Recap

Manheim Township’s varsity team was finally able to host their home opener against Penn Manor Thursday afternoon after a series of games were postponed due to poor weather and field conditions. Both teams were eager to get back to playing even if it was in the bitter cold that was exacerbated by heavy wind gusts all afternoon. It wasn’t the start that the Blue Streaks were hoping for in the first few innings, but Nick Kurtz was able to right the ship on the mound and the Township offense lit up the scoreboard throughout the game. Township’s freshman starting pitcher had a shaky start with a few walks and hits given up to Penn Manor in the first three innings. Penn Manor capitalized on those opportunities and put up 4 runs in the 3rd inning to take an early lead.

From that point forward, the Blue Streak’s offense took over. After three consecutive walks to begin the bottom of the 3rd inning, Rece Bender knocked a ground ball into right field to bring home Travis Kraft for Township’s first run of the afternoon. A Kurtz fielder’s choice and a stolen base brought home Ben DeMarco and Kyle Donton to close the gap to 4-3. Kurtz settled down for the next two frames and sat down 6 of the next 7 Penn Manor batters, including two strikeouts.

In the 4th, Township’s offense picked up where it left off when Kraft knocked a double deep to center field and was moved up on the bases by a DeMarco single to the outfield. Bender continued his hot streak of RBIs by driving home both runners on a ground ball single up the middle. The Blue Streaks took a 5-4 lead into the 5th inning where Colin Yablonski padded the Township lead on a single that scored Will Greiner (pinch running for Kurtz) and extended the lead to 6-4. With a 2-run lead, Township handed the ball over to Ethan Kile on the mound to finish the job that Kurtz started. Kile cruised to his first save of the season by keeping Penn Manor relatively quiet in the final two innings. A fielding error by Penn Manor’s right fielder plated another Blue Streak runner (Jordan Yablonski) in the bottom half of the 6th inning. Kile struck out the final Penn Manor batter to wrap up the solid team performance against the 2017 Section 1 champs.

With the win, Manheim Township is now 2-0 on the season after picking up their first win last week against Governor Mifflin. Township is also 1-0 in Section 1 play and will match up again at Penn Manor (1-1) on April 27th.