1985
Varsity Baseball
Front row: Chris
Abner, Erica Hallett, Frank Kessler,; second row:
Mark Duffie, Brad Humes, Tracy Herth, Steve Farnham, Sean
Kelly; third row:
Jeff Teeter, Mike Noll, Joel Swank, Paul Kovach, Eric
Kuhary; fourth row:
Coach Don Shirley, Andy Pellowitz, David Strock, Chuck
White, Bryan Ward, Jeff Gregor, and Coach Sauve
In the
beginning ….
Division
I season opens this week
The
safe consensus of area Mid-Penn Conference Division I baseball
coaches is that there probably won’t be an undefeated team in
this league.
Defending champion
Chambersburg
is tabbed as one of the top teams.
The strength of the division was evident last season as the
top four teams – Chambersburg,
Carlisle
, CV, and Mechanicsburg - were selected for the District 3-AAA
tournament.
Chambersburg
won the tourney with Mechanicsburg second.
Mechanicsburg: Coach Don Shirley, 14th year; last
year’s record: 18-10, tied for second in Division I, District
3-AAA runner up; seniors lost: 10; key players returning; nine.
The most notable graduation loss was Shawn Abner, who was
selected by the New York Mets as the first player in the June
major league draft.
Shirley looks to team speed and pitching as strengths.
“My outlook’s favorable,” he said. “We’re so
young; we have to play it by ear. These underclassmen had a good
junior varsity year last year.”
Pitchers: Dave
Strock, Mike Noll and Frank Kessler were all in the rotation last
year. Strengthening the corps will be juniors Paul Kovach, Joel
Swank and Derrick Kulhary.
First Base: Jeff
Gregor returns as the starter, with Mark Duffie backing up.
Second
Base: Abner’s younger brother, Chris, is the likely starter,
with Strock seeing some action when not pitching.
Third
Base: Joe Mayberry is a returning starter and Sean Kelly could see
some action.
Shortstop: Andy Pellowitz
is back, with Swank at shortstop too.
Outfielders: Jeff
Teeter and Chick White return, with Steve Farnham and Brian Ward
also likely candidates.
(March 23, 1985 Patriot News)
Season
Highlights
Mechanicsburg
10, Steel High 0
Frank
Kessler and Dave Strock combined to throw a six-inning no-hitter
as Mechanicsburg High blanked Steel High, 10-0 in baseball
Tuesday. Kessler pitched the first four innings and Strock worked
the last two.
Brad Humes and Chris Abner had two hits each in the Wildcat
offense. Jeff Gregor belted the game’s only homer in the fourth
inning with one runner on base.
Mechanicsburg
121 411 – 10 9 0
Steel
High
000 000 – 0 0 5
Hershey
9, Mechanicsburg 3
Hershey
handed visiting Mechanicsburg a baseball defeat Thursday. The
Trojans spurted to a 7-2 lead after two innings and coasted home
an easy winner. Andy Pellowitz led the Wildcats with three hits.
Frank Kessler and Chris Abner had RBIs for the Wildcats.
Hershey
611 01x – 9 8 1
Mechanicsburg 201
000 – 3 7 1
WP
– Kolbacki. LP – Mike Noll
Mechanicsburg
10,
Middletown
0
The
Wildcats blanked the Raiders in a non-league baseball game Monday
afternoon. Mike Noll pitched four innings with five strikeouts and
gave just three hits and no walks to get the win for
Mechanicsburg.
The game was stopped after five innings on the 10-run rule.
Jeff Teeter and Chuck White were the big guns at the plate
for the Wildcats. Both had four hits. Teeter blasted a solo
homerun in the fourth inning and also smacked a double and two
singles for a total of four RBIs in the game. White hit two
singles and two doubles for three RBIs. Mechanicsburg is 2-2
overall, 0-1 in Mid-Penn Division I.
Mechanicsburg
131 14 – 10 12 0
Middletown
000 00 – 0 3
1
WP – Noll, LP-Ty Snavely. HR- Teeter (M), fourth, none
on.
Mechanicsburg
12, C.D. East 11
Mechanicsburg
outlasted C.D.East yesterday in a slugfest.
