Special To The Chronicle – What a difference one year can make. Due to the snow, the frozen ground and then the “slushy” ground in 2015, the JV Mules did not set foot on a baseball diamond till the first league game with Ephrata in April. Needless to say the lack of quality practice time on the field did not bode well for the junior Mules as errors and poor offensive production made for a long season. Thank you Octorara Orphie, because spring was just around the corner this year.
In 2016, the boys have been on the field 15 of the first 17 days. Solanco was able to play two scrimmages and two non-league games so far. This year's club includes 10 freshmen – Sam Buckwalter, Tim Fetterman, Zach Fritz, Joey Gote, Dawson Kreider, John Murray, Hunter Shaw, Cory Stively, Zach Wiker and Henry Woy, five sophomores – Jack Boomsma, Coleman Dow, Gabe Horn, Alex McDonald and Nate Shambaugh and one junior – Ben Harvey. In addition there are two freshmen playing for the varsity. Solanco 3, Wilson 1 On Saturday, the JV Mules hosted Wilson who is sort of like the “Hempfield” of Berks County. Last season they had beaten the Mules by the 10-run rule. They were overheard remarking about our boys “lifting” cows. I guess Solanco had the “last laugh.” Pitchers Dawson Kreider and Gabe Horn split six innings and held Wilson to one hit and one run. As for the Mules, with two out in the third, Joey Gote laced a 1-2 pitch to center for a base hit. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an infield hit by Jack Boomsma and overthrow by the fielder. With the scored tied 1-1 in the fourth, Sam Buckwalter singled, was sacrificed to second by Zach Fritz, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a base hit by Gote. Nate Shambaugh, who had walked and moved to third on the Gote hit, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Jack Boomsma to give the Mules a 3-1 lead. The Mules ended the game with seven hits. Some fine defensive play was turned in by Gote at the “hot” corner and centerfielder Alex McDonald, who is a gazelle when it comes to tracking baseballs. JV head coach John Girvin said this “crop” of youth has been well coached in the youth leagues and has come to high school with skills and recognizes the need to focus on all the “little” things and the finer points of the game. This year's JV staff includes assistant coach Caley Roark and volunteer coach Tim Argue. The Mules host Berks Catholic on Wednesday for the final non-league tune-up before the league schedule begins on April 4. Solanco 9, Pequea Valley 5 Last Thursday, the Pequea Braves travelled to Solanco. Zach Wiker was the starting pitcher for the Mules. The Braves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. The Mules went right to work to close the gap. Tim Fetterman hustled all the way to third on an error and scored on a double by John Murray. In the second, the Mules plated six runs as Nate Shambaugh doubled and scored on a single by Wiker. After a walk to Cory Stively, Fetterman lined a single scoring courtesy runner Jack Boomsma, Fetterman went to second on the throw home and he and Stively scored on a base hit by Dawson Kreider. John Murray reached on an error, and with two outs, Hunter Shaw laced a double to the fence scoring Kreider and Murray to give the Mules a 7-2 lead. The Braves came back with three in the third with the help of two walks and two errors. Jack Boomsma relieved to close out the inning. In third, Shambaugh singled, Stively singled, and Fetterman then had a bunt single to load the bases. Kreider executed a great suicide squeeze bunt and even got a single. Murray then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Stively, giving the Mules a 9-5 lead. Boomsma held Pequea scoreless in the fourth and fifth. Gabe Horn came on to pitch the sixth, finishing the victory with a strike out. Comments are closed.
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