Penn Manor rallies for win in LNP 17U Tournament opener; L-S ousts Donegal

Penn Manor coach Tom Fish stresses to his team that the starting lineup doesn’t necessarily mean those players are going to be the stars of the game.

Case in point, Ben Patterson.

Down to its last two outs Monday night against Octorara at Clipper Magazine Stadium, and down three runs, Penn Manor was in danger of the ignominy of a second straight LNP 17U Tournament quarterfinal elimination as the No. 1 seed.

Then Patterson — who entered the game in the fifth inning — stepped to the plate.

Patterson’s flare single to right ignited a three-run rally that tied the game for the Comets, sending it to extra innings.

When he came to bat again, leading off the ninth inning, Patterson proceeded to slice a hit inside the bag at first and into the right-field corner. Running pell-mell, he pulled into third base with a standup triple.

Three pitches later he crossed home with the winning run as Ethan Transue singled into right and Penn Manor advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal with a 7-6 victory.

Donegal vs. Lampeter-Strasburg - LNP Tournament 17U quarterfinals [photos]

In Monday’s late game, Lampeter-Strasburg went on to score a semifinal bid with a 5-1 win over Donegal.

“The MVP of the game, Ben Patterson,” Fish said. “His hit in the seventh was the most important at-bat. And, obviously, the triple. I’m just glad he got in there to do some damage.”

The Comets did damage early on. After Octorara took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Landen Stafford’s RBI single, Penn Manor countered with Billy Riggs’ RBI double and Angel Luna’s two-run single.

Oliver Ellis walked, the third free pass of the inning for Braves starter Christopher Everly, and Ellis Van Name was hit by a pitch, ending Everly’s night. Aidan Marsh came in to quell the uprising.

Octorara tied the game in the third on Marsh’s two-run single, then took the lead in the fourth on RBI singles from Camryn Naggy and Mason Hanby and Marsh’s sac fly to right.

The innings were helped along by some careless play on the Comets’ part.

“Oliver (Hanna) hung in there and pitched around some defensive mistakes from some of our older guys,” Fish said. “He gave us five innings.”

Hanna left as the pitcher of record for the Comets, relieved by Cole Miller. Meanwhile, Marsh was negotiating danger, aided by double plays that ended the fourth and fifth innings. His 100th pitch of the game delivered the third out of the sixth inning and his limit of pitches.

Hanby took over in the seventh, getting the first out before Patterson singled. Before the inning finally came to a close, Transue singled, Miller singled and Riggs plated Patterson on a sac fly.

Transue and Miller both scored on wild pitches and it was off to extra innings. Octorara turned its third twin killing of the game to deny Penn Manor in the eighth, but the Comets were not to be denied.

“The kids played a great game,” Braves coach Ryan Novak said. “It was fun. They’re disappointed — I’m disappointed too — but as the summer’s gone on, we’ve gotten so much better.”

Donegal vs. Lampeter-Strasburg - LNP Tournament 17U quarterfinals [photos]

Lampeter-Strasburg 5, Donegal 1

If Octorara flirted with the first-round upset, No. 7 seed Lampeter-Strasburg fully embraced it, eliminating second-seeded Donegal in the second game, which started at 8:50 p.m.

But not before Donegal mounted one last rally in the bottom of the seventh.

The Pioneers’ Joel Weaver took a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning. Donegal’s Chase Cornelius doubled with one out and took third on a wild pitch ball four to Evan Niehaus.

Cornelius scored on an error in the middle of the infield on Josh Brown’s fielder’s choice. Andrew Fabian forced Niehaus at third for the second out of the inning and Weaver retired Carter Stough on a fly to right to close out the win.

Brady Messinger’s RBI hit put L-S on the scoreboard in the second inning. Devin Campos’ RBI double and Landen Welk’s RBI single made it 3-0 after three innings.

In a classic small-ball inning, Chase Messinger plated the fourth run for L-S on a fielder’s choice bunt that pitcher Elijah Jones fielded, but could not make a play. L-S closed out its scoring with Brayden Hart’s RBI double to the right-field corner in the top of the seventh.