Mechanicsburg was behind 9 – 4 entering the top of the
seventh inning, but scored nine times in the inning. to East
responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, but Eric
Kuhary coaxed a groundout from Bob Bratten to end the game with a
runner on first. Big
hits in the seventh came from Jeff Teeter, Chuck White, Jeff
Gregor, and a three-run homer by Chris Abner. White and Abner had
three hits in the contest.
Mechanicsburg
000 202 8 – 12 12 4
C.D.
East
142 020 2 – 12 11 0
WP
– Kuhary. LP – Pogue
Mechanicsburg
3, Cedar Cliff 2
Mechanicsburg
made the most of its two hits in gaining a win over Cedar Cliff on
Tuesday. The Wildcats’ Steve Farnham tripled to open the third
inning and a combination of walks, wild pitches and an error gave
Mechanicsburg three runs. Sean Kelly also tripled for the
Wildcats, but did not score. Paul Kovach went all the way on the
mound and held Cedar Cliff to three hits.
Mechanicsburg
003 000 0 – 3 2 1
Cedar
Cliff
200 000 0 – 2 3 1
WP
- Kovach, LP – Justh
Central
Dauphin 7, Mechanicsburg 6
Central
Dauphin edged Mechanicsburg 7-6 in an eight-inning baseball game
Thursday.
The Rams scored three runs in the top of the seventh on a
three-run homer by Dave Wix. Mechanicsburg (7-3) came back with
two runs in the bottom of the seventh but fell one run shy. Andy
Pellowitz led the Wildcats with two hits.
Central
Dauphin 100 003 03 – 7 8 3
Mechanicsburg 100
030 02 – 6 6 0
WP
– Bitting. LP – Dave Strock. HR – Wix (CD)
Mechanicsburg
10,
Cumberland
Valley
3
Frank
Kessler starred in Mechanicsburg High’s 10-3 baseball win over
visiting
Cumberland
Valley
on Saturday. Kessler went all the way on the mound, allowing four
hits and fanning seven. At bat, Kessler punched three hits,
including two doubles, and drove in three runs.
Cumberland
Valley
201
000 0 - 3
4 3
Mechanicsburg
410 014 x – 10 11 2
Mechanicsburg
5,
Red
Land
1
Mechanicsburg
High improved its overall record to 11-4 with a 5-1 win over
Red
Land
on Tuesday. Paul Kovach picked up the victory with relief help
from Mike Noll. Jeff Teeter and Andy Pellowitz led the Wildcats
with three hits each. Sean Kelly put the game out of reach with a
two-run single in the fifth inning.
Mechanicsburg
030 020 0 – 5 9 1
Red Land
001 000 0 – 1 7 1
WP
– Kovach. LP –
Randy Super
Mechanicsburg
12, Cedar Cliff 2
The
Wildcats maintained second place in Division I with a win over the
Colts. Jeff Teeter and
Chuck White were both 2-for-3 and Shawn Kelly, Chris Abner and
Bryan Ward each had two RBIs. Mechanicsburg pitcher Frank Kessler
held Cedar Cliff to four hits, striking out 12 and giving up two
walks. Mechanicsburg is 12-4 overall, 9-3 in the league.
Mechanicsburg
604 002 – 12 8 1
Cedar
Cliff
001 001 – 2 4
5
WP
– Kessler. LP – Smith
Mechanicsburg
13,
Carlisle
2
Mechanicsburg
downed Carlisle in baseball played at
Carlisle
on Friday. Dave Strock and Paul Kovach combined to pitch a
two-hitter in the six-inning contest.
Chuck White belted two home runs for the Wildcats. Jeff
Teeter, Steve Farnham and Chris Abner added two hits each. Bill
Stonebraker and Jim Musci had the Carlilse hits and Musci batted
in a run.
Mechanicsburg
150 403 – 13 10 0
Carlisle
002 000 – 2
2 2
WP
– Strock. LP – Paul Blackburn
Mechanicsburg
12,
Harrisburg
4
Mike
Noll scattered three hits as Mechanicsburg (7-2) scored a baseball
win over
Harrisburg
on Tuesday. Jeff Gregor of the Wildcats hit the game’s only
homer. Frank Kessler and John Feichtel had three runs batted in.
