VARSITY: MT counters every Hempfield attack in tightly contested Section 1 win 8-6

BOX SCORE   |   MAXPREPS   |   PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)

At this point in the season, Manheim Township could not afford to drop another Section 1 game to the visiting Hempfield Black Knights. On this fantastically warm Monday afternoon, Township would not go down easy as the two section foes clashed throughout each and every inning. Colin Yablonski got the nod for the Blue Streaks in this one and sat down 3 of 4 Hempfield batters to start the game. Township jumped on the board early in the 1st thanks to a C. Yablonski single, Nick Kurtz single, and Brenden Moshos double to right field. Ben DeMarco scored on the play after reaching 1st base on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning. Rece Bender followed suit and singled through the infield to score Kurtz from 3rd to give MT a 2-0 lead after 1 inning.

Hempfield tacked on a run to cut the lead in half 2-1 after the top half of the 2nd inning. One of Township’s only quiet half innings came in the 2nd when they were retired in short order after Will Greiner reached base on an infield error. The Black Knights were able to catch up to the Blue Streaks in the 3rd after a single brought a runner in from 2nd and tied the game at 2-2. C. Yablonski was able to settle down multiple times in this game and efficiently retired Hempfield batters in difficult situations before any other damage could be done.

Township’s offense was not finished in this game and woke up again in the bottom of the 3rd. Kurtz led off with a double to right field before Ethan Kile singled to move Kurtz to 3rd. Moshos picked up a SAC fly on an out to the center fielder that allowed Kurtz to score to make it a 3-2 game. Two batters later, Colin Fitzgerald singled through the left side of the infield to score Kile from 2nd and move Bender up on the base paths after his single. MT carried a 4-2 lead into the 4th inning where Hempfield had another chance to respond with runs of their own.

The Black Knights drove in a run on 3 consecutive batters to take a 5-4 lead after a barrage of singles made things difficult for the Blue Streaks. With only 1 out, C. Yablonski was able to retire Hempfield again before they could get any runners across the plate. Facing their first deficit of the afternoon, Township countered with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the 4th. C. Yablonski led off again with a single and moved up on a ground ball where Kurtz had to slide head-first into 1st base to be called safe. Kile continued his hot hitting with a single that drove in C. Yablonski from 2nd to tie the game up 5-5. Bender ripped a single into center field that was deep enough to score Kile and Kurtz from 2nd and 3rd respectively.

With a 7-5 lead, Township turned to Josh Long on the mound in the 5th inning to try and hold the Hempfield offense at bay. Hempfield was able to pick up one more run to make it a 7-6 game, but that was all the offense that they would see in this game. Drew Sassaman, who made his first ever start for varsity at 2nd base in this game, picked up his first varsity hit on a tough ground ball to the 1st baseman in the bottom of the 5th. C.Yablonski grabbed his 3rd hit of the afternoon to move Sassaman up to 2nd before Tom Cesarone dropped a pinch hit double into right field to score the run from 2nd. A double play ended Township’s chances to run away further with the lead in this game.

Greiner came out of right field for Township to pick up a 6-out save in his 6th pitching appearance of the season. C. Yablonski picked up the win in his 4th start of the year and brings his record to 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 2018. MT is now 6-8 on the season (5-7 in the league).

Next Game: Township will make up a Section 1 showdown at Penn Manor on Tuesday May 1st at 4:15. Game will be played at Comet Field at Penn Manor’s sports complex.