FLEETWOOD
14, MECHANICSBURG 4
'Cats
season come to an end
Ryan
Hellam's three-run home run in the top of the second
put the Wildcats up 4-1. It all went downhill from
there, as four Mechanicsburg pitchers combined to
walk 10 batters and hit two more.
JB
Stops 'Cats
In
crossover action, James Buchanan staff ace Josh
McCauley struck out 10 during a complete-game
three-hitter, leading the Rockets past Mechanicsburg
6-2. Chad Bernecker went 3-for-4 with three runs
scored, while Macke Hall added a pair of doubles for
the Rockets. Jimmy Spanos cracked two hits in the
loss.
Postseason
awaits Mechanicsburg
By
Eric Thomas,
Assistant Sports Editor, May 8, 2008
Last
updated: Thursday, May 8,
2008 9:11 AM EDT
Aaron
Jones had a simple approach to Wednesday’s
game with Cumberland Valley.
All Jones wanted to do was pitch hard and see
where it would take him.
His performance, a three-hit, six strikeout,
6-1 victory over the Eagles is taking
Mechanicsburg to the District 3 Class AAA
playoffs.
“Just battled hard all game and pitched as
well as I could and now we’re in the
playoffs,” said Jones afterward.
The Wildcats starter allowed just one hit over
the first six innings of work sitting down 14
of 15 batters faced. Cumberland Valley would
get a single and a double in the sixth, but
would muster no more offense.
“Once I gave up another hit, I just kept
throwing and battling, I didn’t care about
the no-hitter,” Jones said. “If it
happened it happened, but if it didn’t I
wasn’t going to be too ashamed of myself.”
“Definitely that’s my best game so far.
Only giving up three hits to a good team like
CV is hard.”
Michael Bupp/The Sentinel
“He threw very well in the bullpen
yesterday,” said Wildcats head coach Clay
McAllister. “I have confidence in all the
pitchers if we had to put (someone else) out
there.
“Our pitching has been getting better and
better, the last three or four weeks it’s
been getting better.”
Jones got immediate run support from the
bottom half of the Wildcats order as Matt
Koveleski, Ryan Mentzer, and Matt Morell went
a combined 6-for-9 with five runs scored.
Jones finished the day 2-for-2 with a run
scored in the victory.
“Our whole thing is when we stay in the
strike zone at the plate we have some guys
that can hit. When we get out of the strike
zone we get in trouble. Our approaches at the
plate the last few weeks have been better and
better so we’re getting better and it’s a
good time of the year to be playing well,”
McAllister said.
Eagles starter Jeremy Shepps last 4 and 2/3
innings, allowing five earned runs and gave up
10 hits.
“They swung the bats, put the ball in play,
made things happen and they fell in,” said
Whitehead. “That’s the game of baseball.
“They had to win the game and he had to
pitch a great performance for them. They got
the big hits and beat us.”
Koveleski started things off in the bottom of
the second with a single and would later score
on Morell’s double to make it 1-0.
Mechanicsburg would push another run across
later in the inning on a error.
In the top of the fourth, Kovaleski singled
again, Jones later drove a run in on a RBI
triple to make it 4-0. Mechanicsburg would add
a run in the inning on a double steal, in the
process chasing Shepps.
Jones was strong in the following two innings
sitting down the order in the fourth and fifth
on just 15 pitches.
“He pitched great,” McCAllister. “You go
back to back to that Red Land game earlier in
the year, (then) he battled Bishop McDevitt
down there in a (6-5) loss. He’s pitched
against really good teams for us. He maybe
hasn’t always been as sharp as he was today,
but he’s been an inning guy for us and
battled.
“(Wednesday), when he has faith in his
fastball and gets that in for strikes he’s
tough. His ball moves around pretty good. His
curveball was good today.”
“I just try not to listen too much to
anything,” Jones said. “I just tried and
battled my hardest and knowing that either
today we would win or Saturday we would win, I
would just pitch my hardest today and
hopefully we would get the win today and
we’re in the playoffs not having to worry
about getting the win Saturday in our last
game.
“It felt really good.”
Andrew Kramer picked up a RBI on his double in
the sixth for Cumberland Valley.
Jones
carries Wildcats
Posted
by BY ERIC F. EPLER on May 08, 2008 1:01 a.m.