Mechanicsburg
034 023 – 12 7 0
Harrisburg
000 031 – 4 3 5
WP
– Noll, LP – Mark Hoy
Mechanicsburg
12,
Harrisburg
0
Mechanicsburg
(14-4) scored a shutout win over visiting
Harrisburg
on Tuesday.
Mike
Noll gave up two hits and fanned eight in the five-inning contest.
Jeff Teeter and Steve Farnham led the Wildcats with two hits each.
Farnham drove in two runners.
Mechanicsburg
000 00 – 0
2 0
Harrisburg
221 7x – 12 11 1
WP
– Noll. LP - Jay Song
Mechanicsburg
9,
Cumberland
Valley
3
Mechanicsburg High dealt
Cumberland
Valley
a 9-3 Mid-Penn Conference baseball loss Wednesday. The Wildcats
scored four runs in the final two innings to secure the win. Andy
Pellowitz led Mechanicsburg with three hits and Sean Kelly added
two hits. Both players had three RBIs each. Damon Phelan was the
Eagle leader with two hits.
Mechanicsburg
310 012 2 – 9 11 2
Cumberland
Valley
002 010 0 – 3 6
4
WP
– Chris Hakel. LP – Rod Zwigart
Central
Dauphin 8, Mechanicsburg 1
Mechanicsburg
dropped its last regular-season game, to Central Dauphin on
Monday. Central
Dauphin scored six runs in the opening inning, sparked by Dave
Magnelli’s three–run double.
Jeff Teeter, Frank Kessler and John Feichtel had singles
for the Wildcats.
Central
Dauphin 600 110 x – 8 7 2
Mechanicsburg
000 010 0 – 1 3 3
WP
– Chris Miller. LP – Paul Kovach
Mechanicsburg
3,
Middletown
0
Dave Strock pitched a two-hit shutout to lead Mechanicsburg
High over
Middletown
, 3-0, Monday.
Middletown
pitcher Ty Snavely allowed the Wildcats just five hits in a losing
effort. Stever Farnham and Andy Pellowitz drove in runs for the
Wildcats.
Middletown
000 000 0 – 0 2 1
Mechanicsburg 010
110 x – 3 5 1
WP
– Strock, LP -
Snavely
Kessler
‘super’ in win
Thursday
afternoon at Memorial Park in Mechanicsburg there were two super
pitchers –one literally and one figuratively.
The literal one was
Red
Land
’s Randy Super, while the figurative one was Mechanicsburg’s
Frank Kessler, who pitched his way out of jams in the first and
second innings, leading the Wildcats to an 8-2 victory over the
Patriots.
But one had to wonder whether Kessler would even make it
out of the first.
He walked right fielder Gary Hughes and Super before
getting shortstop Mike Collins to fly to Steve Farnham in right.
Then, Chris Abner made his first of four stellar defensive plays,
taking Steve Nelson’s pop-up in medium center field.
“The key was Frank pitching out of the jams and Chris’
defensive plays,” said Wildcat coach Don Shirley following the
game.
In the first, Kessler loaded the bases with his third of
six walks before getting designated hitter Mike Crocenzi on a
swinging third strike - the first of nine strikeouts on the
afternoon for Kessler.
Kessler ran into similar trouble in the second. But not
before Mechanicsburg scored three times in the last of the first.
A Jeff Teeter single and a couple of fielder’s choices
were followed by walks to DH Joe Mayberry and first baseman Jeff
Gregor. Sean Kelly forced in Andy Pellowitz with the first run on
a walk, and Collins couldn’t come up with a Farnham grounder
that scored Mayberry and Gregor, making the score 3-0.
Red
Land
came close to evening it, as it loaded the bases with nobody out
in the second. Jim Douglas walked. Ron Jones singled to left.
Then, centerfielder Scott Burd put down a sacrifice bunt,
which was mishandled by Kessler, loading the bases with none out.
However, Kessler sent Hughes back to the bench on strikes.
