TyronePA.com

Every time teams from Tyrone and Bellwood get together, you know it’s going to be a tight game, with each side going all out to bring home a win. Tuesday’s George B. Kelley Federation baseball game between Tyrone Legion and Martin Oil was certainly no different. Both teams were 6-6 going into the game. When the two clubs met the first time in the season two-game series, Martin Oil jumped out to a big lead, only to see Tyrone Legion cut a 4-0 advantage to 5-4, only to see Martin Oil triumph 6-5, with each team scoring once in the last two at-bats.
On Tuesday, Martin Oil jumped out in front 2-0 and the two squads spent the rest of the game exchanging runs, before Martin Oil finally emerged a 6-5 winner, the exact same score as the first game, in a contest that was just sooo close.
“I thought it would be a tough game, and I figured it would go back and forth,” said Tyrone Legion coach Chris Futrick. “And the guy with one or two runs who was ahead at the end was going to win and Martin Oil ended up with the one-run lead at the end. This was two very evenly matched teams and there was good pitching and god hitting and Martin Oil came put on top this time.”
Martin Oil starter Mike Albright pitched perfect baseball over the first three innings, retiring the first nine Tyrone batters in order.
After giving up a pair of runs, one earned, in the Martin Oil first, Tyrone Legion starter Matt Brooks matched Albright, until Martin Oil pushed across another unearned run in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
Justin Manning, who enjoyed a perfect day at the plate, with a double, walk and two singles, scoring twice and driving in a run, singled to begin the Martin Oil first, stole second base and scored on a line single to left by Nate Gray. Gray continued on to second on a Tyrone error, and then scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Chad Coho.
In the top of the fourth inning, Matt Brooks lined a one-out double to right center to break up Albright’s perfect game and no-hitter, went to third on a wild pitch and scored Tyrone Legion’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Eric Desch.
Jimmy Watters reached on an error, Tyrone Legion would commit five in the game, in the bottom of the fourth then moved around to third base on another error on a ball hit by Nate Plummer. Justin Miller scored Watters with a ground out to give Martin Oil a 3-1 advantage.
Tyrone Legion sliced the deficit to 3-2 on one swing, when Mike Moore connected on a three ball-one strike pitch taking it over the center field fence for a home run in the fifth..
Nate Gray came in to pitch for Martin Oil at this point. Cody Smith was safe on an error and Adam Bonsell singled, but Gray retired the next three batters in order to get out of the inning without further damage.
Martin Oil continued their one-run an inning trend in their fifth to increase their slim lead to 4-2. With one gone, Manning doubled. With Tyrone Legion replacing Brooks with Eric Desch, to begin the inning, Gray walked and Chad Coho lined a single to center to score Manning.
Coming up with the biggest inning of the ballgame, Tyrone Legion took their first lead of the game in the top of the sixth. Anders singled with one out and Jason Taylor was hit by a pitch. Moore singled to left to score Anders and when the ball was bobbled, Taylor went to third and Moore continued on to second base. Cody Smith screeched a line drive that Nate Plummer at first base for Martin Oil, dove and made a spectacular catch to save two runs, at least temporarily. It was only temporarily, because Bonsell singled to center to score both Taylor and Moore and put Tyrone Legion ahead 5-4.
That set the stage for the bottom of the sixth for the two federation teams. Plummer opened the frame with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. Desch got Justin Miller on a comebacker to the mound for the first out, but walked Alex Miller. Trey Mock fouled out for the second out of the inning, but Manning stroked a shot to center that scored Plummer and when the ball squirted away, Miller also scored with the go-ahead tally.
Gray recorded a fly out, strikeout and ground out to set the final score in favor of Martin Oil.
Martin Oil pitchers recorded eight strikeouts, and neither walked a batter, with Albright fanning five, while Gray struck out three and, although blowing the save, he picked up the win.
Tyrone Legion used three pitchers. Brooks started, giving up three runs, only one earned in four innings, with one strike out and one walk, Eric Desch tossed an inning and two/thirds, to pick up the loss, before pulling a muscle on his side, allowing three runs, two earned, with two Ks and three walks, and Donnie Hunter got the final out in the sixth, the only batter he faced.
“It wasn’t particularly pretty, but it was a win,” said Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “The most positive thing was we didn’t walk anybody. Our hitting is really bad right now, although Judd (Justin Manning) had a nice day at the plate, scoring two runs, and getting three hits and a walk. Now we jjust need to get everybody else going.”
Martin Oil 6  Tyrone Legion 5
Tyrone Legion – Hunter, ss-p, 4-0-0, Brooks, p-1b, 4-1-1; Desch, 1b-p, 3-0-0; Anders, c-3b, 3-1-2; Taylor, cf, 2-1-0; Moore, 2b, 3-2-2; Smith, 3b-rf, 3-0-0; Bonsell, lf, 3-0-2; Barnhart, rf, 1-0-0; Decker, c, 2-0-0. TOTALS 28-5-7.
Martin Oil – Ju. Manning, 2b, 3-2-3; Ja. Manning, c, 3-0-0; Gray, ss-p, 3-1-1; Davis, cr, 0-0-0; C. Coho, 3b, 3-0-1; J. Coho, pr, 0-0-0; Watters, lf-cf, 3-1-1; Plummer, 1b, 2-1-0; J. Miller, rf, 3-0-0; Albright, p, 2-0-0; A. Miller, lf, 0-1-0; Mock, cf-ss, 3-0-0. TOTALS 25-6-6.
Tyrone Legion  000 113 0   5-7-5.
Martin Oil        200 112 X   6-6-2.
E: Hunter, Anders, Taylor, Smith, Bonsell, C. Coho, Mock.
2B: Brooks, Ju. Manning.
HR: Moore.
RBI: Moore 2, Bonsell 2, Desch, C. Coho 2, Ju. Manning, Gray, J. Miller.
SO: Brooks 1, Desch 2, Albright 5, Gray 3.
BB: Brooks 1, Desch 3.
WP: Gray     LP: Desch

