Recap

Five days after falling to Wilson on the road in the District III 6A Semifinals, the #11 seeded Manheim Township Blue Streaks were on the road for the fourth time this postseason to take on the #9 Red Lion Lions in the 6A Third Place game. These two teams last matched up in the 2008 District III Quarterfinals where the Blue Streaks took an 11-4 win. Two quick outs in the top of the 1st brought Nick Tomlinson to the plate to line a double down the left field line and give Township some early life. A fielding error on a Gavin Glass grounder put runners on the corners, however, the Blue Streaks were held scoreless in the 1st after a fielder’s choice in the next AB ended the half inning. Glass (6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 8K) proceeded to take the mound and work a speedy 1-2-3 inning to start his evening. Township was back on the bases with two outs in the 2nd. A HBP to Josh Boll followed by a first-pitch RBI double to center field for Trey Eckman made it 1-0 Blue Streaks. Aside from a leadoff walk to Lipscomb in the bottom of the 2nd, Glass continued to hold the Lions at bay. Ryan Brader led off the top of the 3rd with a single up the middle and Tomlinson immediately followed up with his 2nd extra base hit on the night, this time a triple, to open up a 2-0 MT lead. Two batters later, Tyler Mulholland laid down a bunt to bring home courtesy runner Ryan Turner and before the inning was up, Mulholland scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch to send Glass back to the mound with a 4-0 lead. The Lions roared back in the bottom of the 3rd with a few runs of their own. A pair of singles for Decker and Lawrence put men on the corners before a fielder’s choice gave the home team their first run of the night. A walk and two singles later saw the Township lead shrink to 1 as Red Lion clawed two more runs across before the end of the 3rd, 4-3. Quiet half innings for the Blue Streaks in the 4th and 5th held the score at 4-3 before Red Lion tried to strike for more in the 5th. The Lions’ starter Krieger roped a 1-out triple into the right field corner and gave his team a chance to tie the game up, however, a fielder’s choice in the next AB saw Boll field a grounder and throw home for Tomlinson to tag out the lead runner and lessen the threat on the bases. Glass struck out the next batter to end the 5th with Township still ahead. A 1-2-3 inning for the Blue Streaks in the 6th brought the Lions back to the plate, but Glass worked a huge strikeout with runners on 1st and 2nd to send the 4-3 MT lead to the 7th. Township saw Brader reach base again with a single in the top of the 7th, but Blue Streaks couldn’t add to their 1-run lead before the home team took their final swings. Glass returned to the mound in the bottom of the 7th with only 6 pitches remaining to his name and he managed a strikeout and walk before his day was down. Eckman, at third base, swapped positions with Glass and picked up a ground out to Christian Kleckner at shortstop for the second out and fielded a routine grounder back to the mound to close out the 4-3 victory for the Blue Streaks.