Abner then went back into shallow right field on a ball hit by
Super. He caught it and uncorked a perfect throw to the plate,
nailing
Douglas
.
Catcher John Feitchtel singled to open the second. He went
to second base on a walk to Teeter, and both moved up on a Chuck
White sacrifice. After Pellowitz flied to center, Mayberry walked
on four pitches.
Then Gregor drew a walk, forcing in Feichtel and Kelly
singled up the middle, scoring Teeter and Mayberry. But Kelly was
thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
M’Burg
downs Herd
Don
Shirley figured in preseason that this might be a rebuilding year
for his Wildcat baseball team.
Mechanicsburg lost several veteran seniors from last
year’s team which finished second in the District 3-AAA
tournament to Chambersburg, which went on to win the state
championship.
But the Wildcats continued to surprise Shirley Thursday as
they came from behind to trounce Carlisle 10-4 at
Mechanicsburg
Memorial Park
. The win ups the Wildcats’ record to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in
Mid-Penn Division I.
At some places where Shirley thought his squad might be
weak, they’ve come through with underclassmen that have only
junior varsity experience previous to this spring.
Frank Kessler and Mike Noll have been the Wildcats’
pitching backbone. The pair combined for a six-hitter against
Carlisle
. Kessler went five innings to pick up the win, giving up five
hits and two walks and striking out eight batters.
Noll surrendered just one hit and no walks in the final two
frames and fanned two.
“It was a matter of a lot of young players, a matter of
how they would play,” said Shirley. “So far they’ve
responded well. The pitching’s been good and we’ve been
playing good defense. We’ve been getting some timely hits and
some breaks when the other teams make errors.”
Such was the case in the
Carlisle
game.
Mechanicsburg broke loose from a tight game in fifth inning
when the Thundering Herd’s defense went sour and the result was
a five-run inning that put the Wildcats up 10-3.
The timely hit in the inning was Andy Pellowitz’ two-run
single with the bases loaded. Later Sean Kelly smacked a two-run
double to put
Carlisle
in too deep of a hole.
The loss dropped
Carlisle
to 0-4 overall and in the league.
“The one inning when they got the five runs did it,”
said
Carlisle
coach Harry Mundorff. “It was a close game till then. We were
playing well. There are some signs we’re doing some things
right. We hit the ball a little better tonight and their
(Mechanicsburg’s) pitching was good. We’ve just got to keep
working.”
Carlisle
broke on top first when Bob Rowe poked a ground single to
leftfield which scored Orlando Roebuck, who had reached base on an
error.
Mechanicsburg tied it up in the second when Steve Farnham
reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored on Kessler’s
double.
The Herd took a 2-1 lead in the third when Dwight Rowe was
hit by a Kessler pitch, stole second and third, and scored on a
sacrifice suicide squeeze bunt by Gregg Shimp.
The Wildcats took the lead for good in the third when
Pellowitz rapped and RBI single and Jeff Gregor belted a one-run
triple and scored on an error when Joe Mayberry’s grounder was
bobbled.
Bob Rowe cut the margin to one in the fourth with an RBI
single, but Mechanicsburg made it 5-3 in the fourth on another
error, and then broke away in the fifth.
Carlisle
scored its final run in the seventh on a Roebuck one-run double.
Carlisle
’s Matt Schramm pitched the first three innings and was relieved
by Paul Blackburn to start the fourth. John Truesdell took over
Blackburn
midway through the fourth and finished up, giving up just one hit
and one walk.
Trojans defeat Wildcats
Good
games aren’t always enough. Mechanicsburg High’s baseball team
would like to beat
Chambersburg
sometime.
The Wildcats could be seen kicking the dust in the dry
infield at Mechanicsburg’s Memorial Park on Thursday.
They had just dropped another contest to
Chambersburg
, which is unbeaten and leading Division I of the Mid-Penn
Conference with an 8-0 record.
Mechanicsburg had been the bridesmaid in this series the
past two years. The Wildcats always keep the games within a run or
two, but seem to fall short of the upset.
Mechanicsburg led one time during Tuesday’s game, 2-1 but
the Trojans used two key hits to eke out a 4-3 victory.
