MILL HALL – The Wildcats both survived and advanced during Monday’s PIAA class 5A playoff game against Hollidaysburg.

Despite mustering just three hits and allowing two runs in the first inning, Central Mountain managed to defeat the Golden Tigers, 5-2, to move on to Friday’s district title game against DuBois.

It’s the fourth straight district championship appearance for the blue and white.

“We capitalized on free passes. We took advantage of the freebie war, we executed a safety-squeeze and Aaron Miller came up big with a double. I felt very good that we were executing and playing clean–which is a good step into the next game in the playoffs,” Wildcats coach Mike Kramer stated after his team picked up win No. 16 on the season.

The Golden Tigers struck first in the playoff opener. Hollidaysburg pushed two runs across in the top part of the first inning as its first three batters of the game tallied hits. Following a single from Joe Bukosky–who went 2 for 3 in the loss–and a double by Matt Smith, Landon Perry made the game 2-0 in favor of the away team.

It was an outstanding start for the four-win Golden Tigers. The issue was Central Mountain pitcher Chase Brush managed to settle in and allow just three more hits the rest of the way out as the right-handed junior hurler collected the win.

Brush struck out nine as he earned the complete game victory.

“The first inning he wasn’t powering through his pitches, he was just easing on them,” Kramer said about Brush’s performance Monday. “We talked to him about powering through them and getting an easy break and he came out in the second and was a totally different pitcher, he was in command. It was great to see him respond after a tough first inning.”

The Central Mountain lineup had Brush’s back. The Wildcats were only able to piece together three hits but some small ball helped them book their ticket to the finals. Kevin Greninger, Cayde McCloskey and Aaron Miller were the lone batters to piece together hits. Miller’s double in the fourth helped increase the Wildcat lead to two.

“I feel very confident with this group of players, we just have to continue that and build from today and get better tomorrow. We just have to play one game at a time. We have to just come out and play our game, I feel very good with our chances,” Kramer said.

Hollidaysburg got a solid performance out of starting pitcher Carson Kensinger. The hard-throwing lefty went four innings on the bump and registered four K’s along the way. After an injury filled month, the Golden Tigers ended their season with 10 straight losses.

“We had four guys out hurt for the better part of the month and we got all of them back. Our lineup is totally different when those guys were there. We were 4-4 when they got hurt and had a bunch of young guys playing who normally wouldn’t play,” Hollidaysburg coach Jon Szynal said. “They were a little rusty but hit the ball pretty well. We outhit them six to three and just had a rough first inning there. We’ll just regroup. Central Mountain’s always a good team and they made plays in the field.”

Szynal got a glimpse of what he has to look forward to next year as the likes of Kensinger, Bukosky, Bradey Michaels and Matt Smith shined in the loss. All four will be back next spring.

“I think the young guys gained a lot of experience for next year. It was our first year in the Mountain League and I told them ‘You have to compete every day in the league.’ I think they learned to compete at a high level, you have to come every day ready to go. We have a lot to look forward to,” he said.

Hollidaysburg 200 000 0–2 6 1

Central Mountain 300 101 X–5 3 0

Hollidaysburg top hitters: Joe Bukosky 2-3; Matt Smith 1-3, 2B; Bradey Michaels 1-3, 2B.

Central Mountain top hitters: Nate Helms 1-2; Cayde McCloskey 1-2; Aaron Miller 1-2, 2B.

W- Chase Brush. L- Carson Kensinger

Records: Hollidaysburg 4-14, Central Mountain 16-5