After dispute, Red Lion responds to Hanover rally
For five innings, the only drama in the first-round American Legion playoff game between Hanover and Red Lion surrounded C.J. Czerwinski's footwear.
In the sixth inning, drama filled every play during a pair of energetic two-out rallies.
In the end, Red Lion walked off its home field with a 7-6 victory. Hanover players and coaches left with a bad taste in their mouths.
“I told our guys that I was proud of them and that I wanted them to learn a life lesson in the fact that you play by the rules, and sometimes if you come up short you have to accept that,” Hanover Post 14 coach Troy Wentz said. “We played the game the way it’s supposed to be played and came up short. They can learn that in life, that happens. But they didn’t give up, they played hard."
The controversy surrounding Czerwinski's spikes had to do with a rule specific to Red Lion's Horn Field that doesn't allow players to wear metal cleats. Horn Field, which is used for Red Lion football games is constructed almost entirely of artificial turf. Even the basepaths are made of artificial turf.
When Czerwinski, Red Lion's starting pitcher, came up to bat in the fourth inning for his second at-bat of the game, the umpire noticed Czerwinski's metal cleats. After a discussion between the coaches, the umpire asked Czerwinski to change his shoes.
“I didn’t even notice it," Red Lion coach Bret Stabley said of Czerwinski's shoe choice. "We changed it (when the umpire noticed), but I don’t think that really had any influence on the game at all.”
When Czerwinski came back out to pitch in the fifth inning, it prompted a continued conversation between Wentz and the umpires, a protest to the presiding league official, then a heated exchange between Wentz and Stabley before the game continued.
“I’m OK with the decision that was made. They made him change spikes, I’m OK with that," Wentz said. “But I have a problem with the home team using metal spikes when nobody else is allowed to. They’re the home team and they didn’t know the pitcher had metal spikes on? I find that hard to believe.
“There’s a big difference between metal spikes and turf shoes or sneakers. The mound is dirt, so you’re gonna grab in instead of sliding. There’s no doubt in my mind what happened, that’s why I’m proud of our kids.”
Red Lion led 4-0 at that point in the game, then took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning after Connor Dewees tripled and scored. Dewees went 3-for-3 with two triples and a double, and he replaced Czerwinski on the mound in the sixth inning.
In that sixth inning, Hanover came back to take a 6-5 lead by reeling off four straight hits with two outs. Russell Livesay capped the rally with three-run single.
The energy in Hanover's dugout quickly transferred back to the other side of the field, though, as Red Lion put together it's own two-out rally in the bottom of the inning. Ben Kitzmiller delivered the game-tying hit, while Cole Daugherty came through with the winning hit.
“We’ve been down a few times this year, we’ve been in tight baseball games and these boys managed to prevail and get through it," Stabley said. "They don’t panic, they’re calm in those situations. They’re all head-smart baseball players. So we knew what we had to do.”
Hanover will face Southwestern in an elimination game Friday night at Diller Field.
Red Lion advances to face Pleasureville in a second-round game on Friday night.
“We lost to Pleasureville, 1-0, the first time, so we should score a lot of runs tomorrow," Dewees said. "We were saving them.”