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BELLEFONTE -- Last summer, the Mifflin County 13-year-olds had trouble scoring against Altoona. Mifflin County played Altoona twice last year losing 5-0 in the state tournament and 10-0 in the regional.
In two games this year, the Mifflin County 14-year-olds have scored 19 times including a 10-8 victory Monday at the Pennsylvania Babe Ruth 14-year-old state tournament.
The win on Monday propelled Mifflin County into the state finals against Broomall-Newtown. This marks the 52nd time a Mifflin County team has made a state final. That number is a state record. Also, Mifflin County made it into the state's final four for the 87th time, also a Pennsylvania Babe Ruth record.
The game was back and forth with Mifflin County having two big innings to get the win.
Mifflin County, the visitors, went ahead 1-0 in the first on Coltin Aumiller's RBI double. Altoona came right back with two runs.
In the second, Mifflin County scored three times on two walks, a wild pitch, an error and a base hit from Camden Kauffman. Mifflin County could have scored a few more runs in the opening innings, but lost two runners on the base paths.
"We lost some focus on the base paths in the early part of the game," said Nick Wolfkiel, the Mifflin County manager.
Leading 4-2, Altoona cut the margin to a run by scoring a run in the second. Then in the third Altoona tied the game, 4-4.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Mifflin County exploded for six runs. Gatlin Kauffman started the inning with an infield hit. Aumiller followed with his second home run of the tourney as he lifted a towering drive over the right-field fence.
Aumiller is just the second 14-year-old to have hit more than one run in the postseason. In 2000, Chris Reed hit three homers, two one in one game, as a 14-year-old.
After the Aumiller home run came double trouble for Altoona. Liam Shaffer, Derek Wert and Jude Zook hit back-to-back-to-back doubles. The three base hits netted two more runs and then Noah Wolfkiel and Luke Shawver drew walks. After the second out of the inning was recorded, Kooper Walters and Gatlin Kauffman had back-to-back RBI singles.
Altoona battled back with two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but it wasn't enough.
Mifflin County used four pitchers with Jude Zook getting the win. Gatlin Kauffman started and he was followed by Zook, Wert and then Aumiller. Aumiller got the save as he went the last two innings.
"We pitched by committee today," said Wolfkiel. "We went with whoever could get outs. Everybody was on a short limit."
Mifflin County finished with 10 hits as Aumiller and Gatlin Kauffman each had two.
"Our hitting gave us some momentum especially in the fifth," Wolfkiel said. "The kids have really come alive with their hitting."
In the early part of the game, Mifflin County did lose two runners on the base paths, but in the bottom of the sixth, Luke Shawver, the Mifflin County catcher, ended the inning by throwing out a runner at second base to stop an Altoona rally.