A glance into BEA’s past and present

By KIM MOERSCHBACHER
It’s a holiday season in Wingate.

There’s no turkeys being carved and Frosty the Snowman replicas aren’t being built outside.

Instead, dirt is flying at Doc Etters Memorial Field and the dugouts are full of ballplayers.

The playoffs are here, and business is picking up.

And the Bald Eagle Area Eagles couldn’t be happier.

“This seems really familiar. It seems like it is the same atmosphere playing at home and everything,” BEA’s John Schall said. “It is like a big advantage for us.”

Schall was a starter on last year’s squad that captured a PIAA Class AA championship, a journey that started at the Eagles’ home field.

BEA’s first game of the District VI playoffs one year ago began with an 11-2 victory over Richland.

The score of Monday’s quarterfinal?

That’s right, 11-2.

And the Eagles’ opponent for Thursday’s semifinal matchup?

You guessed it, Richland.

“The kids have really been looking forward to this,” Bald Eagle head coach Jim Gardner said. “The last couple practices we have had, there has been an extra skip in their step and a little more pop in everything they were doing. This is what we work for all year. Now, we are here. We wanted the home-field advantage, and we got it. In the playoffs, that is what you want.”

Even with that, you can’t take anything for granted in the postseason. Every team starts with a seemingly clean slate, and nobody knows that better than the Eagles.

After defeating West Branch 11-1 in 2007’s district semifinal, the Centre County ballclub fell to Philipsburg-Osceola at Blair County Ballpark.

This year, there won’t be another rematch at BCB with the Mounties. P-O fell to Richland Monday, ending the team’s chances for a repeat district title.

As that final score was announced over the loudspeaker during Monday’s game, the Eagles were definitely listening.

“They are always a threat to us, but either way we have that win mentality right now,” Schall said of Philipsburg. “We just have to keep going. We don’t get any breaks and things don’t get any easier.”

While the Eagles were thinking about a postseason rematch with P-O, Richland will certainly be wanting revenge on BEA.

One common theme through last year’s playoffs — both district and state — for BEA was hitting.

The Eagles just brought it on offense.

With the exception of the district final, Gardner’s club had 10 or more hits in every game of the postseason.

That’s 72 base knocks in seven games, equaling 62 runs scored and a whole lot of dirty batting gloves. The opposition managed to score only 31 runs on the Eagles.

Attribute the team’s hot bats to a lineup that was full of talented, hard-hitting ballplayers.

While not all the same kids return to this year’s team — BEA has three back from last year — the bats are still there.

The players and jersey numbers are just a little different.

“I knew we had a good group of athletes coming up from the JV team last year,” Gardner said. “They really stepped up. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, and they’ve exceeded my expectations. These guys have really stepped up, and we are a young ballclub. It’s awesome.

“We feel really good about being here. We lost that game to Tyrone, and that was our only home loss this whole year. It’s great to be here. When a team has to come in from far away like Laurel Valley has, it’s definitely a big advantage for us.”

The Eagles put together a fine outing against the Rams, roping nine hits in the game, including four for extra bases.

Joe Pillot was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, A.J. Robinson hit a long ball and Derek Noll also smacked a triple.

“It seemed like everything came together for us as far as our hitting,” Schall said. “Everyone all throughout the lineup came through for us, and it seemed like everyone was seeing the ball really well.

“I guess you have to think about last year. Everything seems like it is starting out the same, winning here and working our way up. We always kind of guess how many hits we are going to have. Usually, it is between us middle infielders, like Derek Noll and I, but we haven’t done that too much this year.”

It’s always tough to predict what will happen.

If BEA’s bats remain hot, much like they’ve been all year, the Eagles could be headed toward another long postseason.

Hopefully, the weather will be warm like last year instead of the blustery, I-can’t-feel-my-toes atmosphere from Monday.

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Kim Moerschbacher is a sports writer at the The Express. She can be reached at 748-6791, ext. 138, or by e-mail at kim@lockhaven.com.