Recap

A week removed from a loss at War Memorial Field at the back end of the regular season, the Manheim Township Blue Streaks traveled back to Ephrata to face the Mountaineers in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Semifinals on Saturday morning. These two teams last met in the postseason in 2022 as Township defeated the Mounts 11-2 in the League Championship game at Clipper Magazine Stadium. With 2 outs in the top of the 1st, the Blue Streaks picked up a trio of base runners on a Traeton Sauder single, Andrew Flury walk, and Jacob Carrasco HBP. Before Township could take an early lead, a fly out ended the road half of the inning. Trey Eckman, making the start for Township, was on fire right out of the gate. A strikeout, ground out, and pop out on 11 pitches kept the Mounts quiet in the 1st while another two strikeouts in both the 2nd and 3rd innings had Eckman rolling through 3. Just earlier in the top of the 3rd, Township finally converted some base runners into runs. A leadoff bunt single from Josh Boll and walk from Sauder put two men on with no outs. A Flury SAC bunt moved both runners into scoring position for Carrasco to drive them home with a single to center field. The 2-0 MT lead carried into the bottom of the 4th where a bunt single and Township infield error helped put an Ephrata run on the board. Eckman worked out of the remaining jam, but the Blue Streaks now only led 2-1. Two walks in the top of the 5th looked promising for the Blue Streaks, but Simes escaped the inning on a pair of fielder’s choices and a pop out. No-hurt innings for Eckman in the 5th and 6th had the Senior righty rolling into the final inning with only 73 pitches to his name on the day. In the top of the 7th, Boll led off the inning with a HBP before moving to second on a Sauder SAC bunt. While Ephrata intentionally walked Carrasco, both Township runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch from the Mounts’ Savage. A ground out ended the Blue Streaks’ opportunity for an insurance run or two, but Eckman didn’t need them. On two pitches, Eckman got the leadoff guy in the bottom of the 7th to pop one up in front of the mound. Out number two came on a 3-pitch fly out to Sauder in center field. On what ended up being the final batter, Eckman induced a deep fly ball to left-center on a full count that sent Ben Connors and Sauder crashing into each other, however Sauder managed to hold on and send the Blue Streaks to the League Finals with a 2-1 victory.