Daniel Boone downed by Manheim Central in District 3-AAA second round
EPHRATA– Daniel Boone’s time was up.
After rallying from behind earlier in the week to eventually beat West York in nine innings in the opening round of the District 3 Class AAA playoffs, the Blazers found a way to create a little extra time.
Time ran out Thursday night, as Daniel Boone suffered a 7-6 loss to Manheim Central in the second round of districts at Ephrata High School’s War Memorial Field.
“(Last game) is kind of the opposite of what we had here,’ said Daniel Boone head coach Jason McCord. “That last game, we had every bounce go our way, every hit found a gap …Today was kind of the opposite. Every hit they had just seemed to fall into the right spot.
“Some days you’re the bug, and some days you’re the windshield,’ said McCord. “Today wasn’t our day.’
With the win, Manheim Central will face Lancaster-Lebanon League rival Donegal, winners in walk-off fashion against Palmyra 3-2.
The Blazers out-hit Manheim 15-10 on Thursday, but timely hitting ultimately gave the Barons the edge.
Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Manheim put together a two-out rally, loading the bases with three straight infield singles en route to scoring five runs in the inning.
“We had just two hits coming into that inning, so to rally back and score five that inning was awesome,’ said Manheim skipper Matt Huber. “We had well-placed hits that the defense couldn’t really do much about. It was good to see them come back to life that way.’
Daniel Wiederrecht ripped a double to left to knock in two runs in the inning while Frank Bowman followed it with a two run single to right field.
Skylar Wilson had two singles and an RBI on the night while Blake Reiff ripped a double.
Reiff was a spark of life for the Barons as he came on in the third inning and went the rest of the way to earn the win. The senior let up five runs (two earned) on 10 hits and no walks to go along with three strike out.
“I was throwing a lot of fastballs and splitters tonight and they were working well,’ said the right-handed senior. “It was a great team win. We battled back from behind and never got down on ourselves.’
Bryant Schwoyer got the start on the mound for the Blazers, but it was Goodrich who took home the loss after going 1 1/3 innings where he allowed two runs on four hits and no walks.
At the plate, Christian Fernandez (3-for-4) had a run scored while Luke Heffner (2-for-4) knocked in two and scored a run. Sean Bologa had two hits and two RBI and Schwoyer had two hits and a run scored.
“The last couple of guys had some tough at-bats,’ said McCord. “We just couldn’t get enough runs across to finish the job.’
The Blazers answered right back to the Barons’ five-run inning with a four-run frame of their own in the top half of the fifth.
Bryce Stout led off the inning with a single to left, shortly followed by singles from Schwoyer and Fernandez.
After a sacrifice fly from Ty Esenwein, an RBI single by Heffner, Moyer reaching first on an error at second base and Bologa’s RBI single to short, the Blazers took a 6-5 lead into the bottom half.
But the Barons wouldn’t stay down long as Manheim’s first two hitters got on and came around to score on consecutive singles by Tyler Lyons and Skylar Wilson to take the eventual 7-6 lead.
“Right now we’re disappointed, but I don’t think many people expected us to make it here,’ said Schwoyer. “We’ll be back here next year. We’ll be stronger and we’ll work even harder.’
McCord says it will be an adjustment not being on the field with his team on Friday.
“(It hurts) knowing that I won’t be with my guys every day,’ he said. “Daniel Boone baseball is a group that should be respected. If I were coaching in another dugout, I wouldn’t want to play them next year.’
Even though time may have run out on the Blazers’ 2015 season on Thursday night, the future looks bright with a roster consisting of mostly juniors and sophomores currently.
Maybe it wasn’t Daniel Boone’s time, at least not just yet.
NOTES– On the mound, Schwoyer went 3 2/3 innings where he let five runs cross on six hits and a walk … Zach Brightbill threw a perfect sixth inning on the mound for the Blazers … Fernandez had a stolen base while the Blazers were caught stealing twice.
