Exeter trailed for almost the entirety of its Berks Baseball League game Thursday against unbeaten Gov. Mifflin.
The Eagles committed five errors, including three in one inning, and fell behind by as many as four runs. Hopes grew dim in their dugout before senior Brady Hannahoe delivered an impromptu talk.
“This game is not over yet,” Hannahoe said. “There are so many innings left to play. This is our game to win.”
He made certain of that.
Hannahoe had a two-run triple and scored the tying run in a three-run seventh inning and then stroked the tiebreaking single in the ninth, sending Exeter to a 16-10 victory over the Mustangs at Shillington.
“I know what I needed to do,” he said of his at-bat in the ninth. “I needed to step up. The coaches believe in me. I needed to believe in myself and get up there and do the job. It was amazing.”
The Eagles (8-4, 13-5) clinched second place in Berks I and spoiled what would have been an undefeated regular season for Mifflin (11-1, 19-1).
“We knew they were perfect coming into this game,” left-handed reliever Owen Wisner said. “It was the last game of the season for them, and we wanted to ruin it. We got it done. We just fought the entire game.”
The Mustangs had outscored their first 19 opponents by 122 runs, had all but clinched the No. 1 seed in the Berks playoffs and had moved to the top of the District 3 Class 6A power ratings. But they pitched and fielded as poorly they have in several years, allowing 16 hits and seven walks and committing six errors.
“We were the Bad News Bears today,” Mifflin coach Chris Hole said. “That was very uncharacteristic of us. We preach pitching and defense. Both of those areas were not our strong suit today. The defense definitely let us down and at key moments.”
Hannahoe went 3-for-6 with three RBIs and scored twice after Exeter coach Justin Freese moved him from the No. 3 spot in the lineup to leadoff. Luke Weller was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and scored three times, Alex Kelsey was 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs and Nick Sydor had three RBIs.
No. 9 hitter Evan Franek reached base five times and scored four runs.
“Brady and Luke have carried us offensively most of the year,” Freese said. “The guys at the bottom of the order getting on allows Brady and Luke to do their thing.”
The Eagles wouldn’t have won without brilliant relief pitching by Wisner. After Freese used two pitchers in Mifflin’s six-run first inning, Wisner came in to start the second and restored some order.
He threw 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run, seven hits and one walk and striking out five. He left the game in the eighth because he reached 100 pitches. His performance was critical on a day when Deven Sheerin and Weller, Exeter’s top two starters, were not available.
They had picked up division wins over Wilson and Daniel Boone earlier in the week to strengthen the Eagles’ playoff position.
“He (Freese) told me today in school to be ready,:” Wisner said. “He turned to me in the first inning and said, ‘Get ready.’
“I told him, ‘I want this. I want this game.’ I came in and did what I do.”
With Mifflin needing three outs to complete a 20-0 regular season, Exeter rallied to tie it with three runs in the seventh. Mike Greenawalt reached on an error to lead off and Franek walked before the left-handed Hannahoe hooked a triple down the right-field line. He scored on Weller’s sacrifice fly to tie it and send it to extra innings.
The Mustangs had a chance to end it in the eighth. Freshman Bryce Detwiler doubled to lead off and moved to third on a sacrifice. But Wisner and then Kelsey struck out the next two batters to send it to the ninth.
Franek drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored the go-ahead run on Hannahoe’s single. Weller followed with an RBI single, Sydor hit a two-run double, Carter Redding had a run-scoring groundout and Sheerin capped the six-run outburst with an RBI double.
“We did not play well for the first four or five innings,” Freese said. “The kids are resilient. They work hard. They play hard.”
Travis Jenkins went 2-for-5 with two RBIs for Mifflin, Detwiler and Jon Radwanski each had two hits and Xander Velez had a double and two RBIs.
Compounding the loss, the Mustangs might have to worry about Tyler Minick, their top player. He started at shortstop and was moved to second base. He couldn’t get much on his throws the rest of the game.
Exeter, meanwhile, strengthened its position in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings and also showed it will be a serious contender in the Berks playoffs.
“This means a lot,” Hannahoe said. “I feel like we proved we’re a team that can go very far in counties. We can beat good teams. We were struggling to beat good teams early in the season.
“Now we have the confidence to do it. We can be great.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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