"A premature Palmyra celebration over a double play defeated the Cougars 3-2 Tuesday at Mechanicsburg’s Memorial Park.

Palmyra forgot a double play makes only two outs and left the field, permitting Wildcat Rick Whitcomb to cross the plate untouched.

Four innings later, the error proved costly as Mechanicsburg broke the 2-2 deadlock with a single by Bob Kimble which scored teammate Dave Killick for the win.

Another unusual twist was that winning pitcher Bob McDonald only had to throw some six pitches to win. He took over from starter Gary Puchalsky in the seventh with two out and Palmyra in scoring position.

Third inning action began with singles by Whitcomb and Scott Miller. Then Dave Ritchey grounded into a double play, forcing Miller out.

The Cougars shouted and ran off the field congratulating their teammates on their double play execution. And Whitcomb scored while they celebrated."

April 13, 1977 Sentinel

Wildcats Swing Onto Victory

"The 1977 Wildcat baseball team was composed of players who had a gritty determination to win and provided a 12-5 season with exciting but also heartbreaking games.

The first game of the season saw the Cats coming back to win the second game of a double-header at Chambersburg. A 1-0 eight inning win over East Penn followed on a two out double by John Martin. Gary Puchalsky’s excellent pitching led the Cats to a 3-1 victory over C.D. East.

Following a loss to C.V. the team struck back with two one run games against Palmyra and Middletown. Scott Miller and Scott Snoke came through with clutch hitting for the Cats. After a tough loss to Red Land, the Cats got the hitting in high gear with big wins over Hershey 3-1 and Carlisle 7-5 with a seven run explosion in the fifth inning.

The high point of the season was a 5-4 win over C.V. where the Cats fell behind 2-0 but came back on hits by Miller, Ritchey, Martin, Snoke, and a three run opposite field homer by Ty Parlette in the third. Gary Puchalsky made the margin stand up.

A tough emotional 5-4 decision to Lower Dauphin in extra innings meant the Cats had to win their last two games and hope for a C.V. loss to tie for first. A shortened 12-1 win over Middletown was followed by a 4-3 loss to Red Land where the Cats came back from a 3-2 deficit in the seventh but were beaten by timely Patriot hitting.

Scott Miller led the team with a .385 average with support coming from seniors Dan McCurdy, Rick Whitcomb, Scott Snoke, Gary Puchalsky, Ty Parlette, Dave Killick, Bob Kimble, Bob Short, and Jeff Whittington.

Providing a solid nucleus next year will be John Martin, Dave Ritchey, Jeff Orndorff, Tom Bailey, Shawn Kessler, and Bob McDonald."

(May 16, 1977 Torch)

Lower Dauphin, the season-long runaway leader, clinched the CAC-East baseball title yesterday while Mechanicsburg tightened an already bunched three-way race in the CAC-West.

Righthander Rich Hay fired a one-hitter -- Kevin Malone's single in the fifth -- in hurling LD past Milton Hershey, 6-1. It was the ninth CAC win in 10 starts for the Falcons.

Greg Patton chased home three runs with a solo homer and two-run double while Hay, whose ERA was reduced to 0.62 for 45 innings, stroked a triple and single to help his own cause.

The loss was Milton Hershey's 23rd straight in the CAC over the last two years. In the CAC-West, Red Land received a 10-strikeout effort from ace lefty Gary Kelly to subdue East Pennsboro, 5-2, and assume a 1/2-game lead with four games remaining.

Mechanicsburg stayed alive with a crucial, 5-4, triumph over Cumberland Valley, which slipped behind Red Land with the loss.

Red Land (8-1) invades Cumberland Valley (8-2) Tuesday while Mechanicsburg (7-2) clashes with Lower Dauphin.

Ty Parlett's three-run, opposite field homer over the rightfield fence in the third powered Mechanicsburg to a 5-2 lead and Gary Puchalsky made the margin stand up.

"We lost earlier to CV, 8-0, so the kids were ready to play," says Mechanicsburg Don Shirley, whose Wildcats today have a makeup date at Milton Hershey.

"We've been playing well lately, getting the big hit at the right time."

Mechanicsburg has the toughest road of the three, CAC-West contenders. After Milton Hershey, the defending division titlists have Lower Dauphin, Middletown and Red Land.

(May 1977 Patriot)

Season highlights included the win over C.V. (division champions with "Smoking" Joe Kulick), a rain-out at Milton Hershey when Milton Hershey was ahead 8 - 4 after 3 innings (We beat them 12 - 4 in the rescheduled game.), and umpire Tony Kinn‘s (at right) 2,400th game when we played Hershey at Memorial Park on April 22, 1977. At that game he had been umpiring for 42 years and had done 1,995 games behind the plate.