George F. Young, 73, of Wilmington, North Carolina formerly of Warriors Mark died April 7, 2008 in Wilmington of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
He was born October 14, 1934 in White Oak, Texas a son of the late James A. and Myrtle (Youngblood) Young. He had been married to the late Miriam P. Wertz, formerly of Tyrone.
Surviving are two sons, Jon Robert and wife Susan of Leland, North Carolina, Kevin G. of Shippensburg, a sister Betty Jo Adkins of Kilgore, Texas, a brother, Charles M. of Kingsville, Texas and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a step-father Carroll E. Wood and three brothers.
Mr. Young retired from the Bellwood-Antis School District custodial Department where he had served as president of the union. He was previously employed at Westvaco, Tyrone. Following retirement he moved to California in 1999 and resided there until 2007.
Memorial services will be held Saturday June 28, 2008 at 1 p.m. at Feller Memorial Home with Rev. Norman E. Huff officiating. Friends will be received at the funeral home on Saturday from 12 noon until the time of services.
Memorial gifts may be made to the A.L.S. Foundation or to the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society, 1837 E. Pleasant Valley Blvd., Altoona, Pa. 16601.

The Women’s Club of Tyrone met at Burley’s on Wednesday, June 11 for their spring dinner meeting and installation of officers for 2008-09. Pictured is Tammy Emigh, President; Judy Norris, installing officer and Karen DeHaas, Vice-President. Not available for the photo was Sandy DelGrosso, Treasurer; Danielle Harris, Recording Secretary and Tammy Harpster, Corresponding Secretary. (Courtesy photo)

