Briar Persing (17) and Parker Persing (4) score on RBI single by Max Furman (2) in 4th inning against Benton in Montgomery Friday afternoon. Montgomery won 12-0 in 5 innings. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Growing up, Parker and Briar Persing boxed, wrestled, played Wiffle Ball … you get the idea. Name a sport, and the two probably played it. And the most frequent opponent was each other.

That’s what brothers do. Well actually, Parker and Briar are cousins but they share a brotherly bond. Parker’s father Tim currently coaches the Montgomery baseball team and Tom is an assistant, who also helped guide the 2012 team to the Class A state final when he was a head coach there. Sports, especially, baseball, are in the family blood.

As much fun as they once had as opponents, Parker and Briar are enjoying being high school teammates a whole lot more. They also are flourishing together and have helped Montgomery start 4-0.

“I’ve known Parker since birth pretty much, but missed out last year playing with him, so being out there now is amazing,” Briar said following Friday’s 12-0 win against Benton. “We’re cousins but he really is like a brother to me.”

Parker feels the same way. Those competitions growing up were born from a passion for sports and almost always were friendly encounters. The cousins always have lived near each other and pretty much started playing sports together as soon as they could walk.

Parker is a sophomore and Briar a freshman. They have played youth and travel baseball together for a long time, but now are doing so at the high school level together. They are making the most of it, too. Parker is hitting .636 with seven RBIs and Briar is 3-0 on the mound with 29 strikeouts in 13 innings, while hitting his first home run in the Benton victory.

“It’s awesome. We’ve always been dreaming about this,” Parker said after going 2 for 2 with a walk and RBI against Benton. “It’s cool to finally play with each other in high school.”

It’s sure good for Montgomery as well. The cousins are part of a deep and talented young core which has excelled together over the years at various levels up the baseball ladder. Parker is building off a productive freshman season and has at least one RBI and hit in all four games, while reaching base in eight of his last 10 plate appearances. He also threw a two-hit shutout in a 15-0 win against Sugar Valey.

Briar has allowed just one run and four hits in three starts, striking out 10 or more in his last two. He opened his high school career with a three-inning perfect game against Williamson which included eight strikeouts. Briar hit a triple in that game, and was 2 for 3 with the home run and two RBIs against Benton.

That both have developed into good baseball players is not shocking. Their fathers were excellent players and the cousins both share a determination which goes beyond their talent. It also helps that each one was either pitching to or batting against an outstanding player all those times in the backyard.

Now the backyard has come to the high school field. Now cousins who are more like brothers are high school teammates. The ride continues, but Parker and Briar are excited to be going on it together.

“They’ve always played together in travel ball, but those two are really excited about finally getting to play together in high school,” Tim Persing said. “They’re hungry. They pick each other up all the time. It’s really cool to see them helping each other out.”

THE USUAL: Playing baseball in central Pennsylvania often is a scheduling adventure and this year has proven no different. Inclement weather made it all but impossible to play on anything other than a turf field for four days and saturated fields made it hard for most teams to play at all.

With the regular season ending May 15, teams again will be scrambling to get all their games in. Some District 4 teams have yet to play a game, others have one or two in and nearly everyone has had at least one postponement. That means, most are looking at getting anywhere from 16-20 games played in 37 days, so deep pitching again will be a must.

Today offers a new scheduling adaptation as well with the eclipse coming. Most teams have adjsuted their schedules to start their games after the eclipse is scheduled to end with Williamsport at Milton and Montgomery at Bucktail starting at 4:45 p.m. and Loyalsock at Warrior Run beginning at 5 p.m. They could luck out, too, if the skies remain cloudy which is a possibility.

Either way, teams are doing their best to work around the eclipse and get their games in. With how rare dry days can be and rain in the forecast Wednesday-Friday, they understand that days like these are not to be wasted.

