BASEBALL: Chambersburg rallies from 7-1 deficit to bounce Lower Dauphin, 11-8

HUMMELSTOWN >> The list of amazing comeback victories in the lengthy career of Chambersburg baseball coach Bob Thomas is considerable.

Tuesday's win, a District 3 Class AAAA first-round game that started and was suspended Monday, will have be placed pretty high on that list.

The Trojans found themselves trailing 7-1 to Lower Dauphin after the fourth inning was finished Tuesday afternoon, but they roared back with four runs in the fifth, two in the sixth to tie the game and four more in the seventh to capture a wild 11-8 win at Nye Elementary Field.

"We've had a lot of comebacks, but I'm not sure about having any from six runs down," Thomas said.

The Trojans (13-8) will face Mechanicsburg (20-2), a 4-0 winner over Muhlenberg, in a quarterfinal Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Northern York.

Nearly everybody in the lineup contributed, but the big blow was a three-run home run in the top of the seventh by Manning Brookens for Chambersburg's final three runs. It was the first career homer for Brookens.

"I saw the rightfielder stop, so I thought it was just going to be a fly out," he said.

The Trojans had some key hits, but the Lower Dauphin relief corps gave them plenty of help, too. Three relievers combined for six walks and two hit batters, and four Chambersburg runs were forced in by either a walk or hit batter.

Falcon coach Ken Kulina said, "We had nine outs to get with a 7-1 lead and they scored 10 runs. We just had no answer on the mound. But give Chambersburg credit – they had to take a long trip two days in a row and they got it done."

It did not look good at the start of Tuesday's play.

Monday's rainstorm suspended the game with the score 3-1 in LD's favor with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the fourth. Drew Betz relieved Tristan Daywalt and the Falcons pounced on him for four consecutive hits, including a two-run double by Blair Lewis. By the time Betz got the final out, Chambersburg was in a 7-1 hole.

Kulina said, "Our kids did just what I asked – I wanted them to take advantage of the opportunity we had, score more runs and extend our lead."

Instead of letting that dampen their spirits, the Trojans started the top of the fifth with base hits by Austin Suders and Brookens. But Tyler Roman, who relieved Lewis, got two outs, then Matt Stonesifer singled to load the bases. That's when Roman's control left him. He walked Betz and Daywalt, then hit Hunter Brindle with a pitch, and walked Bryce Fiegl – all forcing in a run – and suddenly it was 7-5 and a ballgame.

Thomas said, "I thought we worked the counts pretty well. We had a couple of walks and a hit batter with full counts."

"When you give a team walks, it gives them a lift," Kulina said. "It got them back into it mentally, and I think we got down on ourselves."

In the sixth, reliever Will Manley was yanked after hitting Brookens with a pitch to lead off the inning. One out later, now facing Cole Backenstose, Carlin Christian hit a ringing double to left. One run scored on a fielder's choice by Stonesifer, with Christian holding at second.

But a wild pitch moved Christian to third, and he ended up scoring when the throw got away from the LD fielders.

"I probably should have been running harder to third, but I thought I had it easily," Christian said. "I saw the throw short-hop the (third baseman), and I took a step toward home. Then I heard coach (Thomas) yelling to go home and when I looked, I saw the ball spinning away from them."

Betz put LD down 1-2-3 for the second straight inning, leading to a wild seventh.

Brindle and Fiegl drew leadoff walks, then Suders hit an RBI single to center to give his team an 8-7 lead. Brookens then picked on an 0-1 pitch and deposited in over the fence in right-center.

"I figured since he didn't have his control, I should be looking for a fastball," Brookens said. "We had never seen any of their relievers before, so we were taking some pitches to see what they had."

Thomas said, "We were pretty sure if we got past Lewis (who pitched Monday), the rest of their pitching wasn't that strong. Brookens hits balls like that night after night in batting practice. He's a much better hitter than his batting average shows."

The game wasn't over.

The Falcons got the first two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh on a hit batter and infield single. After a fielder's choice got one out, pinch-hitter Charlie Fies somehow bounced a hit into right field to make it 11-8.

But Betz then struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Chambersburg 11 Lower Dauphin 8

ChambersburgLower DauphinabrhbabrhbChrstian ss5110Twnsnd 2b4210Stonsfr cf5121Geesmn cf3110Betz 2b2101Friedrch c4021Daywalt p3001Lewis p4123Brindle 1b2211Domvch lf3111Feigl 3b2101Davis rf2120Suders dh4121Bcknsts ss4110Crbaugh rf0000Roman 1b2112Kissel 2b0000Manley p1000Myers pr0100Fies ph1011Brokens lf2324Wilhite dh4000Ebersol c4000Heath 3b0000Totals29 11 8 10Totals328128

Chambersburg0200424—11Low. Dauphin0016001—8

E: Chbg 2, LD 2; LOB: Chbg 6, LD 8; 2B: Brindle, Christian, Lewis, Davis, Backenstose; HR: Brookens (1); SF: Brookens.

Chambersburg pitching

Daywalt3.165524Betz (W,3-1)3.2633 1 5

Lower Dauphin pitching

Lewis421003Roman.234430Manley.101101Backenstose (L)2354 3 3

HBP: by Daywalt (Geesaman), by Betz (Domovich), by Roman (Brindle), by Manley (Brookens); WP: Backenstose; PB: Chbg 1, LD 1.