CENTRE COUNTY — The Spike Island Pirates are looking for two in a row.
They completed their 3-0 semifinal series win over Blanchard on Tuesday, July 22, in Philipsburg with a tense, 5-4 victory over the Bees.
The Pirates will face off against old rival Howard, a 3-0 series victor over Spring Mills. The Hawks closed out that series with a 14-8 victory on Tuesday, July 22, in Howard.
Here is a closer look at each series:
SPIKE ISLAND SCORED THREE LATE RUNS IN ITS SERIES-ENDING, 5-4 WIN OVER BLANCHARD
The Pirates, down 4-2 in the fourth inning of Game 3 in the series with Blanchard, scored three runs in the next two innings to take a 5-4 win over the Bees.
Jake DeSimone singled in Denny Prestash in the fourth to draw Spike Island to within a run at 4-3, and then Prestash hit a two-run double in the fifth that put the Pirates ahead 5-4.
From there, Zac Tiracorda took over on the mound for starter Hunter Rumsky and pitched two shutout innings that gave him a save and his team a trip to the CCBL Finals.
The Bees had taken the early lead in the game on an RBI by Asher Corl and a home run by Cayde McCloskey.
The Bees increased their lead to 4-1 in the top of the third inning on RBI hits by Aaron Miller and Tayten Yoder.
That would be all Blanchard would get, however, as Rumsky and Tiracorda did not allow another run.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Pirates began their comeback on an RBI single by McGwire Heverly that made it 4-2.
One inning later, Prestash opened with a double and one out later DeSimone singled to center field and drove in Prestash.
Then in the fifth, after a walk and a hit batter, Prestash came up with two outs and smashed a double to right field that scored Carson Jones and Jeremy Whitehead.
The Bees did put a runner in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Tiracorda pitched out of both situations without any damage.
In the seventh, Payton Johnson opened the inning with a double to right field, putting the tying run on second base with no outs.
But Tiracorda bore down and got a pop out and then two strikeouts to end the game.
The Pirates collected nine hits altogether in the game with Prestash, Ike Tiracorda and Ryan Kephart each getting two, while Prestash and Heverly both knocked in two runs.
Zac Tiracorda finished the game on the mound with two innings pitched, no runs, two hits and three strikeouts.
After taking the series, the Pirates will now face either the Hawks or Braves in the 2025 CCBL Finals.
HOWARD STEPS UP IN ITS 3-0 SERIES WIN OVER SPRING MILLS IN THEIR CCBL SEMIFINAL SERIES
The Howard Hawks are in the CCBL Finals.
After running through the regular season with just one loss, the Hawks muscled through Spring Mills in the Semifinals and will now take on defending CCBl champs Spike Island in the Finals.
The Hawks went into the game on Tuesday, July 22, with a 2-0 over Spring Mills in the series and quickly sprung ahead with five runs in the first two innings and then another five in the fourth inning to take a 10-5 lead.
Spring Mills was able to stay competitive through the first four innings, but Howard kept on the gas and added another three runs in the fifth.
Another run in the sixth completed the scoring as the Hawks finished off the series with a 14-8 victory.
The victory finished the 3-0 sweep for Howard in the five-game series.
In Game 1 at Howard , July 17, the Hawks scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning in what turned out to be an 11-1, five-inning win over Spring Mills.
Howard’s rally was capped with a two-run double by Kaden Burns that scored Alex Gavlock and Parker Quick with the ninth and 10th runs on the night.
One out later, the winning run scored on a Braves’ error and the Hawks had a 1-0 series lead.
Burns had two doubles and three RBIs in the game, while Gavlock also had one and Bryce Greene had another.
On Sunday, July 20, the Hawks made it 2-0 with a 5-2 win in Spring Mills.
The Hawks scored a run in the first inning and then two more in the third on hits by Kaden Burns, Gavin Burns and Bryan Greene.
In the fourth inning, Logan Bernier made it 4-0 with an RBI single, and then Bryce Greene knocked in the final run with a single in the top of the seventh.
The Braves did challenge with two runs in the seventh inning three hits, but winning pitcher Dylan Womer was able to put down the rally.
With the series now over, the Hawks will host the Spike Island Pirates in the CCBL Finals on Thursday, July 24, in Howard.
The series pits the defending champion Pirates against 2025’s regular-season champions in what shapes up to be a memorable matchup between two accomplished and highly motivated teams.
