Eagles hold on | News, Sports, Jobs – timesobserver.com

Youngsville (9-2) entered the seventh inning with a five-run lead and watched all but one run of it evaporate, holding on for a 7-6 Senior Day victory over the Union City Bears on Friday at Davis Street Field.

“Timely hitting and the bottom of the order doing what is asked of them was the difference tonight,” said Dorunda. “Wyatt (Dalrymple) and Ethan (Senz) getting down big bunts there in the middle of the game ended up being the difference. We couldn’t run the bases tonight like we normally do facing one of the top catchers in the region.”

The Eagles benefited from a fantastic outing by starting pitcher Nathan Lucks. Lucks worked the first six innings of the game, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out 13 and walking only two.

“Nathan’s curveball has not been working for him the last couple outings and tonight it was spot on,” said Dorunda. “It really complemented the fastball he was throwing in on the hands. He’s closing in on 50 strikeouts now this season and that’s certainly something he can be proud of.”

Youngsville’s Ethan Senz hustles down the first base line trying to beat out a bunt during Friday’s Region 3 baseball game with Union City at Davis Street Field in Youngsville.
Photo submitted by Jay Elfstrom

The Eagles appeared to be on their way to a quick start offensively, loading the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first inning. Walks from James Johnson and Lucks bookended a deep double by Matt DeSimone and Youngsville was in business.

However, a pair of short fly outs and a pickoff on the bases ended the threat with the game still knotted at 0-0.

Youngsville broke through in the second inning, pushing three runners across the dish. Dalrymple walked and Ian Mancuso reached on an error before both moving up on a Talon Mesel sacrifice bunt. Dalrymple scored on Ethan Senz’s RBI single and Mancuso was able to race home when a snap throw from the catcher to third sailed into left field. DeSimone ended the scoring with an RBI single to score Senz and make it 3-0 Eagles.

The Bears got a run back in the third on a two-out RBI single from Trevin Capela that scored Miles McCaslin. However, Youngsville would again plate three runs in the bottom of the inning.

This time, Keegan Mesel led off with a single and moved up on Dalrymple’s sacrifice bunt. Mesel scored on a passed ball just before back-to-back singles from Mancuso and Talon Mesel. Moments later, Senz brought home a second run of the night with a sacrifice bunt. Johnson was up next and walked before getting in a rundown between first and second base. Johnson was eventually out, but he stayed alive in the rundown long enough for Talon Mesel to score what would prove to be an important run.

Another important tally came in the fourth inning when Lucks was hit by a pitch and moved to third on David Manning’s single before scoring on a Keegan Mesel groundout.

Union City was able to chip into the lead in the sixth, making it 7-2 on an RBI single from Bryce Drayer, but the Eagles remained in firm control with just three outs remaining on the day.

Then — things got interesting.

Lucks was pulled in favor of DeSimone to pitch the seventh inning. After a questionable walk and double to lead off the inning, Union City cut the lead to 7-3 with a sacrifice fly from Quinlan Magee. Two batters later, Aiden Shuman ripped a double to the right-center gap, scoring two runs and making it 7-5.

At that point, Dorunda called on Johnson to pitch. The Bears’ Steven Klakamp greeted him with a bloop to shallow right, cutting the lead to one and Drayer followed with a walk to put the tying run in scoring position.

Dorunda made his third pitching change of the inning and called on freshman Manning to try to get the final out. Manning needed only one pitch to get UC’s Luke Racop to ground out to Johnson at short to end the game.

DeSimone led the Eagles’ offensive effort with two hits, Senz drove in two runs and Lucks reached base all four times without recording an official at-bat.

After the game, the Eagles were able to celebrate the team’s three seniors — Senz, Keegan Mesel and Mancuso. They also got some good news upon learning Cochranton had upset region-leading Saegertown earlier in the day.

The Eagles will meet those same Cochranton Cardinals at 4 p.m. today in a make-up contest at Davis Street Field in Youngsville.

UNION CITY (6)

McCaslin, 2b, 4-1-1-0, Magee, rf, 4-1-1-1, Capela, c, 1-0-1-1, Shuman, 3b-p, 4-1-1-2, Klakamp, cf, 4-0-0-0, Drayer, 1b-2b, 3-0-1-1, Racop, p-1b, 4-0-1-0, Post, lf, 2-1-0-0, Doutt, ss, 3-1-1-0, Karmazin, cr, 0-1-0-0, Totals: 29-6-7-5

YOUNGSVILLE (7)

James Johnson, ss-p-ss, 2-0-0-0, Matt DeSimone, cf-p-cf, 4-0-2-1, Nathan Lucks, p-3b-1b, 0-1-0-0, David Manning, 1b-p, 4-0-1-0, Keegan Mesel, c, 3-1-1-1, Wyatt Dalrymple, 2b, 1-1-0-0, Ian Mancuso, 3b-cf-3b, 3-2-1-0, Talon Mesel, rf, 2-1-1-0, Ethan Senz, lf, 1-1-1-2, Totals: 20-7-7-4

Union City 001 001 4 — 6 7 3

Youngsville 033 100 X — 7 7 1

2b–DeSimone (Y), McCaslin (UC), Doutt (UC), Shuman (UC)