Rocky 5th inning can’t derail Township en route to third straight victory

Looking for their third win in a row, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks traveled to Lebanon County on Monday afternoon to face the Cedar Crest Falcons in the second of three meetings between these two teams this season. The Blue Streaks held on for a 10-8 win at home two weeks ago as the teams traded blows all game at the plate.

The Blue Streaks loaded the bases in the top of the 1st as singles for Ben Connors and Josh Boll and a walk for Traeton Sauder put them in business, however, the Falcons worked out of the jam with a strikeout and double play to keep Township off the board. Trey Eckman, on the mound for Township, also worked a scoreless first inning with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout. 

After loading the bases again in the 2nd, Township broke the 0-0 tie as Connors was hit by a pitch and picked up an RBI as Christian Kleckner scored. Another free base for Sauder, still with the bases loaded, forced another run across the plate before Eckman returned to the mound with a 2-0 lead. Facing only 7 batters across the 2nd and 3rd innings, Eckman continued to deal in his third start of the season.

The Blue Streaks broke open the score with an 8-run top of the 4th. A leadoff double for Connors, single for Boll, and HBP for Sauder loaded the bases for the third time with no outs. An RBI-walk to Andrew Flury made it 3-0 and back-to-back RBI-singles for Jacob Carrasco and Kleckner cleared the bases to make it 6-0. With the bases still loaded and only 1 out, Angelo Billiard’s SAC fly to right field allowed Carrasco to meander home and Braden Leed plated two more on a single to left field. On the second time through the order in the half inning, Boll drove in Leed on another single to give the Blue Streaks a 10-0 lead through 3.5 innings.

Eckman continued to mow through the Cedar Crest lineup until only needing one more out in the bottom of the 5th to seal the game. An error on the would-be game-ending grounder gave the Falcons some late life. Three consecutive hits and another infield error pushed four runs across the plate and suddenly pulled the score to 10-4. 

Although the mood had changed, Township went right back to work at the plate in the top of the 5th. The Blue Streaks pushed the lead back to 10 on an infield error off a bunt from Flury, a bases-loaded walk for Kleckner, and a 2-run single from Alex Miller. Eckman returned to the mound again in the 6th to close it and hang on to the 14-4 victory.

The week on the road continues as the Blue Streaks travel to Hempfield on Wednesday for a big Section I showdown in Landisville.