Recap

Looking to end a 3-game slide, Manheim Township sent Nick Kurtz to the mound for this non-section matchup against Section 2 leading Elizabethtown. The Bears came out swinging and chased Kurtz early in the first inning after putting up 5 runs in only 2/3 of an inning. Josh Long came in to pitch for the Blue Streaks and for the 6th time this season, Township fell behind early after their opponent put up multiple 1st inning runs. With a 5-0 deficit in the bottom of the 1st, Kurtz and Ethan Kile picked up walks to put runners on base for the Streaks before they were retired without closing the gap.

Elizabethtown snagged another run off of Long in the 2nd inning to take a 6-0 lead. While Township could have rolled over and surrendered in this game, they weren’t going to go down without a fight. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Ben DeMarco and Colin Fitzgerald lead off with back-to-back singles. Colin Morrisette advanced the runners before Tom Cesarone singled to left field and scored DeMarco for Township’s first run of the afternoon. With two outs and two men on, Kurtz grabbed three runs back from the Bears with his second homerun of the season over the right field fence. All of a sudden this game was now 6-4 with momentum swinging in favor of the Blue Streaks.

Long shut down Elizabethtown on the mound in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. The score remained 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 4th where Township put another run on the board thanks to a Cesarone single and Colin Yablonski RBI single. Township was able to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the 5th inning when DeMarco lead off with a double and was brought home by another Cesarone single that got through the infield. Etown struck for a go-ahead run in the top of the 6th inning and Township was unable to match that run until the game reached the bottom of the 7th. DeMarco walked, Fitzgerald singled, and Rece Bender brought home the game-tying run on a fielder’s choice play by the defense. At 7-7, Township was unable to score the winning run with the bases loaded in the 7th.

This game moved into extra innings – the first extra innings game for the Blue Streaks this season. Will Greiner, who had entered to pitch in the 6th inning, shut down Etown in the top of the 8th to give Township a chance to win it in the bottom of the 8th. Kile and DeMarco walked for the Blue Streaks but a double play by the defense ended any chance for runs in the inning. The Bears picked up the winning run in the top of the 9th off a wild pitch by the Streaks. C. Yablonski pitched the final 3 outs for the Blue Streaks and Township’s offense was retired in order in the bottom half of the 8th.