VARSITY: Township can’t hang on to a lead and drops a tight contest to CV 4-3
BOX SCORE | MAXPREPS | PHOTO GALLERY
Manheim Township varsity was looking to end their 4-game losing streak on Wednesday afternoon at the Conestoga Valley Buckskins, and they did everything they could to try and make that happen. Township, for only the third time this season, jumped out to an early lead in the 1st inning. Rece Bender walked and was scored on an Ethan Kile single through the left side of the infield to give MT an early 1-0 lead. Connor Vucovich got his first start on the mound for the varsity squad this season and surrendered an early run to CV to tie the game at 1-1 after 1 inning.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conestoga Valley | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Manheim Township | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
Both offenses went quiet in the 2nd inning, but Township regained the lead in the top of the 3rd. With 2 outs, Colin Yablonski walked and moved to 2nd on a bad pitch. Kile picked up his second hit of the afternoon when he sliced a double off the base of the fence in left field to score Yablonski from 2nd. Brenden Moshos singled to right field on a full count to score Kile from 2nd base as well. Township carried a 3-1 lead into the bottom half of the inning and was matched in scoring by CV who brought home 2 runs on a double to left field to again tie the game – this time 3-3.
The Blue Streaks were silenced in the 4th and 5th innings as the game moved on with the score still tied. The Buckskins took their first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the 5th after Ben DeMarco came on to pitch in relief for the Blue Streaks. Trailing 4-3 into the 6th inning, Township was looking for runs after Tom Cesarone walked and Bender singled to put 2 men on with 2 outs. Township was retired before either runner could cross the plate in the top of the inning and DeMarco held CV quiet in the bottom of the 6th.
Things got interesting in the top of the 7th for the Blue Streaks when Yablonski led off with a single to the 3rd baseman and Kile took a pitch inside for a HBP. Moshos was able to advance the runners on a SAC bunt and brought DeMarco to the plate with only 1 out. The 2nd out came from a 3rd strike foul ball on a bunt attempt while Township was trying to run a squeeze play at the plate. Colin Fitzgerald drove a line drive into left field that unfortunately was within the range of the left fielder to record the final out of the game. Township [4-6] dropped this one 4-3 and has lost 5 straight games for the first time since early in 2017.
Next Game: Township hosts Donegal in an evening matchup on Friday (4/20) at Westfield Insurance Park at 7:00pm.
