BY JEFF FALK
FREDERICKSBURG – You know what they say about the high school baseball season?! Just when the weather is getting nice, the season is over.
The spring just never seemed to heat up for the Northern Lebanon Vikings.
On n a seasonable Monday after school, Northern Lebanon suffered what may very well be a season-crippling loss, a 15-3, six-inning home setback at the hands of Garden Spot. Desperately needing a win to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Vikings slipped into an early 8-0 hole, before the visitors from New Holland brought the mercy rule into play with a seven-run top-of-the-sixth.
With the loss, Northern Lebanon slipped to 9-10 overall and 6-9 in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. In the latest District Three power rankings, the Vikings, who will close out their regular season on Wednesday against Lebanon, were situated 11th in a Class AAAA field that takes ten for its postseason.
The loss was the Vikings’ third straight and sixth in their last seven outings. Garden Spot, which had dropped an earlier 5-3 decision to Northern Lebanon, improved to 12-6 on the year and 11-4 in the section.
“That was on our minds,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Daryl Hess of extending his club’s season. “I’ve been watching the power rankings and I know the kids have been too. It’s tough to tell. All we can do is go out and try to get a win Wednesday against Lebanon.
“Our goal is to try to get a win, sit back and see what happens,” continued Hess. “We’re going after it like we can still get in. We’ve won some games and lost some games, and haven’t moved much (in the power rankings). The only thing we can control is Wednesday.”
The inning that seemed to sum up yesterday’s game for the Vikings, and their season, was the sixth.
Trailing 8-2, Northern Lebanon retired the first two Spartans in the frame. But thanks to five walks, three errors and three hits, the next ten Garden Spot batters reached base.
And when it was all over, the Vikings were facing a 15-2 deficit.
“You don’t have the luxury of losing three or four in-a-row with only 20 games,” said Hess. “That could devastate you for a year. If you hit a bad spell for a week, it could really, really hurt you. That’s high school baseball. It is unforgiving.
“This section has been very competitive for years,” added Hess. “It’s just been a good section. You’ve got to lace them up every night and play your best. It’s just the nature of this section. Night in and night out, anybody can beat anybody. You can’t take anything for granted. You’ve got to go out and play.”
Down 8-0, the Vikings got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Cole Felty led off with a single, and two outs later Michigan Daub laced a ringing triple.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Northern Lebanon pulled to within six runs of the lead. Felty doubled, Hayden Johnson singled and Cody Ream smacked an RBI-single.
“When you have a kid (Garden Spot starter Jordan Petersheim) pitching around the zone, you have to approach at-bats like you typically would,” said Hess. “Maybe you’re a little more patient. That’s what we were up against. We have to attack it that way.
“He’s a nice pitcher,” Hess continued. “He pitched against us down there (New Holland). He mixes speeds well and hits good spots. And he’s a lefty. He does a nice job.”
Garden Spot got its first two hitters on base in each of its first three at-bats, and every one eventually came around to score. In fact. some Garden Spot hitters accumulated three plate appearances before the Vikings got through the lineup once.
The Spartans grabbed a 2-0 lead first-inning lead thanks to RBIs from Zack Skinner and Ryan Smith. Garden Spot pushed its lead to five runs courtesy of Brock Kauffman’s two-run triple and Dylan Crosson’s RBI-grounder in the second. And the Spartans scored three more times in the third, via Austin Wanner’s two-run single and Martin’s RBI-knock.
“They came out and hit the ball hard,” said Hess. “They got a lot of base runners and knocked them home. We got in an early hole. That’s a tough deficit against a good team. When a team comes out like that and scores runs, it’s tough to come back.”
The Vikings notched their third and final run in the bottom of the sixth. Christian Weaner followed Jordan Seltzer’s one-out double with a run-scoring single.
In the final box score, Northern Lebanon out hit Garden Spot 11-10.
“You’ve got to get your foot in the door and see what happens,” said Hess of the postseason. “At that point, anything can happen.
