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Late catch preserves Pleasureville's win


As the ball flew over his head, Pleasureville right fielder Nick Myers felt his heartbeat pick up.

Pleasureville was one out from winning its first-round American Legion playoff game against Southwestern York Thursday night at Central York High School, but a blast off the bat of Southwestern cleanup hitter Colin  Rzepkowski was heading toward the fence in right. With two runners sure to score if the ball landed, Myers took off running.

"My heart was beating a lot," Myers said. "The ball carried up there a lot, I thought it was going way over my head."

With one lunging stab of the glove, Myers caught the ball and preserved Pleasureville's 3-2 victory against Southwestern. He may have also earned himself a decent meal too.

"I've got to buy him dinner later," Pleasureville pitcher Michael Davis said. "I was thinking, 'How did he hit that?' That ball was low and outside, and he just hit it really well. Unlucky it didn't fall for him but good for us."

Pleasureville will now play Red Lion in the second round of the tournament at 5:45 pm Friday at Hawks Field on Tanglewood Lane in York. Red Lion advanced past Hanover, 7-6, on Thursday in the first round.

The win was Pleasureville's second one-run victory over Southwestern this week, having won, 5-4, in the final game of the regular season Tuesday. It's also the second straight season Pleasureville has beaten Southwestern in the playoffs, having won, 10-6, in a semifinal last season.

"Good teams end up playing each other this time of year and they tend to be close games," Pleasureville manager Bob Davis said. "We could have just as easily been on the other side of this one, and (Pleasureville's players) all get that. It's not rocket science, the guys on the other side are accomplished baseball players and games like this happen all the time."

Unlike Tuesday's game when Pleasureville led by four runs before withstanding a Southwestern comeback, the home team got off to a slow start on Thursday. Southwestern scored twice in the first two innings and took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth. Pleasureville struggled to string together hits against pitcher Austin Reusing.

But a two-run double from Josh Shekells tied the game for Pleasureville in the fourth and a sacrifice fly from Beau Burris put Pleasureville in front an inning later. Pitchers Michael Nizinski and Alex Myers kept Southwestern's bats at bay before Davis finished off the game in the seventh.

"It was just a good ballgame, they hit early and then we hit," Bob Davis said. "I think our guys were confident they were gonna win, you get a few one-run wins you tend to be confident."

Despite the loss, Southwestern still has a chance to advance in the double-elimination tournament. Southwestern plays Hanover in the loser's bracket at 5:45 Friday at Diller Field in Hanover.

"Over the years, the games between these two teams have always been competitive," Southwestern manager Brandon Utz said. "We got unlucky in a few spots but we're going to come back ready to play and hopefully you'll see us in the championship."