1991
VARSITY BASEBALL
1st
row: Dan Fulton,
Dale Flor, Dan Coyne, Matt Barley; 2nd row: Mike
Sariano, Geoff Zawatski, Andy Ranck, Mike Hancock, Kevin
McCollum, Jon Shirk, Luis Pardo; 3rd row: Coach Sauve,
Julie Sproat, Chris Kohler, Jerry Lucas, Jim Paulus, Mark Payne,
Justin Bordlemay, Grant Stewart, Jon Beebe, Matt Lichtel, Julie
Paskalik, Coach Shirley
The
beginning ....
Plenty
of chasers in Division I baseball
Mechanicsburg got lost in the shuffle between Red Land
and CV, but came within two runs of creating a three-way tie for
the league championship on the final day of the season.
They were also impressive in a season-opening 11-1
victory against Steelton-Highspire Monday.
They also beat Hershey 6-4 Tuesday.
This year we have a dozen seniors who have been together
for a long time.
“One of the things that goes with that is that this
group is particular group is particularly close,” says
Shirley. “You don’t always have that, but these guys really
stick together.”
Mechanicsburg’s top last year, righthander Rich Kline,
moved on to Shippensburg University, leaving some pitchers with
less experience fill the rotation.
Dan Fulton and Matt Lichtel were impressive in the season
opener, striking out 12 against Steel-High. Jon Shirk, Kevin
McCollum and Mark Payne will also spend some time on the mound.
“Were still trying to find out who are,” Shirley
says.
That won’t be much of a problem at any other position.
Honorable mention all-star catcher Jerry Lucas returns
behind the plate. He will be backed up by Mike Hancock and Dan
Coyne.
The infield is deep and experienced. Payne and Lichtel
will share time at first base, while McCollum is a returning at
second. Mike Sariano and Andy Ranck are also available at
second.
Fulton is the shortstop when he is not pitching, while
Jon Beebe, Jim Paulus and Grant Stewart can all play third base.
The outfield features Dale Flor and Matt Barley in left
field, speedster Justin Bordlemay in center and Hancock and
Geoff Zawatski in right field.
“We have to find some pitching depth and we have to
find some hitters in certain places,” says Shirley. We’ve
got a lot of seniors back, and obviously they can’t all play
at once. We’ve got to find out where they all fit in best.”
Mechanicsburg
rips Steel-High, 11-1
Dan Fulton and Matt Lichtel combined for a two-hitter and
struck out 12 batters Monday afternoon to lead Mechanicsburg to
an 11-1 season opening victory over Steelton-Highspire in a
non-league game between Mid-Penn Conference baseball teams.
Fulton pitched the first four innings, allowing two hits
and striking out seven, and Lichtel followed with three innings
of hitless relief, punching out seven more Steamrollers.
The Wildcats, who had 12 base hits, were led by Jerry
Lucas, who went 3 for 3 with two runs batted in.
Jon Beebe’s two-run double highlighted a four-run
first-inning, and Jon Shirk added a two-run triple in the
second. Mark Payne also had a double and a two RBI for
Mechanicsburg.
Mechanicsburg
5, CD East 0
Dan Fulton pitched a complete game two hitter and belted
a home run and a double to lead the Wildcats past Central
Dauphin East in their Mid-Penn Division I opener. Mechanicsburg
is 3-0 over-all, and Fulton has won two of the games
He struck out six and walked two.
Dale Flor drew a bases-loaded walk to give Mechanicsburg
a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning at Memorial Park.
Fulton then led off a three-run explosion in the fourth
inning with a double. Flor and Jim Paulus added RBI doubles in
the inning, and Kevin McCollum a run-scoring single. Fulton’s
solo home run in the fifth accounted for the Wildcats’ final
run.
Chambersburg
9, Mechanicsburg 5
Chambersburg’s Casey Bookens cooled off the Wildcats in
another division I game. Mechanicsburg lost for the first time
in four games as Bookens tossed a four-hitter and the Wildcats
struggled defensively.
Dale Flor had two hits with a double and one RBI for the
Wildcats.
The Wildcats are 3-1over-all.
