TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain’s Austin Frank (11) high fives a coach after getting to base during Saturday’s Happy Valley Hardball Classic vs. State College at Medlar Field. The Wildcats won 6-5 in eight innings.

Come-from-behind, walk-off, and extra inning wins were the story for both the Central Mountain baseball and softball teams last week. Some solid individual performances were turned in along the way on the diamonds, as well as the track.

Let’s recap the action from what was an exciting week of sports at CM.

After pounding Shikellamy to the tune of 13-1 on Tuesday, the softball team would find their work a bit more challenging in back-to-back home games on Thursday and Friday.

In the Shik contest, the Lady Cats pounded out 15 hits as Cirstyn Watson, Camdyn Weaver, and Elise McKean each collected three while Aubrey Eiler and Mallory Wunder collected two apiece. Pitching duties were handled by Wunder and Weaver, who shut down the Braves offense.

On Thursday, in their home opener, the Wildcats found themselves down two heading into the bottom of the seventh before rallying to tie it up at 4-4 on a two-out, two-run single by Wunder to send it into extra innings. The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when Camdyn Weaver – who went the distance in the circle CM – walked it off with a solo shot to center that gave CM a thrilling 5-4 win.

An exciting finish was in the works on Friday as well as the Cats hosted Mifflin County. Trailing 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, they tied the score before a bases-loaded, no-outs single from Aubrey Miller provided the second straight exciting win for CM.

Coach Taylor Thompson had this to say of the resiliency that her team displayed in their back-to-back walk-off wins:

“The girls have definitely had to battle this week,” said Thompson.

“They really had to dig deep offensively and defensively, and they showed that they could absolutely battle back. Hoping we don’t have to do that too many more times but it’s reassuring to know they have the grit to do it.”

The Wildcat Baseball team has struggled to find much offense yet this season. However, they have been very opportunistic when given opportunities to pick up wins. They sure did that last week as they came up with three come-from-behind wins, two of which were won in their final at bats.

On Monday in their home opener against Selinsgrove, the Cats led 4-1 heading into the seventh behind solid pitching from Aiden Jones. The Wildcats surrendered three runs before scratching across a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh to secure a narrow 5-4 win.

The Wildcats collected seven hits in the contest with Watt Probst leading the way with two hits and a walk. Austin Andrus had the game winner with an RBI double to walk it off. Darius Shade picked up the victory in relief on the mound for the Cats.

On Friday, hosting their second league foe of the week, Shikellamy. The two teams locked up in a pitcher’s duel that saw each team manage just three hits apiece.

For CM, it was the mound work of senior standout Blake Walker – who went the distance – and his battery mate, Watt Probst, who delivered a clutch two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning that propelled the Wildcats to their third win of the season as they won by a 2-1 score.

CM finished a busy week on Saturday afternoon as they squared off against State College High at Medlar Field in the Happy Valley Hardball Classic.

The Wildcats fell behind 5-1 in the fourth before once again rallying to send the game into extra innings. They won it on a throwing error that allowed the winning run to score for the Wildcats, as they secured their third come from behind win of the week, 6-5, to start 4-1.

Coach Mike Kramer had this to say about his team’s 3-0 week:

“We are being battle tested in the early part of the season,” said Kramer. “One run games seem to be the norm. The players have been showing they stay calm in these close games. The resilience will help as we continue in the season. I’m still waiting for all the bats to break out and string hits together.”

The track and field teams had just one meet last week as they hosted Selinsgrove in Mill Hall on Wednesday. Selinsgrove easily won both the boys and girls meets despite a few solid individual performances from several CM athletes.

Macia Owens had a very solid day for the ladies as she captured the top spots in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles. Other first-place finishes for the CM girls came from Grace Keohane in the 400-meter dash and Zaylie Warren in the high jump. The CM ladies also took the 1,600-meter relay.

Multiple second-place finishes were earned as well, including Sarah Hall in the 100, Emma Wolfe in the 3,200, Hall in the 300-meter hurdles, Harper Conklin in the pole vault and finally, Sophia Hoy in the long jump.

Josiah Allert was the lone CM first-place finisher in the boys meet as he took the high jump. Brayden Stahl captured two second-place finishes in the long and triple jumps while Ethan Sheltler (javelin) and Wyatt Heeman (200) also took second.

Despite the struggles of the team thus far, head coach Scott Bair pointed to the positives as he said of his athletes:

“They continue to improve each week with many PRs in the first two meets,” said Bair. “They are competing with confidence, supporting each other and stepping up to help the team when needed.”

He is also encouraged by a great group of freshmen that are making an early impact.

On the courts, it was a tough week for the Wildcat netters, as they went 0-4 while playing three of those contests without No. 1 singles player Joey McCluskey.

With McCluskey on Tuesday against Williamsport, the Wildcats were able to take the first two singles matchups behind McCluskey and Tim Brinker but were unable to come up with another point despite the No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles matches going to three sets.

On Thursday in a rare double-header against Jersey Shore, CM was unable to win a match and dropped both contests by identical 5-0 scores. On Friday, as they hosted Milton, the Wildcats got wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 singles slots from Brayden Spedding and Ben Brinker respectively but were once again unable to find a third point, falling 3-2.

Coach Brinker will certainly continue to look for growth from his young squad as they traverse the season.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Two ladies shined bright last week. On the track, Sophomore Macia Owens displayed talent as she captured both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles in her lone meet for the week. On the diamond, it was junior Camdyn Weaver who both slugged at the plate and demonstrated a warrior mentality in the circle, helping lead her team to three wins. Blake Walker with his complete game gem earns an honorable mention.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Both the baseball and softball teams displayed tremendous grittiness and resiliency as they came from behind in 5 of 6 combined games. Thus, they share this week’s honor.

FORMER CM ATHLETES ON CAMPUS

Cayde McCloskey is one of a handful of former Wildcats on the LHU Baseball roster. On Wednesday against Kutztown, he collected four hits in five at-bats while driving in five runs for the Bald Eagles. For the season, McCloskey is 16-48 at the plate (.333 batting average), and he’s also driven in ten runs.

Cora Myers is a freshman on the Grove City College softball team. For the season, Cora is hitting 23-65 (.354 batting average) while knocking in 20 runs. She has also slugged seven doubles, two triples and a homer.

LOOKING AHEAD

There is a very busy week on tap for the CM teams. The baseball team heads to Jersey Shore today and Shamokin on Wednesday before hosting non-league opponent, Punxsutawney on Friday. The tennis team will be active including hosting a quad meet at the Gibson Courts on Friday. The track teams will be in Shamokin on Tuesday and will then compete in the LHU Bald Eagle Invitational on Friday. Finally, the softball team hosts Williamsport and Selinsgrove today and tomorrow respectively before competing in the Bellefonte tournament on Saturday. Get out and support your favorite Wildcat athletes and teams. Go Cats and Lady Cats!