Team-effort on offense, continued steady pitching blasts Blue Streaks past L-S into League Finals, 11-5

A few days removed from their 2-1 victory over Manheim Central in the Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinals, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks were back in action against the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers in the league semifinals at Ephrata on Tuesday afternoon. After falling short in the league semifinals last season, the Blue Streaks were looking to return to the L-L Championship game for the first time since 2008 with a win. Township triumphed over L-S earlier in the season in the teams’ annual Section I – Section II regular season matchup.

As the away team in the neutral site contest, the Blue Streaks were first up to bat. Michael Heckman was first to reach base for Township as a pop fly just in front of the pitcher’s mound dropped on an infield error with on/off windy conditions set to cause problems on fly balls all day long. A walk to Ryan Flury in the next at-bat brought up Fisher Druck (5-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI) to get the fireworks started. A bases-clearing double to right-center on his first pitch gave the Township first baseman his first hit and RBIs on the day, 2-0 MT. Ben Shenosky, starter for the Blue Streaks, helped his own cause with a homerun to left field to blow open the Township lead 4-0 after just the 1st half inning.

The Pioneers took advantage of a pair of hits for Parido and Long in the bottom half of the 1st to cut into the early 4-run Township lead, but Shenosky maintained his composure and got out of the inning with only minimal damage. A quiet 2nd inning for both teams pushed the 4-1 score into the 3rd. On a 3-1 count to lead off the 3rd, Heckman took his next pitch over the fence in left for his 2nd HR of the year and the Blue Streaks’ 2nd on the day. Leading 5-1, singles for Flury and Druck put men on for Tyler Mulholland to drive in courtesy runner Cole Stoltzfus from 2nd – the 6th run of the day for Township. L-S again responded with another run in the bottom half of the 3rd, but Shenosky continued to hold strong, 6-2 MT through 3. 

The runs kept coming for the Blue Streaks in the 4th as a ground-rule double for JT Weaver and bunt single for Heckman preceded Druck’s 3rd hit and 3rd RBI of the game – a single through the hole to the right. A fielder’s choice on a Shenosky ground ball was enough to bring Heckman home before Mulholland and Ryan Brader loaded the bases on a single and walk respectively. Ty Jenkins was the recipient of an RBI on a bases-loaded walk prior to the end of the top of the 4th and MT extended their lead 9-2. After another L-S run in the 4th, Druck collected his 4th hit on the afternoon with an RBI-double to the fence in right to make it 10–3 Township in the top of the 5th. An 11th run would be added to the Blue Streaks total on an RBI groundout for Heckman in the top of the 6th, but it all came down to pitching to seal the W.

Shenosky continued pitching on into the bottom of the 6th until reaching his max pitch count which forced reliever Gavin Glass to enter from third base. Shenosky ended the day with 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K. The Pioneers would strike for 2 runs on a series of walks and hits in the 6th, but Township’s early offense had put them too far ahead to catch today. Glass collected the last 5 outs of the game for the Blue Streaks, including a pickoff/rundown between 1st and 2nd for the final out in the last half inning. Final: 11-5 MT.

With the league semifinal victory, Manheim Township earns a trip to Clipper Magazine Stadium on Thursday (5/19) night to play for the 2022 Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship. More details on times and game opponent to come.