By
the determined look of Aaron Jones, it was
clear which
program hitched added value to this Mid-Penn
Conference
crossover.
All but insisting that Mechanicsburg gain
access to the
upcoming District 3-AAA baseball playoffs,
Jones was
particularly frugal, styling a complete-game
three-hitter to
hoist the Wildcats to a seamless 6-1 victory
over Cumberland
Valley Wednesday at Rickenbach-Shirley
Field.
Jones, who allowed a single hit through five
innings, also
plated two runs, the last on a fifth-inning
double to left
that pulled Mechanicsburg ahead 5-0 and
chased Eagles ace
Jeremy Shepps. The latter surrendered 10
hits, while Jones
fanned six.
"My spotting and getting ground
balls," Jones
rationed was the secret to his success.
"My defense
helped me out tremendously getting to those
ground balls and
getting outs. I tried to battle my hardest
and now we
don't have to worry about getting that last
win in our
last game."
No, the Wildcats do not.
Clay McAllister's hard-chargers bounced to
10-9
overall, good enough to qualify for the
already bulging
3-AAA bracket.
"[Jones] has pitched against some good
teams all year.
When he has faith in his fastball and gets
that in for
strikes, he's tough," said McAllister.
"I'll tell you something else,
defensively
we're not bad when our pitchers are out
there pounding
at the strike zone. We made play after play
today. Good for
him."
The 'Cats jumped ahead 2-0 in the second on
Matt
Morrell's RBI double and the game's only
error by
the Eagles (10-9). With Jones in complete
control,
Mechanicsburg added three more in the
fourth.
After Matt Koveleski scored on a double
steal, Jones
tripled home Morrell. Seconds later,
courtesy runner Drew
Hensel raced home on Greg Bretz's squeeze.
Jones added
the final tally in the fifth. Cumberland
Valley's lone
offensive highlight was Drew Kramer's
two-out double in
the sixth, which scored Dalton Trolinger to
avoid the
shutout.
Wildcats
claw back, 5-3
Aaron
Jones’ 2-run homer completes comeback over Twp.
By
Travis L.
Pickens, May 3, 2008
Last
updated: Saturday, May 3,
2008 12:45 AM EDT
Aaron
Jones didn’t have to wait long to find a pitch he
liked.
“It was a fastball right down the middle,” Jones
said of the first pitch Susquehanna Twp. relief
pitcher Mike Amthor sent him. “I was just looking
to make contact. I didn’t even swing hard and it
just went.”
Jones sent the ball over the right field fence in
the fifth inning for a two-run home run, which ended
up being the difference in Mechanicsburg’s 5-3
Mid-Penn Keystone win over Susquehanna Twp. at
Memorial Park.
“We hit the ball well the last couple of days so
today was kind of a shock for us to only have five
hits,” Susquehanna Twp. coach Matt Rau said.
“But (Mechanicsburg) hit the ball about the same
as they did the last time against us (a 6-5
Mechanicsburg win April 16) so they were deserving
of what they got.”
Mechanicsburg (8-9, 7-6 division) must win two of
its final three games to qualify for the District 3
Class AAA playoffs. The Wildcats travel to
Middletown on Monday before hosting Cumberland
Valley on Tuesday and James Buchanan on Saturday.
Against Susquehanna Twp. (11-5, 8-5), Mechanicsburg
fell behind 3-0 in the second inning as right-handed
pitcher Matt Koveleski struggled to find a groove.
Sam Phillips was caught trying to steal second to
end the inning and, after a lead off walk in the
third, Koveleski retired 11 straight for his fourth
win this season.
“He’s thrown great for us all year and threw
another great game today,” Mechanicsburg coach
Clay McAllister said of Koveleski. “Early on he
was having trouble hitting his spots. He stayed calm
and hung in there. Once he gets going, gets a couple
outs and ground balls, things really go better for
him.”
The game featured 10 walks, four of which were from
Koveleski in the first three innings while facing an
Indians lineup that housed six left-handed batters.
“(Koveleski) doesn’t really like pitching to
left-handers,” Jones said. “I guess he just
fought through it.”
“It’s tough on him a little bit (against
left-handers),” McAllister said. “His ball runs
a little bit out over the plate ... he gets used to
starting his curveball at right-handers and when
there’s nobody in the opposite box he sometimes
struggles a little bit with that.
