VARSITY: Township keeps District playoff hopes alive with shutout win at Cedar Crest 8-0
After coming up clutch with a walk-off grand slam that gave Township a huge victory last Friday night, Nick Kurtz came up clutch again for the Blue Streaks – this time on the mound. In a nearly must-win game for Township to keep any chance of making the District III playoffs alive, Kurtz quieted the Section 1 leading Cedar Crest Falcons and gave the Blue Streaks another late season victory.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Crest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Manheim Township | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1 |
Township’s bats helped Kurtz settle in on the mound early in this game. In the top of the 1st, Ben DeMarco led off the game with a double to left field and scored three batters later on a Brenden Moshos SAC fly to right field. Kurtz and Colin Yablonski reached base on a walk and single respectively, but didn’t come around to score. A 1-0 lead was all that Kurtz would need on the mound against the top scoring offense in Section 1. Still in the 1st inning, Kurtz struck out the first Falcons batter and got help from Moshos behind the plate who caught a runner stealing at 2nd.
Township would really open up the score with a big top of the 2nd. Colin Fitzgerald singled before Tom Cesarone walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. DeMarco loaded the bases on a HBP and Township scored another run on a Kurtz fielder’s choice to the SS. With 2 outs and a 2-0 lead, Ethan Kile singled to right field to score Cesarone from 3rd. Moshos grabbed his 8th double of the season and drove home Kile from 2nd after courtesy runner Colin Morrisette scored on a wild pitch earlier.
Kurtz and the Blue Streaks held a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd where Cedar Crest picked up their first hit of the afternoon, but couldn’t get anything else going at the plate. Township went quietly in the 3rd and Kurtz got the Falcons to go down 1-2-3 as well. MT grabbed 2 more runs in the top of the 4th thanks to a Kurtz walk, Kile reaching on an error, and a Moshos 4-pitch walk that loaded the bases. C. Yablonski walked to force Township’s 6th run across the plate. Another wild pitch later in the half inning scored Kile from 3rd to make this a 7-0 game.
Cedar Crest picked up another base runner on an infield error in the bottom of the 4th, but the Falcons again were stifled by Kurtz on the mound. Township snagged their final run of the game in the 5th inning when DeMarco singled on a pop fly, stole 2nd base, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch. Cedar Crest was looking to come back from an 8-0 deficit in their final three innings, but they couldn’t get a runner past 2nd base with Kurtz still dealing. With the 8-0 shutout win, Kurtz picked up his 2nd win in 5 appearances this season with 4 strikeouts and only 2 hits on the day.
Manheim Township is now 8-10 on the season and will play their final scheduled game this weekend to try and hang on to the final spot in the District III playoff race.
Next Game: Township will travel to Exeter this Saturday (5/12) to make up a game that has been postponed twice thus far. Start time 11:00 am.
