It’s been a long couple of days for the Tyrone baseball team, and yesterday’s game, although it was the Eagles’ shortest this season, must have seemed like an eternity.
The Eagles made a return trip to Mifflin County to play Lewistown in a make-up of a game that was rained out two weeks ago after Tyrone had already trekked an hour down Route 22.
It was a trip that lasted longer than the game itself. The Panthers pummeled Tyrone 15-0 in a game that ended in the third inning with the 15-run mercy rule. The Eagles managed just one hit off Panther starter Connor Muir, in stark contrast to Lewistown’s 12, two of which ended up on the other side of the outfield fence.
That made two straight losses for Tyrone (6-11) – both of which came in blowout fashion – after the Eagles spent last week playing their best ball of the season, winning four straight and putting themselves in postseason contention. But after losing two games in two days by a combined 25-2 (the Eagles lost to Central 10-2 Monday), Tyrone’s playoff hopes went down the drain.
“We kind of ran into a couple of buzz saws,” said Eagle manager Dustin Schoening. “It caught me a little by surprise. Today, we ran into a really good team that’s hot right now.”
Senior Matt Brooks got a first-hand look at just how hot the Central Penn League leading Panthers are. In his first start that didn’t last into the sixth inning, Brooks lasted just 1 1/3 innings and allowed 12 runs, despite pitching at a level his coach felt was good enough to compete.
“It wasn’t like this was an off performance by Brooksy,” said Schoening. “He pitched fine. He was hitting corners and locating the ball well. They just ripped everything he threw. And it seemed like every ball they hit was a shot to the gap.”
Well, not every one, but enough that it made getting 15 runs look relatively easy. Ray Klinger got things started with a three-run home run in the first inning when Lewistown built a 4-0 lead, and Sean Heckert followed that with an RBI triple in the second as the lead ballooned to 12-0.
Klinger finished 3-for-3 with three runs and 6 RBI.
Alex Haines added a second home run in the second inning, one of six hits that went for extra bases for the Panthers. Three Lewistown batters had two hits and three scored two runs, as all but one of the 13 batters the Panther sent to the plate made an offensive contribution.
Tyrone’s lone hit came in the third inning on a bloop single to shallow right field by third baseman Randy Hoover.
The Eagles now have three games remaining, starting with this weekend’s appearance in the Fiochetta Tournament at Vets Field. Tyrone will face Hollidaysburg at 4 p.m. Friday in the opening round.
Lewistown 15 Tyrone 0
Tyrone – Cunningham, cf, 2-0-0; Moore, 2b, 1-0-0; Shaffer, 1b, 1-0-0; Brooks, p-rf, 1-0-0; Rudy, ss, 1-0-0; Hunter, lf, 1-0-0; Desch, rf, 0-0-0; Loose, dh, 1-0-0; Barefoot, p, 0-0-0; Anders, c, 1-0-0; Hoover, 3b, 1-0-1. TOTALS: 9-0-1.
Lewistown – Blessing, cf, 3-2-1; Zimmerman, lf, 2-1-1; Heckert, ph, 1-1-1; Searer, ss, 2-2-1; Fagan, ph, 1-1-0; Beamenderfer, 2b, 1-2-0; Walters, ph, 1-1-1; Klinger, 3b, 3-3-3; Peachey, ph, 0-0-0; Muir, p, 0-0-0; Shank, dh, 2-0-0; Hesketh, 1b, 2-1-1; Moist, ph, 1-0-1; Brown, c, 2-0-1; Haines, rf, 2-1-1. TOTALS: 23-15-12.
Tyrone 000 XXX X – 0- 1- 4
Lewistown 483 XXX X – 15-15-1
E: Moore, Rudy 2, Hoover
2B: Searer, Brown, Hesketh
3B: Heckert
HR: Klinger, Haines
RBI: Haines, Searer, Zimmerman, Shank, Brown 2, Klinger 6, Moist
WP: Muir LP: Brooks
