HUNTINGDON - It took seven innings for Mifflin County's offense to turn things around Monday against Huntingdon. But once it did, it was all over.
The Huskies were down 4-0 after the fourth inning before scoring one in each the fifth and the sixth innings. Then, Mifflin County scored nine in the final inning en route to an 11-4 win over the Bearcats.
"The pitcher's pitch count was getting up there in the seventh," Mifflin County coach Travis Zook said. "We started stringing hits together and putting the ball on the ground."
Ted Wilson, who hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, led the seventh off with a double before Trevor Peachey followed with a single. From there, the Huskies strung together some hits and chased a few Bearcat pitchers in the process.
"It was a combination of things," Zook said. "They went through a few pitchers and I'm not sure why it took so long."
Evan Pupo got the win for the Huskies and picked up two hits and a pair of RBIs in the process. Chris Wilson and Dalton Long also had a pair of hits.
"We popped up the majority of our outs early on," Zook said. "Their pitcher did a great job of keeping us off the balance."
The Huskies beat Huntingdon in tgheir JV game, 17-7.
Mifflin County (2-0) travels to Central Friday.
Baseball
Philipsburg-Osceola 13, Juniata 3 (5 innings)
PHILIPSBURG - The Juniata baseball team started its season by snapping a season's long losing streak Friday against Huntingdon.
Against Philipsburg-Osceola Monday, the Indians were unable to get going offensively in a 13-3 loss that ended after five innings.
The Indians cut the lead to 5-3 and had the bases loaded and were one hit from taking the lead. Coach Nick Beward said that the outcome does not reflect how his team played.
"That score was a little bit deceiving," he said. "After that point it changed the layout of the game. We were one hit away from tying that things up."
Dakota Zook was 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead Juniata.
"The one thing that did get us tonight was our errors," Beward said. "If we can get rid of two or three of those we probably play longer than five innings."
Juniata (1-1, 1-1) hosts Central Wednesday.
Millersburg 6, East Juniata 3
MILLERSBURG - East Juniata was looking good one half inning through its first game of the season. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the offense went cold.
East Juniata scored three runs over the first two innings but could not keep the offense going in a 6-3 loss to Millersburg in Tri-Valley League baseball action Monday.
Zak Plesce took the loss for the Tigers after getting himself into some trouble with his control.
"Zak pitched a descent game," East Juniata coach Tim Brubaker said. "He got himself in trouble with his walks."
Bailey Coder hit a solo shot for the Tigers in the loss and Jesse Watts added a double and an RBI.
"We came out and we jumped up on them with two runs," Brubaker said. "With it being the first game we were unsure how our hitters would respond."
East Juniata (0-1, 0-1) travels to Halifax Thursday.
Tri-Valley 10, Midd-West 0 (5 inn.)
BEAVER SPRINGS - A three-run double and an RBI home run did in Midd-West in its delayed baseball opener, as the Mustangs fell in a non-league game, 10-0, to Tri-Valley in five innings.
With Saturday's postponed opener against Heartland Conference rival Mifflinburg moved to today, Midd-West coach Ron Flood said the team will have to try and regroup.
"We're down a couple pitchers. You go with what you got," he said. "I tried to keep two back for the league game and see what happens."
Line Mountain 12, Greenwood 1 (5 inn.)
MANDATA - Zach McCoy's double was the offensive highlight for Greenwood as the Wildcats dropped a 12-1 Tri-Valley League baseball game to Line Mountain Monday.
McCoy also took the loss on the hill. Greenwood (0-1, 0-1) hosts Upper Dauphin Thursday.
Softball
East Juniata 8, Millersburg 6
COCOLAMUS - Meisha Heintzelman went 2-for-3 with a triple while Lisa Benner and Lauren Maguire both doubled among multiple hits as East Juniata held off Millersburg 8-6 in Tri-Valley League softball Monday.
Tigers coach Joe Schilling said both teams left plenty behind as well, with Millersburg twice being held when the bases were loaded. He said the hitting was hard, and so was the ground.
"We tried to lay down a bunt, it would go to shortstop or second base," he said. "They just had some little dinky hits over the infield."
East Juniata (1-0, 1-0) hosts Juniata today.
Mount Union 12, Altoona 6
ALTOONA - Mount Union softball team continued its offensive surge to open the 2012 season. The Trojans pounded out 19 hits in a 12-6 win over Altoona Monday.
Mount Union's Megan Shugarts ripped four hits including a double and an RBI. Taylor Miles had three hits and a pair of RBIs to lead the way.
"We stared off a little slow then we really got going," Mount Union coach Matt Fiscus said. "We pitched pretty well and we always hit up and down the lineup.
"Megan was great tonight and we just played pretty well on a real cold night against a quad-A team."
Mount Union (2-0) hosts West Branch today.
Greenwood 11, Line Mountain 1 (5 inn.)
MILLERSTOWN - Jess Heichel only struck out two, but she forced Line Mountain to hit playable balls, plus drove in three runs in Greenwood's 11-1, five-inning win over Line Mountain in Tri-Valley League softball Monday.
"The beginning of our order did a really nice job setting the table and the girls took advantage of it when there were runners on," Greenwood coach Troy Gantt said.
Salene Shaffer was 4-for-4 at the plate. Brittany Fleisher and Katie Osborne each had two hits and two RBIs.
Greenwood (1-0, 1-0) travels to Upper Dauphin Thursday.
