1967 District Tournament

Bellefonte, Tri-County Advance to Round 2. (1967, July, 19). Centre Daily Times, p22.

Nittany Valley, Mountain Top Lose:

Bellefonte, Tri-County Advance to Round 2

Nittany Valley, Mountain Top Lose:

Bellefonte and Tri-County have advanced to the second round of the District 10 Southern tier Little League playoffs.

Bellefonte, playing at Gill Field in State College, defeated Nittany Valley’s All-Stars, 6-1, last night. Manager Harold Rossman’s team will meet Suburban Little League at HRB-Singer Field tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Tri-County, meanwhile, shaded Mountain Top at Port Matilda in seven innings, 4-3, on a sacrifice fly. Tri-County will invade Pleasant Gap tomorrow for a 6 p.m., second-round game.

In the only other Southern Tier attraction last night Moshannon Valley beat Four-Leaf Clover, 10-8.

Clearfield, Osceola, Philipsburg, Pleasant Gap and Suburban advanced to the second round on byes.

Tomorrow’s other pairings in the Southern Tier will find Clearfield at Osceola and Mo Valley at Philipsburg.

Last night’s Northern Tier results: Punxsutawney beat Reynoldsville, 6-1, DuBois drubbed Brookville, 12-0, and Bradford Nationals downed Fox Township, 6-3.

Tomorrow’s Northern Tier pairings: Punxsutawney at Brockway, DuBois at Curwensville, Smethport at Emporium and Bradford Americans at Bradford Nationals. Brockway, Curwensville, Emporium, Smethport and Bradford American drew byes last night.

Bellefonte collected three hits in the first inning and were never headed as two errors helped boost the score to 2-0. A hit batsman, a double by Mike Watson and Dennis Gibbon’s bloop single made it 3-0 in the third.

A double by Austin Hendershot and a two-run pinch single by Joe Pillott were the key hits in Bellefonte’s three run fifth.

Jerry Leitzell, who had perfect control, decisioned Todd Lundy. Watson and Tom Cable had two hits each.

Leitzell, chunky right-hander, lost his shutout in the sixth on a two-out single by Barry Hoy, a double by Scott Kulp and an error.

Like Rossman said. “Its always good to win that first game.”

Trailing 1-0, Mountain Top scored in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead, thanks to three unearned runs.

Kenny Confer, who played for Matternville during the regular season, doubled home one run in the second, then connected for a two-out , two-run homer in the fourth.

Confer’s double and Tom Brodzina’s one-out sacrifice fly in the seventh gave reliever Brodzina the victory over Dave Gillette.

The box score:

Bellefonte, Gap Win In Playoffs. (1967, July, 21). Centre Daily Times, p14.

Bellefonte, Gap Win In Playoffs

Pleasant Gap will entertain Bellefonte and Moshannon Valley will travel to Clearfield in District 10 Southern Tier Little League All-Star attractions tomorrow.

The Gap, managed by Alton Corl, beat the visiting Tri-County All-Stars last night, 7-3. And at HRB-Singer Field in State College, Bellefonte eliminated Suburban 5-1, on the strength of a grand slam by bob Luther and the stingy pitching of Joe Pillot.

Terry Shank staked Pleasant Gap to an early lead, thanks to a three run home in the first, Tri-County came right back with two runs on a single and Kenny Confer’s second homer in the playoffs.

A four-run explosion in the second clinched the victory for Ray McClure. Richard Stover homered in the fifth for the losers.

With three men on Andy Sefter made one bad pitch to the Bellefonte first baseman and Harold Rossman’s team was en route to its second straight win over a College Area team, Nittany Valley lost to Bellefonte Tuesday, 6-1.

In other Southern Tier results last night Clearfield eliminated Osceola Mills, 6-1, and Moshannon Valley nipped Philipsburg in seven innings, 6-4.

In the only Northern Tier game DuBois shut out Curwensville, 12-0. three other games were rained out and will be played tonight.

The box score:

Mo Valley To Invade Bellefonte. (1967, July, 24). Centre Daily Times, p14.

Mo Valley To Invade Bellefonte

Gap Bows, 5-0

Bellefonte will host Moshannon Valley at Webster Field today at 6 p.m. for the District 10 Southern Tier championship.

Bellefonte advanced to tonight’s game with a 5-0 victory over Pleasant Gap Saturday night. Moshannon Valley shaded Clearfield, 5-4.

In Northern Tier action, defending District 10 champion DuBois downed Punxsutawney, 4-1, and Smethport defeated Bradford American, 7-3. DuBois traveled to Smethport tonight for the Northern Tier crown.

