Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad: Blue Streaks clinch League Title again with 5-1 win over Hempfield

Playing in their second Lancaster-Lebanon League Title game in the last three years, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks met the Hempfield Black Knights at Clipper Magazine Stadium on Monday evening to crown the 2024 league champion. The Blue Streaks won their last visit to the Championship in 2022 with a win over Ephrata, while Hempfield has not won a league championship since 2014.

After meeting three previous times this season, both teams were very familiar with each other, but the Blue Streaks got to face a new arm on the mound – Hempfield’s Benchich. A pop out for Ben Connors, fly out for Josh Boll, and pop out for Traeton Sauder gave Benchich a smooth first half inning and brought out the Township defense just minutes into the game.

Tyler Shirk (W, 6IP, 5H, 1R, 5K), making his first postseason start for the Blue Streaks, was in trouble early on in his half of the 1st. A leadoff single for Sheerer and 2-out walk for Benchich put runners on the corners, but Township’s sophomore escaped the jam on a fly out to center field. A quiet 2nd inning for both squads was highlighted by Andrew Flury throwing out Gebhard on his way to second base midway through Hempfield’s half of the inning. 

A leadoff single for Kaden Kemp, Township’s first hit on the night, in the top of the 3rd got the Blue Streaks’ dugout fired up. After a SAC bunt from Angelo Billiard, a towering double down the left field line off the bat of Braden Leed sent Kemp around to score and give the Blue Streaks a 1-0 lead through their half of the 3rd. Hempfield loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning after two quick outs and put Shirk in another bind. A fielder’s choice grounder to Christian Kleckner at shortstop helped Township hold their 1-run lead through 3.

1-2-3 4th innings for both pitchers put the game in the top of the 5th after only 49 minutes had elapsed in the game. Kleckner roped a double into the gap in left-center field to leadoff for Township in the top of the 5th. A bunt off Kemp’s bat found fair territory as Hempfield’s Toole lost control of it and left runners on the corners with no outs. A Billiard RBI ground out put the second run on the board for MT before a single for Leed kept the inning rolling. A Connors bunt created a play at the plate where pinch runner Alex Derderian safely slid under the tag and put Township up 3-0. A Boll HBP loaded the bases and a Sauder RBI single before the half inning was up left Township with a 4-0 advantage.

Shirk continued to grind through the Black Knights’ lineup facing only four batters in the bottom of the 5th and three in the 6th. The 4-0 lead carried into the top of the 7th where Connors barreled a ball all the way to the wall in center field and rounded the bases for an inside-the-park homerun (triple + error, depending on which scorebook you find). Shirk returned to the mound in the bottom of the 7th with a 5-0 lead and only had enough pitches remaining to face two batters. A leadoff single and HBP left some work for Sauder on the mound as he entered from center field in relief. A line out to Jacob Carrasco at third base on Sauder’s first batter turned into two outs as the runner on second was doubled up attempting to get back to the bag. An RBI single for Toole before the final out was recorded gave the Black Knights their lone run on the evening, but a fly out to Ryan Turner in deep center field solidified the Blue Streaks as Lancaster-Lebanon League Champions once again!

For the 11th time in team history, the Blue Streaks finished the league season as champions. Two championship wins in three seasons is the best stretch in the league playoffs for Township since the team went back-to-back in 1971-72. The team will go back to work this week as an opening round game for the District Playoffs looms on Friday afternoon. More details to follow once available.