Offense wakes up as Blue Streaks dominate Comets in 5 innings

An ugly loss to start the week was not what the Manheim Township Blue Streaks were hoping for, but a trip to face the Penn Manor Comets on Wednesday afternoon gave Township a shot to stay relevant in the League Playoff talks with less than a week remaining in the regular season.

Ben Connors stayed hot at the plate with a leadoff single past the second baseman to start the game, but was caught stealing on his way to 2nd during Josh Boll‘s first AB. Boll was able to reach 1st on a dropped third strike and advance to 2nd on an error to keep the Township offense moving early. Back-to-back RBI singles for Traeton Sauder and Andrew Flury gave the Blue Streaks a 2-0 lead after the first half inning.

Braden Leed, starting for Township, was sharp early. Facing only 7 batters over the first two innings, Leed carried the 2-0 lead into the 3rd inning. The Comets loaded the bases with only 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd, but a strikeout looking and fly out to center field preserved the 2-0 score.

Back-to-back 1-out singles for Kaden Kemp and Angelo Billiard put two runners in scoring position with only 1 out in the top of the 4th. Connors plated two with a hard single up the middle and after Boll reached base on a single of his own, a fly ball to left-center from Sauder was dropped and gave Township another two runs for the scoreboard, 6-0.

Another jam for Leed in the bottom of the 4th didn’t phase the righty as another bases-loaded strikeout and then ground out helped Township get back to the plate unscathed. Three consecutive walks to Christian Kleckner, Kemp, and Billiard loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the 5th. Leed helped his own cause with a 2-run double to deep right field to make it 8-0. A 2-run single for Boll later in the inning gave Township a 10-run advantage before a Flury fielder’s choice put MT up 11-0. Needing only 3 outs to close it out in 5 innings, Leed worked a ground out and picked up his fifth and sixth strikeouts in the bottom of the 5th to wrap up the game, 11-0 MT.

Township returns home for Senior Night on Friday evening against Hempfield at 7:00 PM. Senior Night festivities will take place pregame around 6:25 PM.