Mechanicsburg
6, Hershey 4
Mechanicsburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead and hung on for a
6-4 victory against Hershey Tuesday afternoon, giving the
Wildcats their second victory in as many days.
Jerry Lucas, who was 3-for-3 in Mechanicsburg’s victory
Monday, followed that with a 2-for-3 performance Tuesday. Lucas
had a double, triple and two runs batted in.
Dale Flor and Jon Shirk each had two hits and an RBI for
Mechanicsburg. Shirk was the winning pitcher.
Red
Land Still Perfect
Red Land coach Brandt Cook isn’t thrilled about having
his Patriots rated as the number two prep baseball team in the
USA today, but the players don’t mind.
“Everyone is a lot more confident this year,” said
senior left fielder Mitch Kauffman, who knocked in two runs on
three hits in Red Lands 6-4 victory yesterday against
Mechanicsburg.
The come-from-behind victory kept the defending state
class AAA champs unbeaten in five outings and tied with unbeaten
Chambersburg atop Mid-Penn Division I at 3-0.
“We saw the best pitching around last year,” Kauffman
added. “We feel we can score runs against anyone.”
Third baseman Dennis Shaffner, whose set up Kauffman’s
two run single, agreed after lining the decisive two-run base
hit in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“It doesn’t matter where we hit,” said Schaffner,
who was 2-3 batting Red Lands Number 8 spot in Red Lands batting
order. “Not many people can say they have played on a
championship team.”
Still, the victory, in which Red Land spotted the
Wildcats a 3-0 lead on a pair of first-inning errors, left Cook
shaking his head.
“That USA Today thing will haunt us all season,” Cook
said.
“There are a lot of tough teams like Mechanicsburg, and
we’re the target.”
Despite an uncharacteristic three costly errors in the
contest by his team, Cook took comfort in the five-hit mound
work of senior Brett Wagner.
The most Brett has thrown this spring was 60 pitches, and
this was really the first day he ran for us,” said the veteran
coach. “It was just comforting to see him out there.”
Wagner, who struck out 10 without allowing a walk or an
earned run, apparently has that effect on his teammates as well.
“When Brett is on the mound everyone steps up a
level,” Schaffner said. “He works so
hard that no one wants to let him down.”
Mechanicsburg
13, Palmyra 1
The Wildcats won in a non-league game.
Kevin McCollum hit a grand slam home run for
Mechanicsburg and Andy Ranck a three-RBI home run. John Shirk
went 3 for 3. John Beebe had two hits and two RBI with a triple.
Jerry Lucas had two hits- a double and a triple. Mark Payne had
two hits. Geoff Zawatski doubled for the Wildcats.
Mechanicsburg has a 7-2 overall record and is 4-2 in the
league.
Mechanicsburg
11, Harrisburg 1
Kevin McCollum was a one- man wrecking crew for the
Wildcats.
All he did was belted a grand slam, a three-run homer and
a double to finish the day with seven runs batted in while going
3-for-4 in another division game at Harrisburg.
Mark Payne also went 3-for-4 and had one RBI for
Mechanicsburg which is 5-2 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Jon Shirk threw a two-hitter to pick up the victory.
Central
Dauphin 3, Mechanicsburg 2
The Rams scored an unearned run in the bottom of the
eight inning to spoil a strong pitching performance from the
Wildcats’ Dan Fulton at Central Dauphin.
Mechanicsburg left six on base in the first three innings
and had only three base runners after that.
“Central Dauphin did not do anything fancy. They took
advantage of some opportunities and won on an error,” said Don
Shirley, Mechanicsburg coach.
Jerry Lucas had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI
for the Wildcats. Mark Payne had an RBI single.
Mechanicsburg
has a 7-3 overall record and is 4-3 in league play.
Mechanicsburg
9, Cedar Cliff 5
Jon Shirk went 3-for-4 with three Mechanicsburg RBI. Mark
Payne had four hits. John Beebe had two hits and two RBI. Dan
Fulton had two hits with a double. Mark Sariano had two hits
with one RBI. Justin Bordlemay had two hits with a double.
Jason Leader had two hits and one RBI for Cedar Cliff.
