Dragons' Struggles Continue in Baseball

It turned out to be another tough week for the Central Dragon baseball team. The Dragons fell to Bellwood-Antis in a non-league game before losing to both Bald Eagle Area and Bellefonte in Mountain League action.

B-A 6, CHS 3

Central got solid pitching and defense for five of the seven innings against homestanding Bellwood on April 22, but the Blue Devils scored three times in both the third and sixth innings to win 6-3. Freshman Paxton Kling had two hits for the Dragons but no other player was able to get multiple safeties.

BEA 9, CHS 5

The Dragons traveled to Wingate to battle Bald Eagle Area (2-6) on Tuesday, played just one inning due to rain, then returned on Wednesday to complete the game. Central led 5-3 after four innings, but BEA scored four times in the fifth and added another pair in the sixth to win the game 9-5. Bald Eagle had a 12-8 advantage in total hits.

Noah Muthler paced the offense win a three-hit performance, while Paxton Kling added two hits and two RBIs. Jason Ferry and Casey Walters were each credited with runs batted in also. Dylan Focht started for the Dragons with Ferry and Lleyton Kling throwing in relief. The three hurlers combined for three strikeouts and four walks, with Ferry being stuck with the loss.

Bellefonte 12, CHS 2

On April 25, Bellefonte visited Central and departed with a 12-2 victory. The Red Raiders raised their record to 7-3 while Central fell to 7-8 on the season. The Dragons took an early 2-1 advantage before Bellefonte scored four times in the fourth and added six in the sixth.

Noah Muthler had two of the six Dragon singles in the game. Muthler and Casey Walters drove home the Dragon runs. Dylan Focht took the loss for Central, striking out four and issuing two free passes. Devon Boyles threw in relief, striking out one Red Raider and walking a pair.

“It’s been a rough stretch the last three weeks,” Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. “We just haven’t been able to string together enough good at-bats to generate runs. It’s put a lot of pressure on our pitchers. We emphasize eliminating big innings. but we allowed all three opponents to score in bunches and it was too much for our offense to overcome.”