Streaks nip Mounts

After taking the lead in the first inning of Tuesday’s Lancaster-Lebanon League Sections One-Two crossover baseball game, Manheim Township saw its advantage shrink from four runs down to just one — with Ephrata still threatening. The visiting Mounts had runners on second and third in the top of the seventh, but Township reliever Will Greiner only had his sights set on home plate.

With two out and a 2-2 count, Greiner got Ephrata’s Owen Gockley swinging to close the game and send the Blue Streaks out celebrating more than just their 5-4 victory at Westfield Insurance Park. The win was Township’s ninth straight after starting the season 0-2, and surpasses last season’s win total (eight games) with nine games still to play.

“Willie came in and made the pitches that we needed in a tight situation,” Township coach Matt Kirchoff said. “A 5-1 lead shrinks to 5-3, then it’s 5-4 and it feels like the world is caving in, but our kids did a great job and they realized what was at stake today.”

The Blue Streaks (6-2 L-L, 9-2 overall) took the lead early, capitalizing on defensive miscues in the first two innings to pull ahead 3-0.

In the first, Kyle Musser singled and advanced to second on a wild throw before scoring on Ryan Jones’ infield single. Three batters later, Jones scored on a sac fly.

Drew Sassaman manufactured a run in the second after bunting into a fielder’s choice. The sophomore stole second and took off for third when the pickoff throw went into the outfield. The throw to third also went wide, sending Sassaman sliding into home.

Township went on to score two more in the third inning, after Colin Yablonski, who went 4 for 4 at the plate, led off with a double and Fitzgerald walked. Sassaman and Ben DeMarco followed with consecutive RBI singles.

Yablonski kept Ephrata (4-4, 7-4) quiet at the plate, needing just seven pitches to get out of the fourth inning, picking up two of his nine strikeouts in the process.

While Township threatened again in the sixth, Ephrata reliever Brennan Hess got a strikeout to get out of the bases-loaded jam.

Instead, it was Ephrata causing trouble in the top of the seventh, starting with Ricky Bromirski’s two-run double. Sandwiched by a pair of strikeouts, Blake White drew a four-pitch walk and stole a base, but finished the game on second.

“We’ve just been so solid defensively that it’s kept games tight,” Kirchoff said of the key to this year’s success. “We’ve minimized big innings and I think that’s the difference this year. These onerun games weren’t going our way last year.

“Those keep you up at night,” he added with a laugh, “but we’ll take them when they go our way.”

• Prev
• Next