A Tough Stretch

Warriors use 11-hit performance to oust CM

By TOM FOX — tfox@lockhaven.com
MILL HALL — Refocus.

How strange is it Travis Zook and Mike Kramer would both use that exact word to describe their teams right now?

For Zook’s Indian Valley Warriors, it was bouncing back after a surprising loss at Huntingdon Tuesday night. For Kramer’s Central Mountain squad, it’s about snapping out of its current funk and finding the early-season form as the playoffs are quickly approaching.

Thanks to a five-run sixth inning, and an 11-strikeout day by pitcher Devon Pearson, the Warriors were able to regroup and leave the Mill Hall Community Park with a 9-3 win over the Wildcats in Mountain League play.

Both CM and IV are tied for top honors in the league, while the loss was the Wildcats’ third straight at home. CM has also lost three of its last four games after starting out the season 10-2.

“We should have come out with a little fire after the way we played against Huntingdon,” Zook said. “We started up early on them, and we sort of relaxed. I saw it again this game where I think we were too relaxed in the third and fourth innings. We were just sitting back, happy with the lead that we had and not trying to get out there for more runs.”

That was exactly the case as Central Mountain, trailing the entire game, was just hanging around — down 4-3 entering the sixth.

Yet, the Warriors — which pounded out 11 hits against CM pitchers Anthony Houser and Curt Harpster — put down the hammer in the frame. Taking advantage of three walks, IV used RBI by Jay Hartman and Pearson, and a big two-out, two-run single to right by five-hitter Ryan Keefer to bust the ballgame open.

Really, it was the first time all season where the Wildcats looked like a young team.

Uncharacteristic errors that led to runs. And some mental lapses with IV runners in scoring position.

“We have to refocus our thoughts,” Kramer said. “We don’t have much time to do that because we have Williamsport (today). We have to think about what happened, regardless. It didn’t feel good, and I know they don’t feel good about the loss. I saw a lot of things — like our focus and awareness of the game — that dropped off a little. That’s uncharacteristic of us because we’ve been pretty solid in those aspects of the game. We have to get that stuff back in order to get on track. Those were the things that got us to our 11 wins.”

Pearson, pitching for the first time in almost one month, threw as Zook expected. Although he didn’t bring his overpowering fastball, he was able to strike out 11 Wildcats — eight of those coming from the top 4 batters in the CM lineup.

He did walk seven — two of those ending up as Central Mountain runs; a free pass to Brett Heggenstaller in the first and one to Houser in the fourth.

“He had some control problems here or there, but you can expect that because he hasn’t thrown in almost a month,” Zook said. “We’ve had him throw some bullpen work, but nothing much. He did a good job. I thought he did a good job of mixing things up, keeping people off balance. He’s a great ballplayer and pitcher. He’s a head-strong type of kid that you don’t need to talk to a lot. He just focused on the pitches that were working well for him, and he let his defense do the rest.”

Up 2-1 after the first, IV tacked on a run in the third on an RBI by Keefer, but CM answered in the fourth. Following a one-out walk to Houser, Ryan Watkins ripped a single to right, advancing Houser to third. Then, Kramer called the old double steal, which allowed the CM senior to score, trimming the deficit to 3-2.

Again, IV scored in the visitor’s half of the fifth — only to see CM respond as Cody Dolan crushed a triple to right and later crossed the dish on an RBI single by right fielder Colten Stover — who earlier in the game tossed a dart from the outfield to catcher McGhee to thwart an IV rally.

Central Mountain didn’t have an answer to the Warriors’ sixth inning.

“I was happy to see these guys get up and get the insurance runs,” Zook said. “You just never know with Central Mountain because they have a nice team. We’ve been up here before, with a nice lead, and you just can’t count them out.”

Heggenstaller, McGhee, Dolan, Stover, James Gallagher and Watkins accounted for the six CM hits, while Keefer finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Hunter Thompson and Pearson also had two hits each for IV.

“We were getting on Pearson, but we just didn’t consistently go through the lineup,” said Kramer as CM left nine runners stranded on base. “We had some guys that had good at-bats in there, but we just weren’t consistent.”

Williamsport, one of the top teams in the CPL, provide another test for the Wildcats, which have three games left before the postseason begins.

“Every time we step on the field, we are definitely getting challenged,” Kramer said. “We have to be on top of our game — both mentally and physically. It all has to come together; all aspects from pitching to fielding to hitting. We are facing some good competition. All you can hope for is you take things out of the game where we can learn and get better.”

Besides W’sport, CM travels to Bellefonte on Monday, and hosts DuBois on Wednesday.



Mountain League Baseball

INDIAN VALLEY 9, CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 3

IV 201 015 0 — 9 11 0

CM 100 110 0 — 3 6 3

IV: Pearson and Eversole. CM: Houser, Harpster (6) and McGhee. WP — Pearson. LP — Houser. 3B: CM, Dolan. 2B: IV, Thompson 2, Keefer, Fultz. CM, McGhee. MH: IV, Keefer 3, Thompson 2, Pearson 2. Record: CM 11-5.