For the second consecutive year, Delone Catholic and Susquehannock faced off in the YAIAA Baseball Tournament title game, and the Warriors came away as back-to-back champions after downing the Squires, 6-3, on Monday night at Horn Field in Red Lion.
Susky (18-3) took the 2022 title tilt, 3-0.
“We’re happy to reach this game for the second year in a row,” Delone head coach Jim Smith said. “This is bonus baseball for us, games that we hope help to get us ready for districts.”
Delone (13-8) earned its spot in the title game by beating Bermudian Springs, 3-0, in the semifinals earlier in the day at Dallastown. The Squires stopped the Eagles’ 11-game winning streak in the process.
The Warriors punched their ticket by knocking off YAIAA-1 titlist Dallastown in the other semi, 3-0.
The title game started off well for Delone after Josh Preston began the game with a single for the Warriors but was cut down trying to swipe second on an excellent throw from Squire backstop Brodie Collins.
Starter Denver Ostrum retired the next two hitters on groundouts.
Delone went down in order in the first, but came to life in the second following Trent Giraffa’s leadoff double. Following a strikeout, Chris Cole boomed a two-bagger to left-center that plated Giraffa, then Matt Mummert singled home Cole for a 2-0 advantage.
Susquehannock answered quickly in the third when Preston roped a triple to deep right-center that scored courtesy runner Jaden Sipe to cut the deficit in half. With two down, Luke Geiple found the gap in left-center for a double that allowed Preston to waltz home with the tying run.
In the bottom of the third, Delone’s Brady Dettinburn singled to leadoff the inning and tried to score on Collins’ single, but was cut down at the plate on a beauty of a relay from the Warriors to keep things even.
Neither team could mount a rally in the fourth or fifth innings, but a double by Geiple to start the sixth was the end of the line for Ostrum. Aidan Wittmer came on in relief for Delone.
“They were starting to see Denver better and caught up to him,” Smith said. “We wanted to give them a different look and (Aidan) Wittmer is that.”
Following a sac bunt, Jarryn Andrews blooped a single to center that brought home Geiple with the go-ahead run.
A bases-loaded walk drawn by Brayden Heaps doubled Susky’s advantage, then a throwing error allowed two more runners to score to bulge the lead to 6-2.
Delone managed to get a run back in the sixth when Giraffa hit into a double play with two on and none out.
Heaps went the route on the hill for the winners and allowed three runs and seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks. He threw an economical 76 pitches, 55 of them strikes.
“(Heaps) did a good job of shutting us down after the second inning,” Smith said. “He was peppering the strike zone all night.”
Collins led the way for the Squires with a pair of knocks, while Geiple had three hits for the Warriors and Josh Pecunes had two.
Ostrum took the loss for Delone after throwing five innings, plus one batter. He allowed three runs and five hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
In the earlier game, Delone junior Cole Lambert was masterful on the mound, twirling a five-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and one walk against Berm.
“I got into a jam in the first inning when they had two on and none out, but struck out the side,” Lambert said. “That hyped me up and it got us going.”
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Collins lined a double to center that brought home Wittmer and Dettinburn.
Lambert helped his own cause with a solo homer in the sixth to produce the final scoring of the game.
“We struggled early with our bats and I was trying to keep my pitch count down,” Lambert said. “We got some runs and I was able to go the distance.”
Smith added, “All season Cole has been getting better and better. He’s pitching smarter every time he goes out there.”
For the year, Lambert improved his numbers to 4-2 with a 1.94 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 36 innings. Due to transferring in from Gettysburg prior to the season, Monday was his final start of the season as he is ineligible to play in districts and states.
“I think I built a lot of momentum for next season and helped us to win some regular season games this year,” Lambert said. “I can’t play anymore this year, but I’ll be at all of the practices and games and cheering on the guys.”
Follow Tom Sixeas on Twitter at @TomSixeas
Bermudian 000 000 0 — 0 5 1
Delone Catholic 000 021 x — 3 5 1
Gabe Kline, Nate Keller (6) and Liam Cook; Cole Lambert and Brodie Collins.WP: Lambert. LP: Kline. SO-BB:…
Read More: More silver for Squires as Susky takes YAIAA baseball title | Sports