MANDATA - A week ago, Line Mountain made five errors in a 10-4 loss to Halifax.
On Wednesday, with their season on the line and after not having outdoor practice for a few days, the Eagles played flawless defense behind the shutout pitching of Austin Snyder to keep their district playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 non-league win over Midd-West.
Now 8-10, the Eagles are scheduled to play East Juniata and Williams Valley today and Friday and must win both games to qualify. If they play as well as they did Wednesday, they have a shot.
Snyder gave up four hits, struck out four and walked two, and only one Midd-West player reached third base, and he was cut down at the plate on a throw from rightfielder Erik Smeltz. The game took just an hour and 25 minutes.
"Austin threw great and we played
real good baseball today, offensive and defensively," said Line Mountain coach Rodney Knock. "We're capable of playing like that all the time. We really didn't have any mistakes today."
Last week, Knock said he was concerned his players were pressing too much and not having enough fun.
Snyder said the team has tried to take that advice to heart.
"We're trying to work hard," Snyder said. "We weren't able to get outside the last couple of days but we took a lot of balls in the gym and we got some extra swings in before school today. The defense played real good today."
Line Mountain grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Wade Wetzel which scored leadoff hitter Dan Adams, who walked. Wetzel reached third on a single by Matt Howerter but both were stranded.
The Eagles picked up two more runs in the third off losing pitcher Colton Heister, who was almost as sharp as Snyder, with help from an error which allowed Adams, leading off the inning, to reach base. Tyler Bonawitz doubled him to third and Wetzel walked to load the bases. Smeltz drove Adams in with the first of his two singles, reloading the bases. Howerter grounded into a double play with no outs but Bonawitz scored from third.
Midd-West had three of its four hits in the second inning, but Ty Wilson was thrown out at home by Smeltz on a single by Heister.
Knock's biggest concern now is with the weather. Rain was forecast for overnight, and the field was still fairly damp from Monday and Tuesday's rain.
"The weather was great all season until the last week," Knock said. "We have to get the games in, so we might have to play Saturday."
Game Summary
MIDD-WEST (AB-R-H-BI) - Stenn 2-0-0-0, Shuff 3-0-0-0, Connahan 3-0-0-0, Lash 3-0-0-0, Wilson 3-0-2-0, Heister 2-0-1-0, Zimmerman 3-0-1-0, Mast 2-0-0-0, Snook 2-0-0-0. Totals 23-0-4-0
LINE MTN. (AB-R-H-BI) - Adams 2-2-0-0, Bonawitz 3-1-1-0, Wetzel 2-0-1-1, Smeltz 3-0-2-1, Howerter 2-0-1-0, Reed 0-0-0-0, Renn 3-0-0-0, Snyder 3-0-0-0, Rickert 3-0-0-0, Strause 3-0-0-0. Totals 24-3-5-2.
Midd-West 000 000 0 - 0 4 3
Line Mountain 102 000 0 - 3 5 0
Extra-base hits: 2B - Bonawitz.
IP H R ER BB K
Midd-West
Heister (L) 7 5 3 2 3 5
Line Mtn.
Snyder (W) 7 4 0 0 2 4