WILLIAMSPORT -- Line Mountain fans are probably going to gripe about an obvious bad call that ultimately allowed St. John Neumann to score three runs in their 6-2 District 4 Class A semifinal loss to the Knights Saturday at Bowman Field.
And they probably have a point.
It wasn't, however, the deciding factor in the game.
The Eagles just didn't produce on offense.
Sure, they had seven hits in the game, but five of those came from the top two spots in the order, and a sixth was awarded to designated hitter Tanner Spatzer when his two-out groundball hit Colton Gaw, who was running from first to second, to end the bottom of the first.
Their other hit was Corey Paul's long double to the right-center gap in the bottom of the fifth.
It wasn't enough.
The disputed call came with two outs in the top of the sixth. The Knights had plated one run to take a 3-2 lead. With two outs and runners on first and second, Ryan Reed hit a ball down the third base line and into the outfield. Eagles' third baseman Cory Warford took a throw from the outfield and appeared to tag Richard Allen out several feet in front of third base before John Burfeindt crossed the plate for the second run of the
inning. The original call was safe, then, after a conference between the plate and third base umpire, the call stood.
Neumann made it hurt even more when Isaac Beiter belted a double to left field, pushing two more runs across.
Instead of what Line Mountain and head coach Jon Raker felt should have been a 3-2 Knights' lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, it was now 6-2.
"When you have four umpires, somebody has to see the tag and make the call," Raker said after the game. "But that has nothing to do with us not being able to hit the ball.
"That has nothing to do with our offense. Their kid pitched a pretty good game, but he threw all fastballs. We're a pretty good fastball hitting team, and today we didn't hit fastballs."
The Eagles' offense, a team strong point most of the season, popped out or flew out 10 times in the seven innings. Fly balls on a field with the dimensions of Bowman are generally outs. Neumann starter Nick Grieco pitched a complete game, and worked 1-2-3 innings four times, including the sixth and seventh when Line Mountain was attempting to come back.
"Swinging at pitches up in the zone causes you to hit fly balls," Raker said.
Prior to the Knights' 4-run outburst in the sixth, it was anybody's game.
Kellan Masser, who started on the mound and took the loss, gave Line Mountain a 1-0 lead after one inning when he singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Neumann tied it at 1-1 in the second inning when When Otis Anderson's single to right scored Grieco, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Kamal Burkholder's triple followed by Allen's single gave the Knights a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, but Line Mountain came right back, scoring it's final run when Paul's double was followed by a Masser single in the bottom of the fifth.
Line Mountain finished its season at 15-5. The Knights (12-10) will meet the winner of the Montgomery-Canton semifinal in Wednesday's District 4 title game at Bowman Field.