“But I’m proud of him. He battled.”
Mechanicsburg clawed within one after three innings
thanks to a run in the second and third.
Devon Hensel’s single brought in Jimmy Spanos to
make it 3-1 and Ben Anderson, who reached on a
single, stole second, moved to third on a throwing
error by catcher Kyle Hollingsworth and scored on a
wild pitch.
In the fourth, with two gone, a hit batsman and two
more walks - Matt Morell was issued a free pass
earlier - forced in the tying run.
The win pulled Mechanicsburg’s record to 5-5 in
games decided by two runs or fewer and gave the
Wildcats a shot at the postseason before moving from
Class AAA to AAAA next year.
“I guess we’re getting used to (close games),
we’ve certainly had a lot of practice at it,”
McAllister said. “The kids are battling right now.
They’re taking it personal and they’re battling.
We got a big swing out of Jones and made a bunch of
good defensive plays in the last two innings. It was
a good effort.”
NOTES: Hershey, thanks to losses by
Susquehanna Twp. and Gettysburg, clinched the
Mid-Penn Keystone Division on Friday with a 13-2
rout of Bishop McDevitt. The Trojans lead
Susquehanna Twp. and Gettysburg by two division
games with one remaining.
“Obviously we need to continue to play hard since
we’ll be in districts so we need to focus on what
we’re doing,” Rau said. “We’ll need to
forget about this (loss), build off it and know that
we made some mistakes. We have to limit those
mistakes if we want to continue to win games.”
Varisty
9 keeps playoffs hopes alive
Mechanicsburg
kept its district hopes alive, riding Mike
Hellam's four-hitter and Matt Koveleski's
sixth-inning RBI double to a 4-2 victory over
Middletown. Ben Anderson smashed a two-run in
the third before Koveleski's shot snapped 2-all
affair. JVs fal 3-1. l
Both teams fall to Hershey
Andrew
Foley's two-run double highlighted a five-run third
for Hershey, which bounced Mechanicsburg 7-3. Ken
Kremer added two hits and three RBIs for the
Trojans, sealing the win for hurler J.R. Reeser.
Mike Hellam rapped two hits for the Wildcats.
No report on the JV game.
-
April
23, 2008
Both
Varsity & JV Games M-burg 5, G-Burg 4
Ben
Anderson's two-run single and solid relief work by
Matt Koveleski helped Mechanicsburg outduel
Gettysburg 5-4. Koveleski, replacing starter Mike
Hellam (2-for-4) with no outs and the bases packed
in the sixth, squashed the threat. Anderson posted
three hits.
In
the JV game, Andy Nauss threw a complete game with 5
K's and scattered 10 hits. Alex Holbert had 3 hits.
Matt Dunn had two hits including a leadoff homerun.
Andy Nauss also had two hits. Russell Woleslagle had
the game winning double in the bottom of the 7th to
score 2 runs. The JV's trailed 4-3 entering
the 7th.
Palmyra 8, M-burg
7
Palmyra
broke ahead and held off a charging Mechanicsburg
side 8-7. Cody Hewitt's sacrifice fly scored Matt
Hinkle with the eventual game-winner in the fifth.
Dave Hauser's solo home run and Hinkle's three hits
helped reliever Bryan Balshy earn the tight win.
Greg Bretz, Mike Hellam and Matt Morrell cracked two
hits for the Wildcats, who stranded 11 on base.
In
the JV's 7 - 4 victory Peter
Kalemnous threw 4 innings to get the win. Andy
Nauss threw the 7th to pick up his 3rd save of the
season. Alex Holbert led us at the plate going
2 for 3 with 2 RBI's. James Rusenko, Perry
Mattern, and Andy Nauss all had key hits in the
victory.
M-burg
10, Middletown 2
Sam
Burkholder's bases-clearing double triggered a
nine-run rally by Mechanicsburg, which stopped
Middletown 10-2. Wildcats pitcher Matt Koveleski
only allowed two first-inning singles and fanned six
in a
complete game. Mike Hellam and Greg Bretz chipped in
two hits each for the 'Cats.
