Persistent offense and strong start for Leed deliver win for Township in opener

Following a week of what truly felt like an early Spring, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks were greeted on Friday afternoon with a game-time temperature of 47 degrees for their 2024 Opening Day against the Solanco Golden Mules. The Blue Streaks are set to face Solanco in back-to-back games to open their season for the second straight year after splitting games 1 and 2 with the Mules in 2023.

Braden Leed (6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 9 K) got the nod in the season opener on the mound for Township. An early 1-out walk to Solanco’s Underwood in the 1st didn’t phase the tall righty as he caught the runner stealing at 2nd during the next AB and cleared the inning on a ground out to Kaden Kemp at second base. Leed proceeded to strike out the side in the top of the 2nd to keep the Golden Mules quiet early. 

After putting two men on in the bottom of the 1st, the Blue Streaks loaded the bases with only one out in the 2nd. Andrew Flury and Christian Kleckner reached on singles while Ryan Turner was safe at 1st on a Solanco infield error. Ben Connors tallied Township’s first RBIs on the new season by roping a bases-clearing double over the head of the left fielder to make it 3-0 Blue Streaks after 2.

Kleckner’s second hit on the day put another run on the board after a Traeton Sauder double put a man in scoring position quickly in the 3rd. Extra run support arrived in the 5th inning again off of Kleckner’s bat as Sauder crossed home plate once more after this time reaching base on a HBP two batters earlier. A mishandled grounder by the Solanco pitcher off the bat of Josh Boll allowed Jacob Carrasco to make it 6-0 MT in the 6th.

While the home team’s offense slowly collected runs, Leed continued to dominate on the mound all afternoon. He amassed 9 Ks on the day while allowing only 3 hits after his 1st inning walk. Still leading 6-0, Trey Eckman shifted over from first base to pitch the 7th inning for the Blue Streaks. While the Golden Mules did slash a run across the plate in the final half inning, the result never seemed in doubt. 6-1 MT final.

Now 1-0, Manheim Township will travel to Solanco to complete the Home & Away series between these two teams to open the season next Thursday, March 28th. Game time: 4:15PM. 

With the victory this afternoon, Coach Kirchoff earned his 100th career victory as the Blue Streaks’ head coach. Congratulations to Coach on this achievement and we look forward to many more victories following this one!

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