11-run 3rd inning sails Township past Cedar Crest in District III Opener

Meeting for the (rare) fourth time on the year, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks hosted the Cedar Crest Falcons on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2024 District III 6A Playoffs. Township, the #5 seed, took care of business in two of the three regular season meetings between these teams, however Cedar Crest, the #12 seed, got away with a 5-4 midseason victory on the Blue Streaks home soil.

Braden Leed (5 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 K), making his first start since last Thursday on the road at Donegal in the League Quarterfinals, was in some trouble early in the top of the 1st. A 1-out fielding error on the infield followed by a HBP and walk loaded the bases for the Falcons with 2 outs. Thankfully for Leed, a full count to the next batter went the way of a strikeout and ended Cedar Crest’s threat for runs. Township had their own chance to get on the board early in the bottom of the 1st after a 2-out fly ball from Andrew Flury to left field was misplayed and gave Traeton Sauder a chance to score from first base. The run would never come, however, after a wide turn at third for Sauder ended in a minor collision with Coach Kirchoff and Sauder stranded on the bag. A pop out ended the inning with the score still 0-0.

Both teams put men on base in the 2nd as Leed walked two in the top half and Christian Kleckner and Angelo Billiard reached on a single and walk respectively, but neither team scratched a run across the plate so the scoreless affair continued. The Blue Streaks’ had their best inning of the day in the 3rd where Leed worked two ground balls and a strikeout to quickly retire the Falcons in the top half, while Township’s offense sent 17 men to the plate in the bottom half.

A leadoff walk for Josh Boll followed up by a Sauder double down the line in left field finally broke the scoreless tie and made it 1-0 MT. A SAC bunt for Flury moved Sauder to third before singles from Jacob Carrasco, Kleckner, and Kaden Kemp added two more runs. An RBI ground out off the bat of Billiard had the Blue Streaks up 4-0, but they weren’t done yet. With 2 outs, errors on grounders from Leed and Ben Connors kept the inning alive. An RBI double from Boll, his second time batting in the inning, put the 6th run up before RBI singles for Sauder and Flury had the score at 9-0. The hits kept coming as Carrasco, Kleckner, and Kemp all singled and before the 3rd inning was wrapped, the Blue Streaks held an 11-0 lead.

Still facing the 11-0 deficit in the top of the 5th, what was poised to be the final inning, the Falcons did not go quietly. A leadoff single for Custer and back-to-back fielding errors loaded the bases for Cedar Crest with only 1 out. An RBI single for Brown plated a run and it looked like the Falcons would force the Blue Streaks back to the plate in the bottom of the 5th, but Leed worked back-to-back strikeouts to hold the 10-run lead and wrap up the game after 5 innings, 11-1.

The Blue Streaks will travel to #4 seed Wilson on Monday afternoon (5/20) for a rematch of one of last year’s District Semifinal matchups. First pitch is currently scheduled for 4:30.