In
the JV game, the 'cats rallied to win 11-5 in 10
innings. The JV'ers Scored 3 in top of 7th
to tie the game. Jesse Haring and James Rusenko
each had 3 hits. Russell Woleslagle threw 8 good
innings walking one and striking out 11! Andy
Nauss threw the final 2 innings to pick up the win.
Mike
Hellam's eighth-inning single plated Ryan Mentzer
with the game-winner as Mechanicsburg edged
Susquehanna Twp. 6-5. Ben Anderson (3-for-4), Jim
Spanos (2-for-4) and Matt Morrell paced the
Wildcats, who welcomed five errors and two
monumental baserunning blunders by the Indians.
The JV's pounded the Tribe 13-3!
Botched
play in third bites Warriors
Wildcats plate pivotal runs on errors to edge host
Warriors, 5-4
BY
NICK BERTOLLO - Gettysburg Times
Sports Writer
Mechanicsburg’s
baseball team just keeps running into close games.
Now,
that’s fine if a few things go right and tip the
scales of fortune in your favor. It’s only a
problem if you’re coming up short.
Wildcat
starter Mike Hellam made sure his team didn’t have
that problem Wednesday against homestanding
Gettysburg.
Hellam
threw five-plus innings, allowing four runs –
three earned – but held the Warriors down when he
had to as Gettysburg made a pair of defensive
miscues and paid dearly for them in a 5-4 loss.
“I
thought he did great, I thought he did exactly what
he needed to do, mix speeds,” Wildcat head coach
Clay McAllister said. “He changed speeds really
well today and he threw offspeed pitches in fastball
counts, had them taking some big swings. This is the
kind of team where if you’re throwing fastballs in
fastball counts they’re going to hit it, there’s
just no two ways around it.”
The
Warriors (8-6, 5-4 Mid-Penn Keystone) started to do
just that, loading the bases in the sixth trailing
5-3, but ran right back into trouble as
Mechanicsburg (6-7, 5-4 Keystone) turned to Matt
Koveleski, who got out of the inning with just one
run allowed and slammed the door in the seventh.
Mechanicsburg
put similarly good swings on the ball in the third
inning, but unlike Gettysburg caught a break and
scored three runs on a pair of errors. Koveleski and
Greg Bretz led the inning off with singles and ended
up on second and third after Hellam grounded out to
Warrior starter Jordan Martin, which was innocent
enough.
The
trouble started when a shortstop throwing error
allowed two runs to score, with batter Ben Anderson
scampering safely to first.
Then
it continued when Gettysburg’s catcher recovered
the ball and threw it into center field trying to
nail Anderson as he attempted to take second base.
Anderson seized the opportunity, heading all the way
home.
“What
do you say? That’s just a freak play,”
Gettysburg head coach Greg Daskivich said. That was
just a fluke thing – but still. That was the main
thing.”
It
didn’t help that the Warriors couldn’t solve
Hellam.
“Hellam,
he did a nice job,” Daskivich said. “He mixed
his pitches up really well, he had us off balance a
lot.”
The
Warriors struck back in the bottom of the inning as
Brad Harner stroked a two-out, two-run single into
centerfield for a 5-3 score and loaded the bases in
the sixth to chase Hellam – but that was about as
far as they would get.
Koveleski
struck out the first two men he faced but allowed
one of Hellam’s inherited runners to score as Zach
Michael stubbornly dug in and worked a walk for his
sixth RBI in two days.
Koveleski
bore down to get bopper Brian Irvin, ending the
threat.
“We’re
down by a run, we’ve got the bases juiced, next
inning we’ve got a chance – it’s all you can
ask for,” Daskivich said. “We had our chances we
just couldn’t come through.”
DJ
Cool singled to left with two out in the bottom of
the seventh, keeping Warrior hopes alive, but got
stranded at first as Koveleski picked up the third
out.
Gettysburg
pulled within 2-1 as Cody Richardson walked to start
the third and scored on an error at second base.
The
Wildcats took their initial 2-0 lead on a Ryan
Mentzer RBI single in the second and an Anderson
ribby base hit in the third.
“A
lot of times in high school baseball if you stay out
of the big inning and don’t give teams runs you
give yourself a chance to win,” McAllister said.
“I thought we did that today.”
Harner,
Cool and Evan Mudd all collected two hits for the
Warriors on the day.
