Hollidaysburg baseball builds on early-season greatness against Bald Eagle Area

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — Spring is in the air, well, not in Centre County as a windy Tuesday afternoon set the stage for Bald Eagle Area (1-3) to take on Hollidaysburg (2-0).

The Golden Tigers cruised to a 10-4 victory over the Eagles with a five-inning shutout to start the game and four multi-run innings.

The top of the lineup got going for the home team with Josh Banks and Brady Steiner hitting singles to get on the basepaths. Another single and groundout brought them across home plate for Hollidaysburg to build an early 2-0 lead.

In the third, EJ Ulery sent a missile over the center fielder's head that bounced off the wall to tally two more runs on the board. Ulery walked home after the Eagles mishandled a dribbler in the infield to make it three.

Starting pitcher Vince Boland continued to deal in the top of the fourth with two more strikeouts, bringing his total to four on the day.

The bottom of the frame saw more of the same from Hollidaysburg’s offense that produced two runs off a double, two errors and two stolen bases.

Down 7-0 through five full innings, Bald Eagle Area’s bats woke up to end the shutout.

Three consecutive hits in the heart of the lineup drove in Teagun Runkle and Wyatt Spackman to cut the deficit down to five. The inning came to a close with a sweet double play by Banks, Steiner and D Miller.

The Golden Tigers wasted no time responding as Jay Albarano lined a ball into center field that got by a defender and rolled to the corner. Two runners scored while Albarano sprinted across the diamond for a two-RBI triple.

Bald Eagle Area didn’t go down easily in its final three outs. Hayden Stimer, Connor Berry and Brayden Dubbs tacked on three more hits and two more runs before striking out to close the stat sheets.

Albarano was the star hitter of the evening for Hollidaysburg, going two-for-three with a single, triple, two runs and RBIs. Starting pitcher Boland went over five innings, allowed two runs and struck out four batters.

With the 10-4 win, the Golden Tigers head off for their first road test of the year against Philipsburg-Osceola. The Eagles drop their third game in a row and will face a tough opponent in Huntingdon. Opening pitch for both games is set for 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Micheal Bolger is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bolgerpm1@gmail.com.