The Wildcats are now 8-4 overall, 6-3 in the league.
“It was a great high school baseball game,” said
Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley. “They got the key hits. It was
a tough game. I think when they scored two runs with two outs,
that’s really what hurt. You have to give our kids credit,
though, they played real well. When we had runners on second and
third there, if we’d have gotten one more (run), it might have
been different.”
Shirley credited
Chambersburg
pitcher Andy Shreiner with keeping the Wildcats from getting the
key hits with runners in scoring positions.
“He’s one of the best pitchers around, no doubt about
it,” said Shirley.
Shreiner and Mechanicsburg starter Mike Noll went through a
two-inning scoreless duel before
Chambersburg
used two singles to get one run in the third.
It looked as if the Trojans might still have trouble
getting on base when the third inning first started.
Mechanicsburg third baseman Sean Kelly dove for Ron
Culbertson’s grounder and robbed him of a hit and first baseman
Jeff Gregor did a split to scoop the ball out of the dirt before
Culbertson could get there.
But the satisfaction from that play didn’t last long as
Pat Kane sliced a grounder to left field, stole second, then
scored when Shreiner poked a base hit past first base.
The pitchers settled into a duel again until the fifth
inning, when the Wildcats took advantage of a
Chambersburg
two-base error to score two runs and take the lead temporarily.
Chris Abner reached base on a dropped third strike, then
John Feichtel laid down a perfect bunt that Shreiner and Trojan
catcher Brain Etter tried to watch go foul, but it never did.
Both runners moved ahead on Jeff Teeter’s sacrifice bunt,
and both scored when a throw to try to catch Abner at third sailed
out of play.
The Wildcats put two more men on base that inning when
Chuck White and Andy Pellowitz tagged ground singles, but both
were stranded.
Noll was protecting the lead in the sixth inning when he
got two outs and gave up one base hit on the first three batters.
But after that, Rich Schoenleber and Culbertson drilled RBI
singles to give a 3-2 lead to the Trojans.
Chambersburg
cushioned its lead in the seventh on an RBI single by Etter, and
Mechanicsburg inched back in the bottom of the seventh when Teeter
belted a deep triple to center field and scored on White’s
sacrifice fly.
Pellowitz hammered a double after that, sending Shreiner to
the dugout, but the Wildcats couldn’t get the key hit to keep
the inning going.
Shreiner gave up seven hits and three walks and struck out
10. Noll gave up 10 hits and one walk and fanned five before
giving way to Dave Strock in the seventh.
“Noll pitched real well,” said Shirley. “He was
starting to get upstairs (high pitchers) a little bit, so I
thought it was time for a change.”
Mechanicsburg
Nips Hounds in Seventh
The
Shippensburg-Mechanicsburg District 3, Class AAA baseball playoff
game Tuesday had the look of a game destined for extra innings.
The score was tied 3-3 heading into the seventh inning with
the Hounds’ Byron Magee and the Wildcats’ Frank Kessler
putting on pitching exhibitions.
Magee, pitching in relief of starter Randy Taylor, struck
out the side in the top of the sixth. Kessler retaliated with two
strikeouts sandwiched around a popup in the bottom half of the
frame.
But baseball games can change on a single pitch, a fact
Magee will never forget. One hanging curve enabled Mechanicsburg
to end Shippensburg’s season 4-3 in the first - round game.
Magee retired the first Wildcat hitter in the seventh on a
pop-up to first baseman Jeff Beaver, then issued a walks to Bryan
Ward.
Jeff Teeter looked at a called third strike for the second
out, but Ward stole second (the Wildcats’ seventh theft) on a
bang-bang play. Hound
catcher Mark Wahl threw a rocket to shortstop Pat Long just as
Ward arrived. Long slapped the tag on Ward a fraction late.
On a 0-2 count, Mechanicsburg’s Chuck White jumped on a
hanging curveball and sent a laser down the right field line for a
double, scoring Ward. It was the only hit Magee gave up after
relieving starter Randy Taylor in the fifth inning.
“He struck out White on a curve ball the last time up and
I think White was waiting for the same pitch,” said
Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley. “(The hit) couldn’t have been
fair by more than two inches.”