EXTRA BASES: Jersey Shore is 3-0 in the HAC-I after defeating Milton, 9-4 Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs (4-2 overall) have won four of their last five games and collected 13 hits. They also produced a big 12-4 win earlier in the week against defending District 4 Class AAAA champion Mifflinburg. Jerrin Lommis earned the win in both games and struck out 16 in 10 1/2 innings. Zach Myers was 3 for 6 with five RBIs in the wins … Nick Delany had a big day in Muncy’s 18-3 win against Sugar Valley Saturday. The first-time starter went 4 for 4 with a double, four RBIs and four runs. Kadyn Berry was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Noah Confer stole three bases. Muncy (2-1, 1-0) has won 33 straight Mid-Penn games, going back to 2022 … Landon Polcyn and Griffen Harrington combined on a four-inning no-hitter in Warrior Run’s 15-0 win last Friday at Bloomsburg. The Defenders (3-1) have won all three games via shutout and James Keifer and Gabe Engel combined on a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 win against Benton. Stone Allison and Tyler Ulrich each had two hits at Bloomsburg, combining for seven RBIs … North Penn-Mansfield (4-1) swept a doubleheader from Northern Potter Saturday, winning four-inning games, 15-0 and 19-2. The Tigers have scored at least five runs in each game this season and Karson Dominick went a combined 4 for 5 with three RBIs in Saturday’s wins. Cody Hermanson drove in four runs in the opener, while Cooper Shaw was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and three runs. Liam Shaut went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the second game and Alex Davis and Jason Harer each hit doubles.

Chris Masse may be reached at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @docmasse

DR. MASSE’S TOP 5 RANKINGS

1. South Williamsport (4-0): South, which hosts undefeated Troy today, is the rare team which has no postponements thus far and produced a good one last Monday, defeating Canton, 8-5 in a battle of 3-0 teams. Injuries have mounted early in the season, but the next man up keeps stepping up. Kaden Shay shined in his first pitching start, striking out in four innings, while allowing just two hits. Freshman Camden Hannan shined in his first varsity start, going 2 for 2 with an RBI. The Red Sox once dubbed Kevin Youkilis the “Greek God of Walks.” Well, South might want to work on a nickname for catcher Kayne Jones who has drawn six walks in his three games this year, while also going 3 for 5.

2. Hughesville (3-0): Following a strong start, Hughesville has been off the past eight days. It returns to action tomorrow for a big league game against Mount Carmel. These rivals split two close games last year and both opened their HAC-III campaigns with wins against Southern Columbia. Hughesville captured last year’s league and District 4 Class AAA championship, while Mount Carmel returns a strong core from a team which made its second straight district semifinal appearance a year ago. The Spartans will be busy this week with another game Wednesday against Bloomsburg before heading to Elk Lake on Saturday.

3. Montoursville (2-0): Like Hughesville, Montoursville was idle last week. The Warriors dive into their HAC-II schedule starting today against Lewisburg. A District 4 Class AAAA final rematch with Mifflinburg comes Wednesday and another challenge Friday at Danville. While it’s only two games, three sophomores, Jonah Heddings, Brody Aldenderfer and Logan Kirby, have hit .600 or better thus far. Junior Riley Bowes and senior Elias Eck also both have four hits. Aldenderfer had the type of game former A’s general manager Billy Beane would love in Montoursville’s action, drawing three walks and being hit by two pitches in five plate appearances against Jersey Shore.

4. Central Mountain (2-1): Stop if you’ve heard this one before, but Central Mountain did not play last week and has three key league games this week starting today against rival Jersey Shore. Isaiah Maldonado is off to a good start in his first year starting, going 3 for 6 with two RBIs and two runs. Kevin Grenninger is settling into the pitching rotation well and is an offensive catalyst, going 5 for 11 with three RBIs and two stolen bases.

5. Montgomery (4-0): Montgomery’s pitching has shined early this season. The Persing cousins and Parker Bennett have allowed just two runs in four games. That stretch covers 18 innings and Montgomery has shutout three opponents. Bennett earned a clutch save against Warrior Run in a 5-2 victory and all three pitchers are averaging more than a strikeout per inning.

Players of the Week

Landon Polcyn, Warrior Run and Gage Martzall, Jersey Shore: Polcyn shined on the mound and at the plate in Friday’s win at Bloomsburg. He combined with Griffen Harrington on a no-hitter with three strikeouts in two innings, while also going 2 for 2 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs. A day later, Martzall was in Roy Hobbs-mode, going 5 for 5 with two doubles, five RBIs and two runs. Martzall has reached base in seven of his last 10 plate appearances.

Game of the Week

Williamsport at Central Mountain: Williamsport handed Central Mountain its only HAC-I and regular season loss a year ago, splitting two games against their new league rival. Both games were close and runs were at a premium with Central Mountain winning 3-1 before Williamsport took the rematch, 4-2. Most of the games in this series have been close ones over the years and Friday’s could follow a similar script as both look to gain some momentum early in their league schedules.