Pat Rothdeutsch

The Penn State football team held its annual Media Day on Aug. 4 at Beaver Stadium, but anyone looking for earth-shattering news or major surprises would have been disappointed.

Being that we are in the calm-before-the-storm period before all the high school football teams commence play this fall, it’s a good time to check out how the playoff system in Pennsylvania will change beginning in 2016.

It wasn’t the offensive onslaught the Clarence Mounties were used to, but it was enough. Enough to prevail 5-1 against the very game Howard Hawks and bring home their second Centre County Baseball League championship in three years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were that close last year. Even though quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played with a sore shoulder and was just back from a major injury, the Steelers took the eventual champion Denver Broncos to the wire.

The Howard Hawks may have given up every bit of momentum and their seeming vice-grip on the County League semifinals when Philipsburg won the fourth game of the series, but all was not lost.

If it’s Lift for Life and Lasch Bash weekend at Penn State, then training camp can’t be far behind.

The first time Clearfield met BEA in the District 5 11-12 Little League Tournament this year, it had to struggle back from a five-run deficit and barely survived with an 8-7 victory.

The Philipsburg Spike Island Pirates seemingly have it all going for them in their Centre County League first-round matchup against the Clarence Coyotes.

The players who took the field for the Philipsburg Spike Island Pirates on July 3 at Howard were far from the seasoned veterans that County League Baseball fans are accustomed to seeing.