BY JEFF FALK

PALMYRA – Palmyra has a lot of the pieces, many of the components. But for whatever reason, things just haven’t clicked and fallen into place.

It may be that the Cougars’ best baseball is ahead of them.

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Palmyra High School, the Cougars flashed glimpses of what they could be, during a 12-0 demolition of Harrisburg High. In invoking the mercy rule, Palmyra scored three runs in each of its four at-bats and got a combined two-hitter out of starter Sam Ziegler and reliever Robert Taylor.

The result marked the first time this spring that the Cougars have pieced together consecutive wins. Now 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the Keystone Division of the Mid-Penn Conference, Palmyra has gone 1-3 in one-run games this season.

With the loss, Harrisburg plummeted to 0-7 in the division and 0-8 on the year.

“For us, we want to create a culture within the baseball community,” said Palmyra rookie head coach Neil Weber. “It starts at the top, with the high school team. It’s nice to see young guys out here watching. We want to create excitement. We want to play the game the right way.

“That’s (the postseason) a goal for us,” continued Weber. “The team had a lot of success last year. We have some new leaders, kids who are stepping up. We’re starting to play better as a team. If we can continue to win one game at a time, and start to stack some, we’ll be in good shape at the end.”

The Cougars exited the blocks quickly, in the form of a three-run, bottom of the first inning.

Ziegler aided his own cause with an RBI-single, one of two hits by Palmyra in the rally. Harrisburg was guilty of two errors.

“I thought we did the basics pretty well,” said Weber. “We threw strikes, put the ball in play and played good defense. I’m pleased with our performance.

“This is a big game for us,” added Weber. “We got through the first half of the season. We wanted to put runs on the board and play together as a team. We have a tough game coming up with our rival (Thursday at home against Hershey), and this sets us up for that.”

Ziegler worked the first four innings and gave up both Harrisburg hits early. He was credited with the win, struck out five and walked one.

Taylor worked a one-two-three fifth, with a whiff.

“Sam is an athletic guy,” said Weber. “He’s getting better every week on the mound. His curve ball has really improved. He put a lot of zeroes up today. He got us back to the bat rack hitting again.”

The Cougars got RBIs from Jacob Roe, Brian Coburn and Christian Kreiser during a three-run second that made it 6-0.

Palmyra was at it again in the third, courtesy of back-to-back hit-by-pitches by Isaac Blatt and Dylan Spagnolo, and a walk to Carl Reigle. Coburn plated a pair with a double down the right-field line, after Ziegler knocked home Blatt with a grounder.

“We knew if we played well this game we had a good chance to win,” said Weber. “Our focus was playing seven innings of good baseball.

“It’s (the mercy rule) a rule, and if you look at the big picture, there’s no reason to score 20 runs on a team,” Weber continued. “There’s another time element of it, with school work and traveling. These kids are student-athletes. It is what it is.”

Palmyra again loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth frame, courtesy of a Jake Wagner single, a walk to Blatt and an HBP from Joey Fisher. Chris Connell brought one home with a sacrifice fly. Reigle knocked in one with a ground-out, while the other scored on a Harrisburg error.

“I think we’re in the mix,” said Weber. “We had four one-run games, and won one. You want to take care of each game as it comes. If we play well I think we can still control our own destiny.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2017 Palmyra Baseball Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-Penn Conference

 Keystone Division Standings