Lampeter-Strasburg, Penn Manor make most of their chances in LNP 17U victories

Adversity defined the first night of action at Clipper Magazine Stadium in the LNP 17U Tournament.

The first game on Monday between No. 1 seed Penn Manor and No. 8 seed Octorara was full of it, while the nightcap, which pitted No. 2 seed Donegal against No. 7 seed Lampeter-Strasburg, felt a lack thereof.

Penn Manor rarely faced adversity throughout the season, entering the tournament 12-1 to claim the honor of top seed.

But against Octorara, the Comets were up against plenty of adversity, both as a group and individually. To their credit, they handled the unfamiliar spot adroitly, with a 7-6 extra-inning win.

Penn Manor trailed before even taking a turn at bat. While it scored three runs to take the lead, the bases were left loaded on back-to-back strikeouts.

That came back to hurt the Comets for the majority of the game — they trailed 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, and they only had themselves to blame.

Ethan Transue was stranded on third with one out in the bottom of the second. Jackson Stuart got picked off first for the final out of the third inning. Josh Beck grounded into an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fourth. Oliver Hanna had the same thing happen to him in the following inning.

“We started getting down on ourselves and we just had to have our coaches and each other pick each other up,” Ben Patterson said.

Baseball

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

DAVE BYRNE | FOR LNP | LANCASTERONLINE

Patterson, who hadn’t had an at-bat in the game entering the bottom of the seventh, needed to get on base to start a rally. He did exactly that with a single.

Two more hits loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly and a pair of wild pitches allowed Penn Manor to tie the game — down to its final out, which would’ve ended its season against an Octorara team that entered the tournament just 5-8.

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, the Comets had a golden chance for a walk-off. Yet again, a double play ended the inning and ruined the opportunity.

But Patterson came up clutch in the bottom of the ninth, roping a triple down the right-field line. He scored the winning run on a Transue single in the following at bat, playing a pivotal role in two of Penn Manor’s most important innings of its season despite starting on the bench.

“There’s just a little message that I’ve been told by my coaches for the last couple months … they just told me ‘Swing the bat, swing the bat,’ so I wrote that on my arm,” Patterson said. “I just looked down at it, reminded myself of that.”

Octorara vs. Penn Manor - LNP Tournament 17U quarterfinals [photos]

The matchup between Donegal and L-S was relatively steady throughout. The surprise was that L-S, which entered the tournament with six more losses than Donegal, was the team in control on the way to a 5-1 win.

L-S led from the second inning on as starter Joel Weaver made sure to throw as near an adversity-free outing as possible. He allowed just one run in seven innings despite retiring the side in order just once.

The most adversity he felt came in the first and final innings.

A walk and a hit-by-pitch eventually put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first for Donegal, but Weaver struck out Devin Bailey to avoid any trouble.

Then, in the bottom of the seventh, a one-out double and poor defense put the tying run on deck and forced a mount visit. But as he did throughout the evening, Weaver induced back-to-back outs to keep the season alive for L-S.