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Knarr and Shimmel lead Eastern York to Division III crown


Colby Shimmel said that it was just another at-bat, despite it coming with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a scoreless game. The fact that a hit would make him the winning pitcher and give Eastern York the YAIAA Division III regular-season title? It didn't matter, at least that's what he said.

"It was just a normal at-bat. I was looking for a pitch to hit. Luckily I got a fastball over the plate, I put a decent swing on it and it fell," Shimmel said of his one-out, line-drive single to right field that plated pinch-runner Kyle Smith with the winning run.

Friday's 1-0 extra-inning victory over York Suburban improved Eastern to 11-2 in the league and 11-5 overall and clinched the division crown.

Golden Knights coach Blaine Garner admitted he didn't expect a division title at the start of the year.

"Absolutely no. I wanted it, that's my goal, but as young as this team is I wasn't quite sure," he said. "But these guys found a way each game to pull together and make it work."

Drake Renn led off the Eastern ninth with a walk, and Smith came in to run. He moved to second on a wild pitch and third on Robert Hedrick's opposite-field single to left. Mitchel Winter was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play, but Shimmel thwarted that strategy with his walk-off hit.

Shimmel also earned the win in relief after he pitched the eighth and ninth innings in support of Brandon Knarr. The two combined to limit the Trojans to only two hits — both by Thomas Merkle.

Knarr was brilliant, tossing the first seven innings, striking out 16 hitters. It marked the third time this season he has recorded at least 16 strikeouts.

The sophomore lefty said he thought about the importance of the game when he took the mound to start the game. He also knew Shimmel would come through in the clutch.

"I tried not to think about it, block it out of my mind and do the best I can," Knarr said. "When Colby got up there, it happened against Gettysburg and it was going to happen again. Colby is just going to go up and do his thing."

While it was tempting for Garner to send Knarr out for the eighth inning, he decided against it.

"We want to keep his pitch count down," Garner said. "We've still got a lot of season left and we don't want to chance anything. I've got Colby right there too. We've got good pitching and you put a guy out there on the mound and you are going to have success."

Knights catcher Matt Taylor said his job is easier because of Knarr and Shimmel.

"It's crazy. They hit your spot pretty much every time," Taylor said. "I put my glove where I want it, they hit it. It's a great feeling to know that they will hit your spots when you are calling that pitch."

Eastern left 10 men on base through the first five innings. However, Suburban (7-6, 8-8) starter Caleb Baughman found the right pitch every time he needed it and finished with nine strikeouts in his eight innings of work.

The Knights loaded the bases in the fourth, but the inning ended when Trojans left fielder Austin Falco chased down Knarr's long fly ball to the warning track. Eastern also loaded the bases in the sixth on Shimmel's double, a hit batsmen and a walk, but Baughman retired Wyatt Smith on a groundout to end the threat.

York Suburban000000000—021Eastern York000000001—172

YS, Caleb Baughman, Brendon Delridge (9) and Thomas Merkle. EY, Brandon Knarr, Colby Shimmel (8) and Matt Taylor.

SO-BB — Baughman 9-3, Delridge 1-2, Knarr 16-1, Shimmel 2-0; W — Shimmel; L — Delridge; 2B — EY, Shimmel.