And Frank Kessler really knows how to end a baseball
game. The Mechanicsburg High pitcher dropped an incredible curve
ball in front of Shippensburg’s Brian Magee to end the District
3-AAA tournament opener.
Mechanicsburg (15-5) jumped out to a 2-0 second inning lead
on a two-run homerun by Kessler.
The Hounds (13-4) answered with a run in the second inning
when Tony Franklin walked and Robert Heefner lofted a towering fly
ball to left field for a double.
The Wildcats picked up another run in the third inning when
Teeter singled, stole second and third and scored on Andy
Pellowitz’ sacrifice fly to right field.
Shippensburg tied the game in the fourth inning when, with
Beaver on second and Heefner on first, Wahl hit a hard ground ball
that got away from Wildcat first baseman Jeff Gregor. Beaver
scored, and Pat Long followed with an RBI single.
Shippensburg managed five hits off Kessler (8-1, his only
loss to
Chambersburg
) and the Wildcats had six. Kessler overpowered the Hounds for
most of the game, striking out 14 while mixing a hard fastball
with a curve and a changeup.
“He was the fastest left-hander we faced all season,”
said Hound coach John Bartholow. “The kid threw hard.”
“The problem was, he hadn’t pitched in quite a while
and I was afraid a layoff was going to hurt,” said Mechanicsburg
coach Don Shirley. “He was ready for the challenge. He had a
little trouble in the middle innings, but he rose to the
occasion.”
Taylor
pitched
the first four innings before Barholow sent in Magee after a
leadoff single in the fifth. Magee struck out seven of the 11
Wildcats he faced.
“We played a good game,” Bartholow said. “It
could’ve gone either way with one more hit in certain situations
or if we get a different call (on the seventh-inning stolen base)
… but I don’t want to make excuses, we just didn’t get the
run when we needed it, and they did.”
Mechanicsburg is now 15-5 overall.
Chambersburg
,
Mechanicsburg enter second round
Chambersburg
and
Mechanicsburg, the Mid-Penn Division I contributions to the state
playoffs last year, will be facing separate challenges in the
second round of the District 3-AAA baseball tournament this
evening.
While defending district and state champion Chambersburg
will be home at Henninger Field putting its traditional depth to
the test against neighboring
Waynesboro
, the Wildcats will be at
Newport
trying to step over a landmine named
Juniata
.
The young Indians, a first-time entry from the Tri-Valley
League’s northern tier, surprised talent-laden Lower Dauphin,
3-2 in the opening round as junior right hander Dave Koons held
the Falcons to six hits.
Juniata
coach Steve Dreibelbis, a cousin of Millersburg grid boss Bill
Dreibellis, who used to coach at CD East, said he will come back
with either Koons or sophomore right-hander Brian Clouser.
Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley said he probably will send
either Dave Strock or Mike Noll to the mound.
“Right now, we’re not completely sure of anything,”
said Shirley. “We were hitting well last week, but not right
now. I wish we could say our defense was picking us up, but
we’ve made our share of errors lately, too, except when Frank
Kessler had 14 strikeouts against Shippensburg Tuesday. We’ve
mainly been able to take advantage of other teams’ mistakes and
that has been the case all year. We just aren’t the type of team
to depend on one person in a game.”
Still,
Shirley noted that Chuck White, Jeff Teeter and Andy Pellowitz all
have been producing a steady supply of hits to the Mechanicsburg
offense.
Local
team wins playoffs
Mechanicsburg
used an early three-run inning and withstood a late threat to
advance to semifinal play Tuesday night.
In the nightcap Friday, Mechanicsburg defeated
Juniata
6-3, as the Wildcats scored three quick runs in the first and
never trailed, thanks to some clutch defense and strong pitching
from starter Dave Strock and late relief help from Mike Noll.
Jeff Teeter opened the Mechanicsburg first with a sharp
single to left, stole second and advanced to third on a wild
pitch. He then scored on a groundout to third, and following a hit
batsman, Mechanicsburg scored its second run on a triple to center
by Frank Kessler.
Wildcat right fielder Steve Farnham then knocked in the
third run with a single to right.
