Penn Cambria faced the daunting task of going up against a senior-laden Bellefonte baseball team that is battle tested from Mountain League play in the District 6 Class 4A championship game Tuesday at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
For five innings, the Panthers were right there, but a big sixth inning helped the Raiders pull away and capture another district title, 12-3. Bellefonte will play the third seed from District 3 on Monday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. Penn Cambria ended its season at 7-11.
“They have nothing to be ashamed of and should keep their heads held high,” Penn Cambria coach James Poldiak said. “They competed. Bellefonte just got hot for two innings. They put the ball in play, and we couldn’t come up with hits and kept hitting it right at them. They found holes, but I thought (Penn Cambria starting pitcher) Vinny (Chirdon) threw a heck of a game. We went back and forth until they had that big inning. Hitting is contagious, and they got hot.”
