BASEBALL: Shippensburg pounces on Waynesboro's wild pitching for 10-2 victory

SHIPPENSBURG >> Just about everything that could've gone wrong for Waynesboro's pitchers went wrong Wednesday afternoon.

Shippensburg needed only seven hits to claim a 10-2 Mid Penn Colonial Division victory in a baseball game that featured 12 walks, two hit batsmen and a passed ball by the Indians.

"My Lord, did the wheels come off the wagon or what?" Waynesboro coach Greg Chandler said. "(After a two-out error), we had two or three walks, a hit batter; there was just some ugly stuff going on. But that's pretty much our M.O., though. We shoot ourselves in the foot, and it gets really bad after that."

It wasn't exactly going well for the Indians (6-7, 3-4 MPC) early on. Shippensburg (11-3, 7-1 MPC) had drawn four walks and a hit batter through the first three innings and already had a 2-0 lead. But it was the fourth inning when things really fell apart for Waynesboro.

Damon Watkins led off for Shippensburg with a walk, and a sacrifice bunt moved him along. Waynesboro's Zac Kober then fanned a batter to put two outs on the board. But when Daulton Brenize reached on an error, the wind came out of the Indians' sails.

Cordell Shannon picked up his second RBI of the day by plating Watkins with a single, then Brenize scored on a passed ball. Nate Reiner was hit by a pitch, followed by an RBI single from Nick Jacoby. Shippensburg then walked three times in a row, forcing in two more runs, before Waynesboro finally got the last out.

"I think we did change things up a bit (at the plate)," Greyhound coach Nate Rosenberry said. "We've been aggressive early on, usually. We definitely took some pitches today. There are some things offensively we gotta do a little better; we left the guys on base a lot, but we took advantage of mistakes and did what we needed to do to win the game today."

Chandler said, "We got young guys out there, so psychologically, it's tough on them if they make the pitch to get the out and don't get it. Then they gotta be out there for two or three more batters, so it's definitely a mental thing."

It wasn't just Waynesboro's rough pitching day that gave Ship the win, though. The Hounds got a fine performance from Teagan Staver, who is now 5-0 on the mound. He fired a two-hitter, only one of which did any damage.

In the fourth inning, Waynesboro's Austin Hanshew led off with a single, and he was followed by a walk to Cody Cline. A sac bunt from David Emmert put the pair in scoring position for Zach Stultz, who capitalized with a well-placed double that scored both of the Indians' runs.

Staver racked up eight strikeouts and walked just three.

"My fastball was working well, and I was trying to get ahead," Staver said. "Early on, I wanted to get that first-pitch strike, but I was having trouble with that. So I was just trying to hit the mitt wherever Nick put it and just going with what he put down. We were on the same track today."

Ship didn't have the best hitting game, but it did get two hits apiece from Jacoby and Brenize.

"I take my batting practice very seriously, and usually that leads into the game," Brenize said. "Tonight, my BP (batting practice) wasn't good, but I found a way to make a few hits fall. I just try to see the fastball, and if I see something I like to swing at it, I'm unloading on it."

He did just that – both of Brenize's hits were doubles to left-centerfield.

Shippensburg 10, Waynesboro 2

WaynesboroShippensburgabrhbabrhbDuffey ss3000Friese 3b2210Hanshw 2b3110Brenize cf5220Cline 3b2100Shnnon 1b4212Emmert 1b2000Reiner ss1100Dunlap 1b0000Jacoby c3222Stultz dh2012Kitzmllr dh2001Kober p0000Staver p0000Swink ph0000Swartz lf2012Maya cf1000Mlendez lf0000Wolfe ph1000Watkins 2b0101Riddell c2000Surratt 2b1000Neterer ph1000Hershey rf1000Gsell rf3000Johnson ph1000NWade lf2000McDanell lf0000Haden p0000PWade p0000Totals22222Totals221079

Waynesboro0002000—2Shippensburg201520x—10

E: Way 1, Ship 1; DP: Ship 1; LOB: Way 3, Ship 11; 2B: Brenize 2, Jacoby; SAC: Emmert, Jacoby, Hershey; SB: Friese; CS: Swartz.

Waynesboro pitching

Kober (L,1-1) 3.258371Duffey 0.212230Haden0.200020P.Wade110000

Shippensburg pitching

HBP: by Kober (Friese, Reiner); PB: Way 1.

T: 2:06.