Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg's Josh Banks is greeted by Cayden Gibbons after tagging up from third to score on a Jay Albarano sacrifice fly.

Hollidaysburg’s baseball team had its best season in school history last year, and a pair of players who played a role in the Golden Tigers’ run to the PIAA Class 5A championship game had a pretty special night Friday at PNG Field.

Vince Boland, who got the final out in last year’s PIAA semifinal win, turned in 5 2/3 innings of solid work on the mound and his catcher, Cayden Gibbons, blasted his second home run in as many years at the Altoona Curve’s field to lift Hollidaysburg to a 6-3 win over Tyrone in the Curve Classic quarterfinals.

“They have a good hitting team,” Hollidaysburg coach Jon Szynal said. “Vince is a bulldog. He gets ahead most of the time on the hitters and keeps the ball down for the most part. He puts pressure on them, and he did a great job again.”

Boland struck out eight and limited traffic on the bases for the most part.

He came to the mound with a 2-0 lead after Josh Banks led off the game with a triple and Jay Albarano brought him home on a sacrifice fly. Gibbons singled, went to second when E.J. Ulery walked and scored on Robbie Mullin’s RBI hit.

“With the conditions the way they were, I thought we played a clean game for the most part,” Szynal said. “We scored some runs when we needed it and got some defensive plays when we needed it.”

Tyrone got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Ashton Walk singled and scored on Landon Hamer’s double off the wall. The Golden Eagles tied the game briefly in the third inning on Conner McClure’s RBI single.

But Hollidaysburg bounced right back in the top of the fourth after Cole Hartman singled, Gavin Bell walked and both scored when Ty Szynal laid down a sacrifice bunt and the throw to first got away. Szynal finished 2-for-2 and reached base four times.

Tyrone has lost four in a row and coach Kevin Soellner was asked what the Golden Eagles need to do to turn things around.

“That’s a good question,” Soellner said. “If I knew the answer, I would be the coach of the year. It’s there. You can tell that it’s there, but we just kill ourselves like the error with the pitcher where he turned the wrong way which leads to a throw away. We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Gibbons hit a solo blast to lead off the top of the seventh inning and make it 6-2.

“You can see the ball really well here,” Gibbons said. “It’s a great environment to play in. It feels great, but it feels great when you can get a barrel on a ball anywhere really.”

Coach Szynal said his catcher possesses the ability to provide his team pop throughout the season.

“He has the power,” Szynal said. “He’s the power guy on the team. When he gets himself in the right frame of mind and waits for a good pitch to hit, he has a lot of power. He hit that well.”

Tyrone got off to a promising start in the bottom of the seventh inning when Walk walked and went to second on a wild pitch, but he was thrown out at home on Hamer’s single.

“That’s on me,” Soellner said. “You need four there, you can’t send him.”

Hollidaysburg picked off a courtesy runner at first to end the game.

“I’m not sure I have ever seen a guy thrown out at home and a guy picked off at first in the last inning,” Szynal said. “We’ll take it. Overall, I thought it was a good game.”

The Golden Eagles, who got two hits each from Hamer, Owen Oakes and Lincoln Shirey, play Portage at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the consolation round.

“Hollidaysburg and Central are really good,” Soellner said. “But I think every coach thinks if you do the right things you can control what happens. I definitely believe that with this team. If we hustled a little harder, which I don’t think we have hustled as hard as we should, we would be better. We’ll pull it together.”

Hollidaysburg will take on Altoona in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“We have a really good group of guys,” Gibbons said. “We’re going to fight no matter what or who we are up against.”

HOLLIDAYSBURG (6): Banks 2b 412, Steiner ss-p 400, Albarano 3b 300, Gibbons c 422, Boland p 000, Mierley ss 000, Ulery dh 200, Mullin lf 301, Hartman 1b 412, Bell rf 120, Szynal cf 202. Totals — 22-6-9.

TYRONE (3): Walk ss 311, Parsons cf 310, Hamer c 312, Frye cr 000, Ewing p 000, Stroup p 000, Seeger p 000, Oakes dh 402, C. McClure 1b 301, Zupon 3b 301, B. McClure 2b 200, Jones ph 101, Shirey lf 302, Miller rf 300. Totals — 28-3-10.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Hollidaysburg 200 201 1– 6 9 0

Tyrone 101 000 1– 3 10 2

E–Miller, Ewing. 2B–Szynal, Hamer. 3B–Banks. HR–Gibbons. RBI–Albarano, Gibbons, Mullin, Oakes, C. McClure. WP–Boland. LP–Ewing. SO–Boland 8, Ewing 7. BB–Boland 2, Steiner 1, Ewing 4, Seeger 2, Stroup 1.

Records: Tyrone (5-4); Hollidaysburg (5-1).

Altoona cruises

Gavin Albright threw a six-inning, three-hit shutout to lead Altoona to a 10-0 victory over Portage in the Curve Classic quarterfinals at PNG Field.

“He gave us exactly what we needed going into a tournament,” Altoona coach Tom Smith said. “It was a really nice job that he did.”

Will Sankey, Nick Kraft and Tanner Stroup each had two hits for the Mountain Lions.

“It was good to score some runs,” Smith said. “It was good to be out here playing a game to be honest. Most of us are in the same boat where we have played one game in like 10 days. Just to get out here and play is the biggest thing. It’s a letdown going to practice every day and not playing a game. I think all the teams are just happy to get out here and play.”

Trae Kargo had two of Portage’s three hits.

PORTAGE (0): Slanoc cf 300, Kargo p 302, McCoy ss 300, Irvin 3b 200, Klein 1b 200, Lawrence lf 200, Kick 2b 201, Ciokota c 200, Gathers rf 200. Totals — 21-0-3.

ALTOONA (10): LaRocco 3b 220, Smearman ss 231, Stroup cf 222, Kraft c 312, Staines 1b 300, Speece 1b 000, McAllister 2b 301, Boslet ph 100, Albright p 301, Pike rf 200, Gibson ph 100, Sankey lf 322. Totals — 25-10-9.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Portage 000 000 X– 0 3 3

Altoona 103 204 X–10 9 3

E–LaRocco 2, Albright, Ciokota 2, McCoy. 2B–Smearman, Sankey. RBI–Smearman 2, Stroup 2, Kraft 2, McAllister 2, Speece. WP–Albright. LP–Kargo. SO–Albright 8, Kargo 2, McCoy 1, Irvin 1, Strittmatter 1. BB–Kargo 2, Strittmatter 2, Slanoc 2.

Records: Portage (2-5); Altoona (4-2).