Michael,
who went 5-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI in
Monday’s win over Hershey, evaded retirement at
Wildcat hands yesterday by hitting into an E-4,
beating out an infield single in the fifth and
collecting his key walk in the sixth.
“Michael’s
the team leader,” Daskivich said. “He’s
everything you want in a high school player. He
never gives up, he’s got the right attitude, he
practices hard. He plays baseball just like he plays
football. He was one of our leaders in football, he
did everything but sell tickets for the football
team and that’s what he tries to do out here,
too.”
Harner
got caught stealing to end the fifth inning after
singling in Gettysburg’s second and third runs
with two out.
Daskivich
wasn’t bothered by that – in fact, he had OK’d
it.
“He
had the green light,” Daskivich said. “Some of
the faster guys, they have the green light if they
think they can make it. He had the green going so he
took off, which was fine with me because you may as
well make something happen.”
For
Mechanicsburg, scrambling to lock up a .500 record
and postseason berth, Wednesday’s game was a
welcomed win.
“We
lost four one- or two-run games, (but) we’re in
games,” McAllister said. “We lost 8-7 to Palmyra
the other day, 4-3 to Gettysburg, 4-3 to Carlisle,
3-2 to Red Land. We’re in games and we’re
winning some close ones too, but it’s a tough
league right now. It’s very competitive,
everybody’s jumbled together in the middle and
we’re trying to work our way through it.”
Nick
Bertollo can be reached at nbertollo@gburgtimes.com.
Mechanicsburg
011 030 0 - 5 9 3
Gettysburg
001 021 0 - 4 7 3
Hellam,
Koveleski and Jones; Jordan Martin and Tyler White.
SO-BB: Hellam 4-3, Kovaleski 3-1; Martin 3-2.
2B:M-Hellam 2.
-
April
10, 2008
Cedar
Cliff 13, M-burg 7
Mike
Lebo tallied five RBIs on three hits and Kyle
Pellman went 3-for-4 with three runs scored as Cedar
Cliff bounced Mechanicsburg 13-7 at Commerce Bank
Park. Bradley Curran added two hits and two runs
batted in for the Colts, who broke ahead with nine
runs in the first two innings. Ben Anderson (two
RBIs) and Sam Burkholder shared four hits for the
Wildcats.
JV
Game Report Coming Soon!
-
April
10, 2008
Mechanicsburg
13, McDevitt 3
A
titanic third inning and four RBIs by Ben Anderson
fueled Mechanicsburg's 13-3, five-inning victory
over Bishop McDevitt. Sam Burkholder, Jim Spanos and
Matt Koveleski (three runs) shared six hits for the
'Cats, who collected seven runs in the telltale
third.JV
Game Report Coming Soon!
Mechanicsburg
7, Hershey 6
Matt
Morell’s two-run single to left field with one out
in the top of the seventh brought home Ryan Mentzer
and Sam Burkholder to give Mechanicsburg a thrilling
7-6 win over Hershey at Memorial Field.
A Hershey error put Mentzer on first before
Burkholder and Jimmy Spanos singled to load the
bases. Ben Anderson collected a solo home run
for the Wildcats (2-4, 1-2).
In
the JV contest, Perry Mattern threw 6 2/3 innings of
4-hit ball and also had two hits. Andy Nauss
came in and got the last out to pick up the save.
Matt Dunn, Adam Olson, James Rusenko, and Alex
Holbert all had a hit.
Gettysburg
rallies late to beat 'Cats
The
Varsity fell to the visiting Warriors 8-4 by scoring 1
in the 5th, 2 in the 6th, and 2 in the 7th to come back
from a 4-3 deficit. The JV's fell to the Warriors
5-4 in 8 innings.... more info coming!
'Cats
fall to the Patriots, JV's win thriller
The
Varsity fell at red land 3-2 in a great
game. The JV battled the Patriots and
won 2-1 in another great game at the Park.
Click
here to read the Patriot News article on varsity the
game.
Click
here to read the article from the Sentinel on the
varsity game.
'Cats Down Buckskins
After
a long bus trip to Lancaster, the 'Cats got off the bus
with their bat hot as they outslugged LL power Conestoga
Valley 12-2.~ the JVs also won 16-2 ~ to start the
season out on a winning note.
BASEBALL:
GETTYSBURG 8, MECHANICSBURG 4