Mechanicsburg has a 6-2 overall record and a 4-2 league
record.
Lightning
shortens Mechanicsburg’s game,
but
Wildcats still win big over East
Mechanicsburg won a lightning shortened game against
Central Dauphin East 13-5 in Mid Penn baseball Wednesday.
The Wildcats had scored two more runs in the top of the
seventh inning but were discounted when the game was called
without Central Dauphin East getting its seventh inning at bat.
Mike Sariano hit a grand slam for the Wildcats and
collected five RBI. He went 3-for-4 and also had a double. John
Beebe hit 2-for-4 with three RBI. Jerry Lucas hit 2-for-4 with a
double and a triple and two RBI. Kevin McCollum four hits with a
double and one RBI.
The Wildcats have a 9-3 overall record and 6-3 record.
Mechanicsburg
wins against CV
Jason Humphrey and Ben Berra combined on a no-hitter, and
Chris Notarfrancesco, Scott Pletcher and Billy Allen all had
doubles for Cumberland Valley.
BUT...
Mechanicsburg still managed to pull out a 1-0 Mid Penn
Division I baseball victory over the Eagles Monday afternoon in
a sight drizzle at Mechanicsburg’s Memorial Park.
Humphrey pitched the first five innings for Cumberland
Valley, and Berra threw a hitless inning of relief.
But when Humphrey walked Kevin McCollum in the bottom of
the fourth, the Wildcats, speedster made the difference in the
game. He stole second, reached third on a throwing error, then
scored the game’s only run on a wild pitch.
Jon Shirk got the win, registering eight strikeouts while
fashioning a five-hitter of his own for Mechanicsburg.
“We played a fairly good game defensively,” said
Cumberland Valley Coach Rob Martin. “We didn’t get hits when
we needed them.” The Eagles left eight men on base.
Cumberland Valley has a 2-6 league record and is 4-6
overall.
Carlisle
edges Mechanicsburg
Mechanicsburg’s Jerry Lucas and Carlisle’s John
Hildebrandt smacked home runs that cover a lot of ground, but a
ball that barely made it past the pitchers mound decided the
game.
Bret Giggoney’s squeeze bunt scored the winning run in
the third inning, and Carlisle played flawless defense behind
the complete-game, four hit pitching of Jerry Doyle to beat
Mechanicsburg 3-2 in an important Division I game Wednesday at
Carlisle.
The victory was Carlisle’s second in two days after a
disastrous tree-game losing streak last week and puts the
Thundering Herd in a virtual tie with Mechanicsburg and Central
Dauphin for third place in the league. The top three teams in
Division I qualify for the District 3-AAA playoffs.
Mechanicsburg, 10-5 overall, and Central Dauphin, which
blasted Red Land 10-1 Wednesday, still hold a half-game lead on
Carlisle, but the three teams are tied in the loss column. The
Wildcats and Rams are 7-5 in league games; Herd 6-5
Carlisle can do something about that immediately,
however. The Herd travels to Central Dauphin for another game
with major playoff implications today.
“It’s a start,” said Carlisle Coach Harry Mundorff.
“It’s a help. We needed to beat a good team, and we played
well.”
Both teams got excellent pitching from their starters,
Matt Lichtel for Mechanicsburg and Doyle for Carlisle. They gave
up four hits apiece and the game just took an hour and 40
minutes.
The Wildcats, who knocked off defending state champion
Red Land 2-1 Tuesday, could not manage any runs after Lucas’
two-run homer in the top of the first inning.
“We’ve been struggling for runs,” said
Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley. “I thought when we got off to
a 2-0 lead like that it would help us. We just stopped after
that”.
Justin Bordlemay started the game by drawing a walk, but
center fielder Jim Belich provided a hint on what was going to
happen when Kevin McCollum hit a sharply hit ball to him.
Belich’s running catch off of his shoe-tops would be one of
the five defensive plays that kept the Wildcats from having a
big inning.
With two outs in the first, however, Lucas got
Mechanicsburg on the board. The left-handed catcher blasted a
high drive over the right field fence to give Mechanicsburg a
quick 2-0 lead.
