HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Elizabethtown Blue Jays took a 13-7 victory over the Juniata Eagles in game one of the weekend's Vs. Cancer Series.
Blue Jay's starting pitcher Kevin Elwell kept the Eagles off the board until the bottom of the fifth.
With Elizabethtown leading 7-0, Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) smashed a leadoff homerun out to left field. Sinisi has homered in back-to-back games and now totals three on the season. The Blue Jays quickly turned three outs to get out of the inning.
ETown extended their lead to 10-1 with three runs in the sixth but Juniata fired back in the bottom half of the inning.
Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) led off with a single up the middle. Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa. / Bedford) followed with a single out to left field. Schreder would steal third with Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del. / St. Elizabeth) before Klusman knocked an RBI-single out to left field to bring him in. Next to the plate for Juniata was Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md. South Hagerstown). Stubbs brought Kline home on a single out to left center. Zach Tobash (Macungie, Pa. / Allentown Central) continued the momentum with a single up the middle that scored Klusman.
With two on and nobody out, the Blue Jays brought Nick Gulla to the mound. One out later, Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area) drew a walk and loaded the bases with the top of the batting order due up. Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) singled through the left side to pick up the final RBI of the inning for the Eagles. Juniata had trimmed the Elizabethtown lead to 10-5 with three innings left to play.
Alex Matoushek (Scranton, Pa. / West Scranton) relieved starting pitcher Jesse Beeler (Greencastle, Pa. / Greencastle-Antrim) in the top of the seventh and quickly struck out two. The Eagles would record the final out on a fly out to Stubbs in right field.
Juniata kept the bats hot in the seventh, opening up with a single along the third baseline from Kline. Klusman would reach on a fielder's choice as the Blue Jays got Kline out at second. Stubbs would single out to left to put two on base for Juniata. Later in the inning, Sinisi singled out to right field to bring in Klusman. Gulla recorded a strikeout for Elizabethtown as the Blue Jays' lead was trimmed to four.
Elizabethtown picked up a pair in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 12-6.
In the bottom of the eighth, Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) single out to left field and stole second to get the offense moving again. Kline later followed with a single out to left to bring in Lombardo. Elizabethtown got out of the inning a few batters later and went on to win the game by a 13-7 final.
Kline finished the day going 3-for-5 at the plate, followed by Sinisi and Klusman at 2-for-4.
Starting pitcher Beeler tossed 6.0 innings and recorded three strikeouts for Juniata. Matoushek followed with two strikeouts and 1.0 inning on the mound. Ichiro Narita (Brooklyn, NY / Brooklyn Latin) relieved Matoushek in the 8th for 1.1 inning and struckout one. Wayne Hydak (North Versailles, Pa. / Serra Catholic) closed out the game and struck out one.
Juniata and Elizabethtown return to action in the Vs. Cancer Series Sun. April 10 for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.
