400, Shade ss 400, Hanna lf 000, Nonemaker dh 201, Frank 3b-p-3b 100, Everett ph 100, Miller rf 110, Ludlow rf 100, Sanchez 2b 301. Totals — 27-3-5.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Hollidaysburg 030 211 0–7 10 3

Central Mountain 001 020 0–3 5 2

E–Hartman, Mierley, Rossman, Frank, Shade. 2B–Banks, Phillips, Miller. HR–Banks, Walker. RBI–Banks 2, Mierley 2, Layton, Hatch, Walker 2.

PITCHING

Hollidaysburg: Boland (W) — 5 1/3IP, 4H, 9K, 5 BB, 3R, 2ER, 106 pitches; Hartman — 1 2/3IP, 1H, 2K, 0BB, 0R, 0ER, 29 pitches.

Central Mountain: Walker (L) — 3IP, 3H, 2K, 2BB, 3R, 0ER, 64 pitches; Frank — 2IP, 4H, 2K, 1BB, 3R, 3ER, 53 pitches; Andrus — 2IP, 3H, 1K, 0BB, 1R, 1ER, 20 pitches.

Records: Hollidaysburg (19-2); Central Mountain (14-5).

Umpires: Brian Becker (1B); Norm Gordon (2B); Jeff Holter (3B); Cody Cogan (HP); Jerry Zollers (pitch counter).