The 3-0 lead appeared to be more then enough as Strock held
the Indians hitless through the first four innings.
Juniata
entered the sixth trailing 6 – 0, but they scored three runs in
the bottom of the sixth. Noll
pitched a scoreless seventh to record the save.
Chambersburg
, Mechanicsburg clash
Chambersburg
and Mechanicsburg, who finished one-two in the power-packed
Mid-Penn Division I race this spring, will square off in a rematch
of last year’s District 3-AAA title game this evening at
Newport
.
The winner of that 7 p.m. semifinal clash then will meet
the survivor of today’s Hershey-Exeter shootout at Ephrata’s
War Memorial Field for the district crown Friday. Both district
AAA finalists qualify for the PIAA tourney.
“We’ve been fortunate to come out on the long end of
the stick with Mechanicsburg, but they always play good ball and
we expect another hard game,” said Trojan coach Bob Thomas,
whose 19-1 outfit used last year’s district title win as a
springboard to its first ever state championship.
“Each game is different,” continues Thomas, “and
I’ve always said you have to play each game as you get to it.
Mechanicsburg [17-5] has a decent club, and in these type of
playoffs you can’t afford to look ahead anyway”
Thomas said he
plans to send Darby Crum to the mound, while Wildcat Don Shirley
said he probably will go either Frank Kessler or Mike Noll.
Crum went all the way in
Chambersburg
’s playoff-opening win over Susquehannock, while Kessler also
went the distance in hurling Mechanicsburg to victory in the first
round against Shippensburg.
Noll came on in the seventh inning to nail down the
Wildcats’ 6-3 nod over
Juniata
for starter Dave Strock in the second round.
“We have a lot of confidence in the guys who don’t
start,” stressed Shirley. “Still if Frank looks ready we’ll
probably come back with him.”
Although Thomas noted second game winner Jim Egolf also is
ready, the
Chambersburg
coach said he tends to stick with the regular schedule.
“Actually, Andy [Schreiner] says he’s ready, too, and I
almost threw him a little Friday,” said Thomas of his ace
right-hander who hurt his arm in a regular-season game with
Mechanicsburg. “All of them are well-rested right now.”
Mechanicsburg’s lead collapses in 7th inning
Through
six innings, Mechanicsburg High had defending state champion
Chambersburg
on the ropes. But the Trojans came through in the clutch Wednesday
and won the District 3-AAA semifinal baseball game, 5-4 in the
bottom of the seventh inning. That inning was the only time during
the game
Chambersburg
had a lead, but it was the time that meant the difference between
ending a season and advancing into Friday’s District 3-AAA
championship game.
It’s a rough way to end the damn thing,” said a
dejected Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley, whose team has lost to
the Trojans three times this year. “The kids played well. It was
a good year for them.”
Mechanicsburg’s Frank Kessler and
Chambersburg
’s Darby Crum settled into a pitcher’s duel in the early
going, and Crum got rattled first. After four scoreless innings,
Mechanicsburg put together a combination of walks, runs and
Chambersburg
errors to take a 3-0 lead. Chris Abner and Bryan Ward drew
back-to-back walks and both advanced on Jeff Teeter’s fly out.
Chuck White then drilled a line-drive single to right field to
send Abner and Ward home.
White advanced to third base when
Chambersburg
center fielder Rich Shoenleber misplayed the ball. White then
scored on the next play when Andy Pellowitz’ grounder was
bobbled by Joe Tosten at third base.
Chambersburg
came right back with one run in the fifth as Kessler got in a jam.
He walked four batters in the inning, with the final one scoring
the lone run before he worked himself out of the mess with a
strikeout. The Trojans inched closer in the sixth when Brain
Corwell blasted a triple to deep center field, then scored when
Schoenleber smacked a line single to center field.
Kessler gave up one more hit that inning, a single to
Tosten, before giving way to reliever Mike Noll, who ended the
inning with a groundout. The Wildcats got an insurance run in the
seventh when Abner reached base on an error and moved to second on
a bunt a single by pinch hitter Jerry McKeon.
Abner
scored on a Teeter sacrifice fly.
&nb | 
