Northeastern churns past York Catholic in YAIAA semi
Northeastern seniors Devin Blymire and Kody Reeser combined to drive in six runs Monday to lead the Bobcats to a 10-0, five-inning victory against York Catholic in the YAIAA baseball tournament semifinals at Spring Grove.
Blymire posted three hits, including a double, and plated four runs. Reeser clubbed two hits, including a double, and knocked in two runs.
Reeser also tossed a two-hit shutout with five strikeouts and two walks as he threw 39 of his 58 pitches for strikes.
"Kody threw well today," Northeastern coach Andy Srebroski said. "He was around the zone all day and made them earn their way on."
The Bobcats advance to Tuesday's championship game against Dallastown, a 5-1 winner against Eastern York. The title game is scheduled for 5 p.m at New Oxford.
The win is the 12th in the last 13 games for the Bobcats after they started the season 3-3.
"We're a senior-laden team and we just got fed up with how we were playing," Reeser said. "We started doing the things that we needed to do to win games and that turned things around for us."
Monday's contest was scoreless into the third inning before the Bobcats struck for four runs. Blymire singled home Haden Siefert to start the scoring. York Catholic's Brendan Kennedy struck out the next batter before Reeser doubled in a run, and Adam Kipp capped the rally with a two-run single.
Northeastern (15-4) posted another four-spot in the fourth. This time, Blymire doubled home a pair of runs, and Reeser and Jonah Latshaw each hit RBI singles.
"We were confident at the plate today," Blymire said. "We stayed patient and waited for our pitch."
Needing at least one run in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game going, York Catholic's Frank Skehan worked a leadoff walk. But Reeser retired the next three hitters, including a pair of strikeouts on the final two, to enact the 10-run rule.
"Their pitcher has a really good fastball," York Catholic coach Joe Gurreri said. "He spots it well and used it to get ahead of our hitters all day."
York Catholic (11-8) now prepares for the upcoming District 3 Class AA tournament, which begins Monday.
"Hopefully facing a team like Northeastern gets us ready for districts," Gurreri said. "Facing a pitcher like Reeser should benefit us going forward. It should help us to prepare for the type of pitching that we will be seeing."
Dillon Hippensteel recorded both Irish hits with a single and a double.