Spring Grove throws no-hitter, but Chambersburg earns the win
Zero was clearly the dominant number Monday afternoon when Spring Grove faced Chambersburg in a non-league baseball game at Greene Township Park.
Of the 13 half innings played, 12 resulted in zero runs scored.
Fortunately for the Trojans, Spring Grove had a zero listed under "runs" at the game's end, which negated the zero listed under Chambersburg's total for "hits."
Kaden Hoover fired a four-hit shutout and the Trojans (4-8) scratched out a run in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Rockets (5-6) an unlikely 1-0 defeat.
"We'll take them any way we can get them," Chambersburg coach Scott Folmar said. "I can say I've never seen one like that before ... it was interesting."
Hoover said, "A win is a win. We knew what the situation was, because coach kept reminding us in the dugout. We didn't want to to have a second straight home game like that."
Last Thursday, Chambersburg had no baserunners until there was one out in the seventh inning against Cumberland Valley.
In the bottom of the sixth, Spring Grove starter Brandyn Schuchart got an out, then walked Bryce Kendall and Kevin Carbaugh. Although allowing no hits, those were the seventh and eighth batters Schuchart had walked, so he was relieved by left-hander Alex Shaffer.
The first batter Shaffer faced, Luke Wetzel, was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases with one out. Folmar put in Spencer Hockensmith to pinch hit, and he came through with a fly ball to left field, plenty deep enough to bring in courtesy runner Josiah Picard.
"We had a hard grounder by Hoover in the sixth, and a well-hit ball to left-center in the third (with two outs and the bases loaded) by Max Armstrong, and those were the only balls we hit hard until Hockensmith's sac fly," Folmar said.
The rest was up to Hoover, who struck out three and walked two to even his record at 2-2.
"I threw a lot of fastballs," he said. "I wasn't trying to get a ton of strikeouts, just letting them hit the ball to the defense. I started off a little shaky, but then I found my groove."
Folmar said, "From the third or fourth inning on, Kaden was fantastic. He only threw 72 pitches (44 strikes), and he fielded his position well - I think he had three or four assists."