VARSITY: Township loses a heartbreaker on the road at Penn Manor 9-8
BOX SCORE | MAXPREPS | PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)
Manheim Township traveled south on 741 to meet up with the Penn Manor Comets in their 2nd matchup this season on Tuesday afternoon. The game originally scheduled for last Friday was played under much better weather conditions as game time temperatures exceeded 75 degrees with a slight breeze towards the outfield. Township was looking for their 3rd straight victory over a league opponent in 4 days coming into this one.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Manor | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Manheim Township | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 3 |
The Blue Streaks offense was quiet through the first 3 innings of this game as their only action on the bases came in the top of the 2nd when Brenden Moshos and Tom Cesarone picked up walks to try and get things moving. Penn Manor capitalized off of Township’s quiet bats and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. Nick Kurtz got his 4th start of the season for the Blue Streaks and was able to get out a few jams in the early stages of this game to keep the Comets’ run production to a minimum. Penn Manor grabbed another run in the bottom of the 3rd on a SAC fly to right to extend their lead to 2-0.
Township’s offense finally woke up in the top of the 4th off an Ethan Kile double to deep center field. Moshos singled to right field before Colin Fitzgerald scored Kile from 2nd on a single of his own. With the lead cut in half, 2-1, Cesarone picked up an RBI on a SAC fly that brought Jordan Yablonski home from 3rd (courtesy running for Moshos). With the score tied 2-2, Kurtz set down 3 of 4 Penn Manor batters in the bottom of the 4th and got out of the 5th on a 6-4-3 double play from Colin Morrisette to Drew Sassaman to Travis Kraft.
Kile led off the top of the 6th with a single (his 2nd of 3 hits on the day) and scored from 1st base on a Moshos double to right field. The next three Township batters were retired to end the threat for runs to extend their 3-2 lead heading into the Comets’ half of the 6th. Penn Manor chased Kurtz after one out and brought Josh Long in from the bullpen for the Blue Streaks before picking up 4 runs and taking a 6-3 lead into the final frame.
With 1 out in the top of the 7th, Sassaman got things going for the Blue Streaks with a single to left field and moved to 2nd on Morrisette’s follow up single. Kurtz’s single to center field scored Sassaman from 2nd and closed the gap 6-4. Kile rocketed his 2nd double of the game off the fence in right field to tie the game up at 6-6. With momentum on their side, Moshos knocked his 2nd double of the game into right field to give Township the lead 7-6. Rece Bender picked up an RBI on a single that scored Moshos and improved Township’s lead 8-6. The final out of the top of the 7th came on a questionable call by the home plate umpire who called Bender out on a steal attempt at the plate. Penn Manor strung together a few hits after a Township infield error to bring home 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th. The final run coming on a walkoff single to center field. With the loss, Township drops to 6-9 on the season with (at least) 4 games yet to play.
Next Game: Township will travel north to visit the Warwick Warriors on Wednesday (5/2) at 4:15pm.