Hildebrandt, a right handed batter, provided Carlisle’s
first run with an identical batted ball as Lucas over the right
field fence. This set the stage for a three-run rally.
Craig Carns walked with one out, and Kevin Chestnut
drilled a game tying double down the right-field line. Chestnut,
whose two hits Wednesday gave him five in two days, advanced to
third on a throw to the plate.
That’s when Gibboney pushed a bunt passed Lichtel’s
glove to score Chestnut for the game winning run.
The next four innings were dominated by pitching and
defense. Besides Belich’s play in center in first inning ,
Carlisle got two good catches on line drives.
With that kind of help, Doyle retired 13 of the last 14
batters he faced, and he picked off the only runner that reached
base in the fifth.
“We made the plays,” the Mechanicsburg coach Don
Shirley said. “Their pitcher threw strikes. He only threw
about 60 pitches or so. Anytime you throw that many pitches in
seven innings, you’ve pitched a good game.”
“We’re trying to make the playoffs,” Shirley said.
“Coming off a big win (Tuesday), I thought we would play
better today. That should help us play better not worse.”
Mechanicsburg 2, Red
Land 1
The Wildcats remained in the fight for the third place
spot for playoffs behind Jon Shirk’s three-hitting pitching
and two hits.
Shirk outdueled Patriot star Bret Wagner, who gave up six
hits
Shirk doubled in the in the fourth inning and was plated
by Jon Beebe’s base hit as Mechanicsburg opened the scoring.
The Wildcats scored in the seventh on a fielder’s choice that
was batted by McCollum that ended in an error. Jerry Lucas also
had a double for Mechanicsburg.
Final Results
|
|
MASH
|
OPPONENT
|
Record
|
|
Steel
High
|
11
|
1
|
1
– 0
|
|
Hershey
|
6
|
4
|
2
– 0
|
|
C.D.
East
|
5
|
0
|
3
– 0
|
|
Chambersburg
|
5
|
9
|
3
– 1
|
|
Red
land
|
4
|
6
|
3
– 2
|
|
Carlisle
|
2
|
0
|
4
– 2
|
|
Harrisburg
|
11
|
1
|
5
– 2
|
|
Cedar
Cliff
|
9
|
5
|
6
– 2
|
|
Palmyra
|
13
|
1
|
7
– 2
|
|
Central
Dauphin
|
2
|
3
|
7
– 3
|
|
C.V.
|
1
|
0
|
8
– 3
|
|
C.D.
East
|
13
|
5
|
9
– 3
|
|
Chambersburg
|
0
|
7
|
9
– 4
|
|
Red
land
|
2
|
1
|
10
– 4
|
|
Carlisle
|
2
|
3
|
10
– 5
|
|
Harrisburg
|
7
|
0
|
11
– 5
|
|
Cedar
Cliff
|
11
|
0
|
12
– 5
|
|
Palmyra
|
5
|
0
|
13
- 5
|
|
Central
Dauphin
|
3
|
4
|
13
– 6
|
|
C.V.
|
4
|
1
|
14
– 6
|
League
record – 10 – 6
League finish –
4th
League
Champion - Chambersburg
League
All-Stars: Jerry
Lucas, Jon Shirk, Dan Fulton, Jim Paulus, Kevin McCollum
Statistical
leaders –Hitting:
-
Batting average:
Mike Sariano - .381, Jon Shirk - .373, Jerry Lucas -
.364, Mark Payne - .358
-
Home runs –
Jerry Lucas and Kevin McCollum - 3
-
Home runs by
position – 2nd base (McCollum, Sariano, Ranck)
- 5
-
Hits
- Shirk – 22, Lucas - 20
-
RBIs – Lucas
and McCollum - 16
-
Doubles
– Lucas – 7
-
Triples
– Lucas – 4
-
Grand Slams –
McCollum – 2
Statistical
leaders –Pitching:
-
No hitter –
Shirk and Payne vs. Cedar Cliff
-
Pitching wins:
Shirk and Dan Fulton – 6
Innings pitched – Fulton – 50, Shirk - 47
-
Strikeouts -
Fulton - 51
