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Dallastown squanders chances in Legion loss to Ephrata


FAYETTEVILLE - Dallastown failed to capitalize on a multitude of early scoring chances, and then Ephrata pitcher Gavilan Fogarty-Harnish settled in to earn a 5-1 victory in the opening round of the Region 4 American Legion baseball tournament Saturday afternoon.

Dallastown (14-5-1) now faces an elimination game against Fayetteville at noon Sunday at the Fayetteville Fire Company.

Fogarty-Harnish survived a rocky first three frames to fire a complete game that saw him allow one run and eight hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. He threw 121 pitches, 89 of them strikes. That was after he threw 53 pitches to get through the first three innings.

"It's huge to get a complete game on the first day of the tournament," Ephrata coach Derek Sipe said. "His pitch count was a little high in the first three innings and it had me worried a little. But he settled in after that and seemed to get stronger as he went along."

Dallastown registered two hits in each of the first three innings, but it only mustered one run on those chances, in the third inning when Tye Golden's single plated Riley Hamberger. In addition to the six hits, Dallastown also had two runners reach base via walk. They ended up stranding nine runners in the game, four of them in scoring position.

"We hit the ball hard today, but we left a lot of runners on, especially early," Dallastown coach Phil Jeanmenne said. "You've got to credit their pitcher, he bared down when he had to and made the pitches when he needed to."

Ephrata (18-3) had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the third when Ricky Bromirski came home on a throwing error. Zach Roberts followed with a two-run single that chased home Nate Fassnacht and Justin Corvell.

Roberts started a rally in the sixth with a leadoff double, and he eventually came home on Ashton Sensenig's fielder's choice. Ephrata added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Evan Frees singled home Bromirski.

Dallastown didn't go quietly in the bottom of the ninth, though, as a pair of Ephrata miscues brought Hamberger to the plate with two down. Hamberger had singled three times earlier in the game, but his line drive was snared by Frees in left field to end it.

Dallastown starter Chris DeMarco worked into the ninth before he was relieved with no outs after walking the lead off hitter. DeMarco worked eight innings and allowed five runs (two earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and seven walks. He exited after tossing 136 pitches, 76 for strikes.

"Chris did a heck of a job today," Jeanmenne said. "I was hoping that he could get us through three innings and for him to work into the ninth is great for us."