Flury bomb, Druck’s 10Ks lead Township to 4-0 shutout at McCaskey

On a blustery, cool April afternoon in Lancaster City, the J.P. McCaskey Red Tornado hosted the Manheim Township Blue Streaks in their second meeting of the 2022 season. The Blue Streaks got the better of the Red Tornado earlier in the year in a 10-0 no-hitter from Fisher Druck.

Coincidentally, Druck was the man to get the start again against McCaskey today. The Township offense showed up early to support their starter. A JT Weaver single and steal of 2nd followed by a Ryan Flury double gave the Blue Streaks a 1-0 lead in the 1st. Druck helped his own cause with a follow-up RBI double that plated courtesy runner Cole Stoltzfus. With the early 2-0 lead, Druck went to work on the mound.

Two fly outs and a ground out kept McCaskey off the bases in the bottom of the 1st as Druck would continue on to retire the first 10 batters on the day before a fielding error allowed the first Red Tornado baserunner in the 4th. Just before that, Township picked up another run after a leadoff triple for Ryan Brader in the top of the 4th led to an RBI double for Ben Shenosky, giving MT a 3-0 lead at the conclusion of 4 innings.

With one out in the top of the 5th, Flury added onto the score by taking the first pitch of his at-bat deep over the fence in left field – his 5th HR of the year. The solo shot made it 4-0 Blue Streaks. Township would load the bases with two outs in the top of the 6th on hits from Tyler Mulholland and Jack Armstrong and a walk to Weaver, but no runners crossed the plate. Two McCaskey runners, Fluck and Hatfield, would reach base in the bottom of the 7th on a single and walk to put a little pressure on Druck, however the Township starter wrapped up the complete game shutout by striking out the final batter on his day. 4-0 MT Final. Fisher finished the day with 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, and 10Ks.

The victory moves the Blue Streaks to a record of 13-2 on the year, with a 4-2 record in Section 1. A rematch against Hempfield is set for Friday night under the lights at Manheim Township, 7:00PM start time.