BY JEFF FALK

 MYERSTOWN – The more you win, the more meaningful upcoming games become. At this point of the season, it’s up to the Elco baseball team to decide and define what meaningful is.

 On a seasonal Tuesday evening at Elco High School’s Lyle Krall Field, the Raiders assured themselves of more meaningful games to come, with a 9-2 Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three-Four crossover dumping of Lancaster Mennonite. With the outcome very much in doubt and the home side trailing 2-1, the Raiders rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win it.

 The victory was Elco’s third in its last four outings, and it pushed the Raiders’ overall mark to 4-6 and its Section Three record to 4-5.  Lancaster Mennonite slipped to 1-9 on the year and 1-8 in Section Four.

 “The goals coming into the season were high. They still are,” said Elco head coach Roger Hehnly. “We’re not even close to peaking. We have to work harder and take it a little more serious. There’s a lot of lackadaisical play.

 “Every game is a must-win,” continued Hehnly. “To compete in the section, we’ve got to keep going and moving forward. We can’t lose to teams we should beat. We shouldn’t be in games like this.”

 But Elco trailed most of the way, until sending 14 hitters to the plate and posting its eight-spot in the sixth. That at-bat started with Dakota Smith’s lead-off single, and at one point, seven straight Raider batters reached base, thanks in part to a key Blazer error.

 The explosion featured three dfferent two-run singles, from Bryce Coletti, Riley Blatt and then Jason Gattens. Elco six-hole hitter Braden Bohannon drove home another run with a bases-loaded walk.

  “The error helped us,” said Hehnly. “It got us going. We had to put the bat to the ball and put the ball in play. (Starting pitcher) Ryan Miller kept us in the game. That was a great pitching performance.

 “It’s (the Raider offense) been sporadic,” Hehnly continued. “We can hit good pitching one day, and not hit bad pitching the next day. We’ve got to find that happy medium. We have a pretty good nucleus. We’re just not consistent now.”

 From the rubber, Miller battled all game long. The crafty southpaw worked into the seventh inning, before giving way to the pitching limitation and reliever Reilly Peiffer.

 Miller earned the pitching victory by whiffing three Blazers and walking two. He surrendered four hits and one earned run.

 “He threw well,” said Hehnly of Miller. “He kept us in the game. Our pitching is starting to come around. Defensively, we’re OK. But sometimes we play to the level of the teams we’re facing.

 “The key for him is throwing strikes,” added Hehnly. “And getting ahead in the count. He did a great job of that.”

 Lancaster Mennonite scratched out a single run off Miller in the top of the first inning. Chad Dinger’s run-producing safety scored Dylan Gibble, who had walked and stole second.

 But the Raiders answered back in the bottom of second, courtesy of an RBI-single from Bohannon. Bohannon’s hit plated Peiffer, who had been hit by a pitch before stealing second.

 “I thought we were lazy, and very lackadaisical,” said Hehnly. “They (the Blazers) weren’t a very good team. We really hadn’t done anything before the sixth inning. But they (his players) pulled together.

 “They’re still riding that level playing field,” Hehnly added. “I don’t know what it is. I’m OK if they produce.”

  The Blazers went ahead 2-1 in the top of the third inning, on Sota Masuda’s two-out, RBI-knock. And from their second to their sixth at-bat, all the Raiders could manage offensively was a one-out Bohannon single in the fourth.

 Five of Elco’s seven total hits came in the sixth frame. The Raiders did swipe six bases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2019 Elco Baseball Schedule

Date	Opponents	Outcomes
3/26 4:15 pm	Elco at Northern Lebanon	16 9
3/27 4:15 pm	Elco at Cocalico	5 6
3/28 4:15 pm	Manheim Central at Elco	15 0
3/29 4:00 pm	Elco at Hamburg	2 5
4/01 4:15 pm	Elco at Octorara	2 6
4/03 4:15 pm	Garden Spot at Elco	6 4
4/08 4:15 pm	Pequea Valley at Elco	1 3
4/09 4:15 pm	Donegal at Elco	12 8
4/10 4:15 pm	Elco at Annville-Cleona	3 0
4/16 4:15 pm	Lancaster Mennonite at Elco
4/17 4:15 pm	Columbia at Elco
4/18 4:15 pm	Elco at Lancaster Catholic
4/22 4:15 pm	Lebanon Catholic at Elco
4/24 4:15 pm	Northern Lebanon at Elco
4/26 4:15 pm	Elco at Manheim Central
4/29 4:15 pm	Cocalico at Elco
5/03 4:15 pm	Octorara at Elco
5/04 1:00 pm	Elco at Tulpehocken
5/06 4:15 pm	Elco at Garden Spot
5/08 4:15 pm	Elco at Donegal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section Three Standings

	League			Overall
	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT	RS	RA
Manheim Central	9	1	90.00	9	2	81.82	90	18
Octorara	7	1	87.50	7	2	77.78	43	19
Donegal	6	3	66.67	6	3	66.67	60	43
Cocalico	6	4	60.00	6	4	60.00	82	36
Garden Spot	6	4	60.00	6	5	54.55	61	38
Elco	3	5	37.50	3	6	33.33	43	55
Northern Lebanon	2	7	22.22	2	8	20.00	39	96