The Tyrone Area School District’s slogan is “The Steps To A Better Tomorrow,” and once again the district is honoring that by placing in effect an evolving plan to counter and/or respond to a potential worldwide pandemic flu outbreak.
School board members approved a district pandemic plan at last night’s board meeting, although steps in the plan began last fall when letters were sent out to school district parents and information was placed on the district’s website to help them prepare and learn about a flu pandemic that could potentially make many people sick.
Tyrone Area Middle and High School nurse Julie Patton presented the main points of the district’s plan to board members before final approval was granted. Patton, along with elementary school nurse Brenda Cowger and district administration, have been developing the ever-evolving plan for over a year.
The district’s pandemic plan consists of four main focuses – prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Within that, there are assigned responsibilities and roles in the school district that involves all staff members from the administration on down. It also identifies community agencies that would be involved if a pandemic flu outbreak did occur.
Historically, there have been three pandemics in the twentieth century. The last one occurred in 1968. A pandemic that hit in the United States in 1918 held an approximate death toll of 500,000 people. Each time there was widespread illness and death, so the country might be overdue for an outbreak if history repeats itself.
Patton said the biggest pandemic flu outbreak concern is the Avian Flu, or Bird Flu. She said that health officials are worried that the gene could mutate, meaning that instead of going from bird to bird transmission, it would go from bird to human. Ultimately, the mutated gene could go from human to human, causing a worldwide outbreak.
Some of the problems that come with a pandemic flu outbreak compared to a seasonal flu outbreak include: little or no pre-existing immunity, healthy people may be at risk for serious complications, health systems may be overwhelmed, a vaccine probably wouldn’t be available in the early stages of the pandemic, effective antivirals may be in limited supply, symptoms may be more severe and complications more frequent, and the potential for severe impact on domestic and world economy.
“If this should occur it would be a massive undertaking for our society,” stated Patton. “Not just the health care and educational system, but society in general – so the idea is for us to be prepared before it happens.”
Patton noted that the school district has already addressed some of the issues under preparedness in the plan, by providing general information to parents on good hygiene, such as covering mouths when sneezing, washing hands, and keeping sick kids from school so they aren’t likely transmitting their sickness to other kids.
“We’re working on preparedness and prevention, and hopefully we won’t get to the latter stages of the plan, which are response and recovery,” said Patton. “It’s difficult to prepare for something you don’t want to happen, but the school district takes it very seriously – the key is that we work together to be prepared.”
The United States Department of Health and Human Services would be responsible to make the decision to close down schools when a pandemic flu outbreak occurs. When over 10 percent of student enrollment in a building or grade level became sick at one time, the school district would report that to the Department of Health and decisions would be made from there.
Tyrone Area School Board President Lee Stover said that the district handles all the children in the surrounding community, so the district would most likely be the first place spotted if any incidents of problems occurred. He thinks the school district’s plan and training will be very important.
“I think having a plan in place and being proactive is way better than trying to be reactive,” added Stover. “It gives us a quicker approach to getting things done by having a plan in place, but I hope we never have to use it.”
Superintendent Dr. William Miller agreed with Stover on having to enact the plan, adding that the plan is required to be put together to protect the students, community, and the safety of everyone.

The Tyrone Area School Board convened last evening at the elementary school to conduct its June business. Board member Amy Stever was absent from the meeting.
Topping the agenda was the unanimous approval of the three-county school district’s 2008-09 general fund budget. The budget reflected total revenues in the amount of $21,009,849 and total expenditures in the amount of $21,782,880.
Tyrone Area School District Business Administrator Cathy Peachey said that the school district felt it had a “very strong” financial position for the coming school year.
“The board found that looking at the revenues and expenditures in our fund balance, which the state limits us as far as what we can carry over as far as fund balance, we determined we could go without a tax increase for this year based on that,” stated Peachey.
The numbers based on tax levies on real estate, by which adjustments reflect changes in market value only as required by the State Tax Equalization Board, are as follows: Blair County – 92.71 mills (no mill increase), $92.71/$1,000 assessed value; Centre County – 21.06 mills (0.84 mill increase), $21.06/$1,000 assessed value; Huntingdon County – 68.32 mills (0.19 mill decrease), $68.32/$1,000 assessed value.
The Earned Income Act 511 Tax is 0.65 percent.
Board members also approved the athletic budget in the amount of $366,974, along with approving the Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion Resolution that offers tax breaks to school district tax payers who qualify.
Along with the budget, the school board unanimously approved the transfer of $500,000 from the general fund to the capital reserve fund for the installation of a new Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition (HVAC) system in the school district.
The school board and Student Activities & Services Committee Chairperson Brian Bressler also recognized two Tyrone Area High School track and field athletes for their accomplishments at this year’s PIAA state track and field meet in Shippensburg. Eleventh graders Ben Ingle and Kyle Updyke both earned medals at the state meet this year. Ingle placed sixth in the 1,600 meters with a school record breaking time of 4:23.68, and Updyke placed seventh in the high jump with a leap of 6′2″.
In other business, the board approved to enter a food service contract with Nutrition, Inc. for the 2008-09 school year with a guaranteed profit of $450, including an increase in meal prices. The price increases are ten cents for breakfast, twenty cents for lunch, and a ten percent increase for a la carte.
Board members approved to establish a student activity fund for the Mock Trial Team, along with approving the 2008-09 textbook and workbook order in the total amount of $85,570.58.
The Tyrone Area School Board canceled its scheduled July 2008 board meetings, but may request one meeting near the end of July related to additional school district hirings. The time and date will be advertised if needed.