BASEBALL: Chambersburg shows resilience in extra-inning defeat of Mifflin County

SCOTLAND >> What took place on the baseball diamond Tuesday evening was nothing short of a battle of wills.

Neither Mifflin County nor Chambersburg was doing down without a fight. But the Trojans showed just a bit more resilience, rallying from behind in the ninth inning of a Mid Penn Commonwealth Division game. Chambersburg scored a pair of runs in the extra frame and captured an 8-7 victory to cap off a doubleheader sweep.

The Trojans won the first game, 12-3. The game was originally suspended with Chambersburg leading 4-0 in the second inning.

"I'm really impressed that we didn't just lay down," Chambersburg relief pitcher Drew Betz said. "We really fought, and I was really proud of this whole team, especially after giving up the go-ahead run in the ninth inning."

But that wasn't the only time the Trojans (8-5, 5-4 MPC) had to dig deep.

Chambersburg looked like it had the game wrapped up, as it headed into the seventh inning with a 6-1 lead. Mifflin County (7-4, 5-3 MPC) – which started the day in first place – had managed only five hits up to that point. But the Huskies reeled off four straight singles, including one by Isaiah Kearns that scored two runs.

A two-RBI single from Zach Hostetler and a Trojan error allowed Mifflin County to tie the game and push it to extra innings.

"It really shows the mentality of this team to be able to come back there down five into the seventh inning," Huskies coach Bernie Howard said. "Not only to tie the game, but we made two great double plays in the extra innings to go ahead. It makes the defeat tonight extra hard to swallow."

Chambersburg had an excellent chance to end things in the eighth inning. Carlin Christian led off with a single, and he was moved along by a sacrifice bunt from Matt Stonesifer. Betz was then intentionally walked to put a pair of Trojans on base.

Tristan Daywalt then smacked a shot to deep centerfield. But Hunter Walker made an unbelievable catch and turned a double play by throwing Carlin out at second.

Mifflin County then took advantage by scoring a run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single from Carter Spade.

"We took a big punch there," Chambersburg's Bryce Fiegl said. "We were definitely down, but we just had to dig deep. We were kind of coasting there for a little while, but the last couple of innings, we started playing with a lot of energy."

Fiegl helped get things started for the Trojans. After Hunter Brindle led off with a single, Walker made two catches in center to put two outs on the board. But Fiegl hit a hard single to left-center that allowed Brindle to get to third base.

Brindle then scored the tying run, as Manning Brookens reached base on an error, and an intentional walk to Christian loaded the bases.

Stonesifer was ultimately credited with the game-winning RBI. He watched four straight balls pass him by, and Fiegl crossed home plate for the victory.

"We had to set up a play (with the walk)," Howard said. "It just didn't work out tonight."

Chambersburg coach Bob Thomas said, "This team has been battling all year. We've lost five games by a total of six runs. They certainly could've laid down and died, as they say, after they came back there on us in the seventh inning. Then they went ahead again, and we just battled back again."

One of the biggest differences for the Trojans was their offense. Chambersburg has struggled to hit the ball all season, but on Tuesday, it racked up 14 hits in Game 2 and 12 in the first. In the nightcap, Fiegl was 4-for-5, Christian was 3-for-5 and Betz and Daywalt each had two hits. In Game 1, Betz racked up four hits and three RBIs, and all of Chambersburg's starters had at least one hit, including two from Brindle.

"Personally, I just went in relaxed and things were falling for me," Betz said. "I think going into the first game with a four-run lead, that definitely helped. As we started to hit, you could see the team's confidence going up, and that's always really key in hitting."

Chambersburg 8 Mifflin County 7 (9)

Mifflin CountyChambersburgabrhbabrhbRemy ss5120Chrstian ss5130Walker cf4110Stnsifer cf3101Kearns 3b5242Betz 2b4121Powell lf5000Daywalt p5020Hosttler dh5122Kissel cr0000Reesman p0000Brindle 1b3110Spade rf5021T-Myers pr0100Soles 1b5000Suders dh4001Earnest c4000CBrkens c0000Attick 2b3220Crbaugh rf5111Fiegl 3b5141MBrkens lf5110Totals417135Totals398145

Mifflin County010000501—7Chambersburg401010002—8

E: MC 2, Chbg 2; DP: MC 2; LOB: MC 9, Chbg 13; 2B: Kearns, Daywalt; SAC: M.Stonesifer; SB: Attick, Betz, Christian, Carbaugh, M.Brookens.

Mifflin County pitching

Reesman275541Seby (L)773030

Chambersburg pitching

Daywalt695425Betz (W,2-1)342103

Reesman threw to 2 batters in the third inning, Daywalt threw to 4 batters in the seventh inning.

WP: Reesman 2, Daywalt.

T: 2:51.

Chambersburg 12 Mifflin County 3

Chambersburg0701301—12123Mifflin County0010200—330

W — Jake Plank (2-0); L — Ty Bodtorf.

2B — (Ch) Hunter Brindle, (MC) Isaiah Kearns; SB — (Ch) Carlin Christian 2, Drew Betz.