Bob Luther pitched Bellefonte to its third straight victory and complete game. He permitted only one harmless basehit and fanned 11. Gene Shank lined a single to right on the first pitch of the third inning. Shank, however, didn’t get past first as Luther fanned the next three batters. He walked only two – both in fifth inning when Pleasant Gap got its only runner to second.

Manager Harold Rossman’s team broke the contest open with four runs in the third. Bellefonte had three walks and three hits in the inning. The key blast was Monte Whitehill’s two-run single off loser Tim Traxler. Denny Devlin also had an RBI-single.

Bellefonte pitchers have now given up only two runs and nine hits in three games. Earlier last week, Bellefonte downed Nittany Valley, 6-1 and Suburban, 5-1. Moshannon Valley has beaten Four Leaf (10-8), Philipsburg (6-4) and Clearfield in tourney action thus far.

Bellefonte last played in the Southern Tier championship in 1965. That year it lost to Clearfield 2-1 in 10 innings at Webster Field.

The District 10 championship game will be played Wednesday at a site to be determined after tonight’s games.

The box score:

District Title Game at Clearfield. (1967, July, 26). Centre Daily Times, p26. 

District Title Game at Clearfield

District Title Game at Clearfield

The District 10 Little League championship will be on the line when Bellefonte meets DuBois, defending titlist, at Kurtz Field in Clearfield today. The first pitch will be thrown at 6 p.m.

Bellefonte captured the Southern Tier crown by beating Moshannon Valley at Webster Field in Bellefonte last night, 4-0. A four-run first inning made the difference.

Meanwhile, DuBois advanced to the finals by eliminating Smethport, 6-3, last night.

Bellefonte fans are hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself at Clearfield tonight. In 1959 at neutral Kurtz Field DuBois scored once in the seventh to beat Bellefonte’s All-Star team, then piloted by Woody Johnson, 3-2.

Bellefonte, managed by Harold Rossman, never was in trouble after Joe Pillot escaped a bases-loaded situation in the first inning. The Centre County entry, which demonstrated outstanding teamwork en route to four playoff victories, scored in the first on a walk to Todd Cable, a single by Monte Whitehill, and infield out by Denny Devlin, a two-run homer by Bob Luther to left center, a walk, a double by Dennis Gibbons and a sacrifice fly by Austin Hendershot.

Mo Valley threatened in the fourth after Pillot retired seven in a row but the tall right-hander bore down and left two men on base.

Bellefonte has yielded only two-runs in beating Nittany Valley (6-1), Suburban (5-1), Pleasant Gap (5-0) and Moshannon Valley.

Dubios reached the finals by downing Brookville (12-0), Curwensville (12-0), Punxsy (4-1) and Smethport. The win over Curwensville included a no-hitter.

In case of rain the game will be staged at Clearfield tomorrow night.

Inter-district play will start Saturday night. The Bellefonte Dubios survivor will travel to Howard Lamade Field in South Williamsport to take on the District 12 representative.

Jersey Shore downed Mill Hall last night 5-0, to win Area 2 honors. Brandon faced Newberry for the Area 1 title last night and Newberry won the game 2-1. Jersey Shore and Newberry will square off for the District 12 crown at Lamade Field tomorrow night.

The box score:

Bellefonte Bows, 7-1, To DuBois. (1967, July, 27). Centre Daily Times, p18.

Bellefonte Bows, 7-1, To DuBois

Bellefonte’s Little League All-Star team reached the end of the trail last night.

DuBois, taking advantage of a six-run rally in the sixth inning, defeated Bellefonte to win the District 10 title at Kurtz Field in Clearfield, 7-1.

DuBois, which won the crown in 1965, will now play the winner of tonight’s District 12 championship game between Jersey Shore and Newberry at Howard J. Lamade Field in south Williamsport Saturday afternoon.

Bellefonte, which lost to DuBois in a similar situation at Kurtz Field in 1959, tied the score in the third after a home run by Duane Fossler had given the Norther Tier champs a 1-0 lead in the first.

In the third Jerry Leitzell walked, Todd Cable forced Leitzell at second, then moved to second on a wild pitch, Monte Whitehill beat out an infield hit, and while the right half of the DuBois infield argued the call, Cable darted home with the tying run.

In the sixth DuBois took advantage of several Bellefonte errors to clinch its fifth straight playoff win.

With runners at the corners grounder was hit to short-stop Denny Gibbons. Attempting to nail Randy Hagen at the plate, Gibbons had the right idea but the ball hit the DuBois player running between second and third on the helmet. The ball bounced over the Bellefonte dugout and two runs scored. Another single, a two-run double by Randy Divins and a two-run error proved to be Bellefonte’s downfall.

Fossler allowed just two hits and struck out 11. Leitzell developed a blister on his finger and gave way to Bob Luther in the fifth. Luther the losing pitcher, was relieved by Gary McClure.

The box score: