Lebanon Sports Buzz
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 BY JEFF FALK

 ANNVILLE – Catch a couple breaks.

  Gain a little confidence.

  Start believing.

  Pick up some momentum.

 And anything can happen.

 Fredericksburg is playing its best baseball of the summer. Post 915 has gotten hot at the right time.

 On a humid Friday night at Annville-Cleona High School, Fredericksburg pummeled Annville 11-0, in a critical Lebanon County American Legion baseball contest shorted to five innings by the mercy rule. F-burg scored a whopping nine runs in the top of the third inning, and slinging southpaw Brandon Shollenberger took care of the rest.

 The outcome gave Fredericksburg a one-game advantage over Annville in the race for the final playoff spot in the summer baseball circuit – second place in the West Division. With two regular-season contests remaining, Fredericksburg is 6-9 in the league.

 Annville dropped its third straight, and fourth in its last five outings, to fall to 5-10.

 The squad which finishes second in the West will play the champion of the East Division, in a best-of-three series beginning on Tuesday.

 Annville had taken the previous two regular-season meetings with Fredericksburg this summer, 7-2 at Earl Wenger Memorial Field on June 28 and 3-1 in Annville on June 25.

 “We’ve played well a couple times this season and lost,” said Fredericksburg manager Tim Schaeffer. “We’ve not been out of many games. I think we’ve lost five games by one run. They’re (his players) better than they’ve played. They just have to believe.

 “We’ve gotten a little more intensity from our top players,” continued Schaeffer. “We still don’t have that leader. But that’s OK, because we play as a team.”

  “No, we do not deserve to be in the playoffs,” said Annville head coach Ken Sauley. “If we made the playoffs, it would just show how down the league is. When you get shut out five times in a season, you don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. There’s too many good players on this team to get shut out five times.

 “If we win tonight, we’re probably in the playoffs,” Sauley continued. “We’re probably there. But you can’t would’ve, could’ve, should’ve when you lose 11-0. We had our butts handed to us.”

 Already ahead 2-0, Fredericksburg sent 14 hitters to the plate in the top of the third inning, as Post 915’s first eight batters reached with hits. Six different F-burg hitters drove home runs, including Seth Daubert who produced RBIs in two separate at-bats.

 But the big blast came off the bat of designated hitter Brock Eisenhauer. Eisenhauer’s three-run dinger down the right-field line made it 7-0, visitors.

 “We hit the ball all over the field,” said Schaeffer. “The right-handed hitters were hitting the ball to left field. But Brock hitting that three-run home run turned us up a notch. The way Brandon was throwing, it made our hitting a whole lot looser. And the way we were hitting, it made Brandon’s pitching a whole lot looser.

 “No, we haven’t hit the ball this hard all season,” added Schaeffer. “We did hit the ball hard against Campbelltown too. We’ve stopped swinging at other people’s pitches. That makes a difference. Tonight they (his batters) kept hitting and we didn’t stop.”

 “Once our pitcher got hurt, that didn’t help,” said Sauley of an apparent arm injury to starting pitcher Josh Speraw in the top of the second inning. “Then I’m out of pitching. We made some stupid mistakes, but we weren’t going to win anyway.

 “It was a combination of both,” Sauley added. “We weren’t going to have the pitching. But do you want it to be 11-0? No. We struggled hitting the ball and we didn’t pitch well. In the first two games (against Fredericksburg), the difference was pitching.”

 Fredericksburg broke out on top in the visitor’s half of the second inning.

 The frame began with a Dylan Beard single and a walk to Bailey Keefer. Cameron Sieger drove in Beard with a safety, then later scored on an Annville throwing error.

 “He threw hard tonight,” said Schaeffer of Shollenberger. “That was the hardest I saw anyone in the league throw this season. I think it helped DHing for him. I thought I’d let him worry about pitching and not stress about hitting.”

  “He (Shollenberger) threw good,” said Sauley. “Even if we were a good hitting team, I’d say he threw well.”

 Shollenberger yielded four hits, but never more than one in the same inning. He uncorked 79 pitches, whiffed six and issued two walks.

 “We were tied for second coming into this game,” said Schaeffer. “Now we’ve got to win our last two games. Destiny is in our own hands. We played well against Campbelltown and then followed it up with this.

 “If we’re the team that played Campbelltown the other night, then yeah, we’re deserving of a playoff spot,” Schaeffer continued. “We’ll be tough for anyone in a three-game series. We want to win the first round and get to the second round, but the goal is getting to the playoffs right now. I’m not saving anybody for anything. I’m not saving for the ‘if’.”

 “No, it’s been a disappointing season,” said Sauley. “I was hoping for a winning record. I’ve never had a losing record before.

 “The baseball gods didn’t smile on us this season,” continued Sauley. “The kids made a lot of dumb mistakes, and I made a lot of dumb mistakes.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2019 Fredericksburg Results

  Day Date Time Result Score Visitors Home Venue
  Thu 5/30/2019 7:00 pm W 9-4 Fredericksburg   5th Ward   5th Ward Athletic Club  
  Tue 6/4/2019 7:00 pm L 8-4 Campbelltown   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Sat 6/8/2019 6:00 pm W 5-0 Fredericksburg   Conrad Weiser   Womelsdorf  
  Wed 6/12/2019 7:00 pm L 5-6 Fredericksburg   Ephrata   War Memorial Field  
  Fri 6/14/2019 7:00 pm L 8-4 Myerstown   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Sun 6/16/2019 7:00 pm L 2-0 Conrad Weiser   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Mon 6/24/2019 6:00 pm L 0-2 Fredericksburg   Campbelltown   Palmyra High School  
  Tue 6/25/2019 6:00 pm L 1-3 Fredericksburg   Annville   Annville High School  
  Wed 6/26/2019 7:00 pm L 14-4 5th Ward   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Thu 6/27/2019 5:30 pm W 5-3 Fredericksburg   Richland   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Thu 6/27/2019 7:00 pm W 12-13 Richland   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Fri 6/28/2019 7:00 pm L 7-2 Annville   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Sun 6/30/2019 5:00 pm L 4-5 Fredericksburg   Myerstown   Myerstown  
  Mon 7/1/2019 7:00 pm W 5-6 Campbelltown   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Fri 7/5/2019 6:00 pm TBP   Fredericksburg   Annville   Annville High School  
  Sun 7/7/2019 7:00 pm TBP   Ephrata   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Mon 7/8/2019 7:30 pm TBP   5th Ward   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019 Annville Results

  Day Date Time Status Score Visitors Home Venue  
  Tue 5/28/2019 6:00 pm W 2-1 Annville   5th Ward   5th Ward Athletic Club  
  Fri 5/31/2019 6:00 pm L 0-8 Annville   Campbelltown   Palmyra High School  
  Tue 6/4/2019 6:00 pm L 14-1 Ephrata   Annville   Annville High School  
  Wed 6/12/2019 6:00 pm L 8-5 Richland   Annville   Annville High School  
  Fri 6/14/2019 6:00 pm W 6-3 Annville   Conrad Weiser   Womelsdorf  
  Sun 6/16/2019 7:00 pm L 2-4 Annville   Ephrata   War Memorial Field  
  Mon 6/17/2019 6:00 pm L 1-0 Myerstown   Annville   Annville High School  
  Tue 6/18/2019 6:00 pm L 0-1 Annville   Myerstown   Myerstown  
  Mon 6/24/2019 6:00 pm FFT-W 0-2 5th Ward   Annville   Annville High School  
  Tue 6/25/2019 6:00 pm W 1-3 Fredericksburg   Annville   Annville High School  
  Wed 6/26/2019 6:00 pm L 5-2 Campbelltown   Annville   Annville High School  
  Fri 6/28/2019 7:00 pm W 7-2 Annville   Fredericksburg   Earl Wenger Memorial Field  
  Tue 7/2/2019 6:00 pm L 3-4 Annville   Campbelltown   Palmyra High School  
  Wed 7/3/2019 6:00 pm L 6-0 Conrad Weiser   Annville   Annville High School  
  Fri 7/5/2019 6:00 pm TBP   Fredericksburg   Annville   Annville High School  
  Sun 7/7/2019 7:00 pm TBP   Annville   5th Ward   5th Ward Athletic Club  
  Mon 7/8/2019 6:00 pm TBP   Annville   Richland   Lyle Krall Stadium @ Elco High School  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lebanon County American Legion League

 West Division Standings

 

Team Won Lost Tied Pct. GB RF RA
Campbelltown 13 2 0 .867 98 30
Fredericksburg 6 9 0 .400 7.0 73 79
Annville 5 10 0 .333 8.0 33 69
5th Ward 4 9 0 .308 8.0 39 64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 East Division Standings

 

Team Won Lost Tied Pct. GB RF RA
Ephrata 12 3 0 .800 122 39
Myerstown 10 5 0 .667 2.0 59 54
Richland 6 9 0 .400 6.0 75 102
Conrad Weiser 3 12 0 .200 9.0 24 86

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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