“It’s (the season) been a roller coaster ride,” Hess added. “We’ve been up and down. We’ve had some really good wins, and there’s been some losses where we’ve played well. We’ve had good games and a couple when we haven’t played well.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.
2017 Northern Lebanon Baseball Results
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
OUTCOMES |
|
|
| 03/24 |
@McCaskey
|
4:15 PM |
W 4-1 |
|
|
| 03/29 |
Cedar Crest
|
4:15 PM |
W 10-4 |
|
|
| 03/30 |
Hamburg
|
4:15 PM |
W 5-4 |
|
|
| 04/03 * |
Manheim Central
|
4:15 PM |
L 4-11 |
|
|
| 04/05 * |
Elco
|
4:15 PM |
L 5-14 |
|
|
| 04/08 |
@Palmyra
|
4:00 PM |
L 0-8 |
|
|
| 04/10 * |
@Lebanon
|
4:15 PM |
W 5-4 |
|
|
| 04/11 * |
@Cocalico
|
4:15 PM |
L 8-18 |
|
|
| 04/12 * |
@Garden Spot
|
4:15 PM |
W 5-3 |
|
|
| 04/17 * |
@Annville-Cleona
|
4:15 PM |
L 4-9 |
|
|
| 04/19 * |
Lancaster Mennonite
|
4:15 PM |
L 11-13 |
|
|
| 04/26 * |
@Lancaster Catholic
|
4:15 PM |
— |
|
|
| 04/27 * |
@Manheim Central
|
4:15 PM |
W 6-4 |
|
|
| 05/01 * |
@Elco
|
4:15 PM |
L 2-12 |
|
|
| 05/03 * |
Cocalico
|
4:15 PM |
L 4-7 |
|
|
| 05/08 * |
Garden Spot
|
4:15 PM |
L 3-15 |
|
|
PIAA District Three
Class AAAA Power Rankings
| AAAA |
School |
W |
L |
T |
Rating |
|
|
| 1 |
Berks Catholic |
14- |
2- |
0 |
0.679594 |
|
|
| 2 |
James Buchanan |
14- |
4- |
0 |
0.664017 |
|
|
| 3 |
Big Spring |
12- |
4- |
0 |
0.660198 |
|
|
| 4 |
Susquehannock |
14- |
4- |
0 |
0.660099 |
|
|
| 5 |
Kennard Dale |
15- |
3- |
0 |
0.656054 |
|
|
| 6 |
East Pennsboro |
10- |
4- |
0 |
0.649426 |
|
|
| 7 |
West Perry |
12- |
5- |
0 |
0.641851 |
|
|
| 8 |
Bishop McDevitt |
9- |
6- |
0 |
0.617216 |
|
|
| 9 |
Eastern Lebanon County |
12- |
5- |
0 |
0.616714 |
|
|
| 10 |
West York |
9- |
9- |
0 |
0.576088 |
|
|
| 11 |
Northern Lebanon |
9- |
9- |
0 |
0.536106 |
|
|
| 12 |
Middletown |
7- |
8- |
0 |
0.523596 |
|
|
| 13 |
Shippensburg |
5- |
9- |
0 |
0.499119 |
|
|
| 14 |
Bermudian Springs |
7- |
9- |
0 |
0.487102 |
|
|
| 15 |
Littlestown |
7- |
9- |
0 |
0.476590 |
|
|
| 16 |
Hamburg |
7- |
12- |
0 |
0.472666 |
|
|
| 17 |
Conrad Weiser |
5- |
14- |
0 |
0.436416 |
|
|
| 18 |
Boiling Springs |
2- |
7- |
0 |
0.431175 |
|
|
| 19 |
Wyomissing |
6- |
10- |
0 |
0.403363 |
|
|
| 20 |
Eastern York |
4- |
13- |
0 |
0.381732 |
|
|
| 21 |
Susquehanna Township |
2- |
15- |
0 |
0.356241 |
|
|
| 22 |
York Suburban |
1- |
13- |
0 |
0.324801 |
|
|
Lancaster-Lebanon League
Section Three Standings
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