by Bud Hart The Mules came away one win shy of the 2017 L-L League championship losing to the Penn Manor Comets by a 5-3 score at Garrett Park on Wednesday, May 17. “We played “young” tonight at the start,” said head coach Brett Miller, referring to the four Mule costly errors. “Giving any team runs is never good, but a quality pitcher, and team like Penn Manor made it even harder.” The Comets took an early 5-0 lead, scoring two in the top of the first inning, adding two in the third and one in the fifth.
Solanco scored their only runs in their half of the fifth. Ally McDowell and Alyssa Henretty walked. Ally Heidelbaugh singled to load them up. Kara McClune knocked in both McDowell and Henretty with a single and Randi Rambo’s double drove in Heidelbaugh with the third and final run. Hanna Phillips suffered the loss, but deserved a better fate. The sophomore scattered five hits, walked one and struck out four. “You expect the players to respond to adversity,” added the coach. “I was pleased with our ability to get focused and elevate our play, but you need to play the whole game at that high level in playoffs." To reach the championship game the Mules downed Lampeter-Strasburg 7-5 on Monday, May 15, in the quarter-finals and Hempfield 4-3 on Tuesday, May 16, in the semis. Against the Pioneers, Liz Mowrer got things started for Solanco in the second inning with a double. Mowrer advanced on a passed ball and scored on Kayla May’s single. May eventually scored on a McDowell sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice. In the fourth inning May and McDowell hit back-to-back singles with Lindsey Lane loading them up on a fielder’s choice. Henretty drove in May after being hit by a pitch and Kate Scheaffer drove in McDowell on a fielder’s choice with May scoring on an overthrow at third. Sheaffer led off the sixth with a single, and, with two outs, Rambo drove one deep to right center for a triple knocking in Sheaffer. Liz Mowrer than followed with a triple of her own plating Rambo with Solanco’s seventh run. L-S mounted a threat in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Phillips hung tough. “She pitched with focus and purpose with runners on and was able to get outs we needed to slow their rallies,” said Miller. “Hanna came up big against a very good hitting team. She handled the top of their line-up and scattered the hits.” Phillips scattered nine hits, struck out nine and issued one free pass. Hempfield was a challenge for the Mules but Solanco prevailed taking a 1-0 lead in the first following McClune’ s walk and two singles off the bats of Mowrer and May. In the second inning, Sheaffer punched in a two-out single and Heidelbaugh launched one deep for a two-run round tripper. The meat of the lineup added to the scoring in the third inning. Rambo, the number three hitter, blasted a triple and Mowrer, the cleanup hitter, drove the shortstop in with a sacrifice fly. “In a semi-final game you need to play with confidence and purpose,” said Miller. “We got the play and the result we were looking for. We made some solid plays in response to a couple of challenges, team effort, team win.” Phillips went the distance as she has most of the season. She scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out seven. “Pitching for the third night in a row against some of the league’s best teams was going to be a challenge, but Hanna pitched well enough for us to win the games,” said Miller. ”Every game is an experience during the season. These games certainly provided an experience that we can use to gain consistency and confidence to continue our season. It will start with practice tomorrow.” The Mules host Muhlenberg on Tuesday, May 23, to begin their quest for a District III title. Six Solanco Mules were recently named to the Section II All-Star roster with two Mules named to the All-Section (I & II) team. Abby Heidelbaugh, a senior outfielder, and junior third baseman, Kayla May, were named All-Section in addition to Section II all-stars. Joining the Mule twosome as Section II all-stars were sophomore pitcher Hanna Phillips, junior first baseman Liz Mowrer, junior shortstop Randi Rambo, and sophomore outfielder Kara McClune. Comments are closed.
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