Towanda, Mansfield baseball get walk-off wins.
By: Brian Fees | Towanda Daily Review | April 17, 2014 | Photo courtesy Brian Fees
2014 NTL and District 4 News
WYSOX - For four innings it was all Troy on Wednesday afternoon as the Trojans led Towanda 4-1 entering the fifth inning.
In the fifth Towanda fought back to tie the game and eventually they won it in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run, walk-off single by Richard Benjamin.
"I'm really pleased we were able to put it together and pull that game out," Towanda coach Bill Sexton said. "For four innings we didn't even belong on a baseball field. We were bad. We were on our way to getting beat. It was pretty hard to watch for four innings.
"Something clicked finally in the fifth inning. If Troy had won the game I probably would have been pleased with the way we came back, but obviously I'm happy to win."
In the seventh Troy took the lead back as Brandon Mattocks led off with a double, his fourth hit of the game, and he scored on an Isaac Havens sacrifice fly.
"Troy came out in the seventh and got the run," Sexton said. "They earned the run, we didn't give it to them. They got the double, from a kid that had a real big night."
In the bottom of the seventh Towanda answered as Nick Place walked and Sawyer Strope singled. After a long at-bat Tristan James followed with a single to load the bases.
After Troy got a strikeout Benjamin delivered a two-run single just out of reach of the diving Troy shortstop bringing home Place and a sliding Strope for the tying and winning runs.
"I just wanted to get the bat on the ball and hit it," Benjamin said. "Coach (Casey) Baker has been working with me on my hitting and I just wanted to come through for him and my teammates and make him proud."
Right after he hit the ball Benjamin saw that it was making it through for a hit.
"I always do what coach showed me and take a little peek and when I saw it I got pretty pumped," Benjamin said.
Strope was running from second and when he saw Sexton wave him home he knew there would be a play at the plate.
"I saw coach give me the signal and I just chugged as fast as I could," Strope said. "I knew it would be close, a little too close."
Sexton was happy with the way his team played in the seventh.
"Nick got the walk and then Sawyer had the hit and he had a really nice day with three hits," Sexton said. "I thought James had a terrific at bat. Down 0-2, he fouled off three or four pitches, got to a 3-2 count and then got a flare down the right-field line. It was a big at bat from Richie Benjamin. He's a first year starter and he really came through. I'm real happy for him."
For Benjamin it's his first varsity game-winning hit.
"I had one way back, in Little League," Benjamin said. "This is definitely a big one."
For Towanda's players coming back from down three runs early was important.
"I'm proud of the way we came back," Strope said. "It was important for us to come back."
Strope had three hits, an RBI and scored a run and Jared Lines had a hit, a run and an RBI.
Dylan Bates had a hit, a run, an RBI and he stole a base and Place had a hit and a run. James had a hit, Devin Patel had an RBI and Benjamin had a hit, a run and two RBI. Noah Huff had a hit, a run and a stolen base.
Place struck out nine in five innings, walking one and allowing five hits. Bates threw a perfect inning, striking out the side, and Strope got the win allowing one hit and one run in the seventh.
Isaac Havens struck out four in 4 1/3 for Troy and Jarrod Mattocks struck out one in 1 2/3, before Kyle Jackson pitched the final 1/3 of an inning, taking the loss.
Brandon Mattocks was 4-for-4 with three doubles and three runs scored. Jarrod Mattocks had a double and an RBI and so did Jackson.
Havens had an RBI and scored a run and Kyle Schucker had a double and two RBI, while Mitchell Morse had a double.
Troy hosts Canton today and Towanda hosts Wyalusing.
Mansfield 5, Wellsboro 4
The Tigers got a walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh as they loaded the bases and J.P. Shaw got a one-out single to score Bryce Zaparzynski.
Shaw had two hits and two RBI and Rylan Whitmyer was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Brady Andrews and Zaparzynski each had a hit and scored a run.
Shaw started on the mound, working four innings and Jarrod Burd and Zaparzynski relieved. Zaparzynski got the win and the three struck out eight.
"It was a good win," Mansfield coach Matt Perry said. "The guys played well as a team. Wellsboro is a good team. It's always nice to be able to compete against a good team."
Dawson Prough was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI for Wellsboro and Dylan Prough had two hits and scored two runs, while Cody DeHaas had a double.
Dylan Prough and Brandon Owlett pitched, combining to strike out four.
Mansfield hosts Athens on Saturday.
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