Trojans fall in D4 final.
By: Nate Brown | Towanda Daily Review | May 29, 2015 | Photo courtesy Nate Brown
2015 NTL and District 4 News
The Troy Trojans faced a tough task in the District 4, Class AA final on Thursday, squaring off with two-time defending state champion Loyalsock.
The Trojans struck first, but a 10-run second inning helped the Lancers to a 12-1 five-inning win at Bowman Field.
The Lancers secured the District Four title with their victory. Loyalsock advances to play in the state tournament Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at Bowman Field.
Troy became the District Four runner-up but they also advance to the state tournament. They will travel to play Camp Hill, the champions of District Three on Monday at a time and place to be determined.
Trojan head coach Steve Mattocks paid tribute to his team's effort following the game. "We came out and the kids played hard. You can see the effort in that first inning diving for balls and then they came out in the top of the second and scored the first run against Loyalsock in District play this year."
Loyalsock used a 10-run second inning to pull away from the Trojans who led 1-0 following the top of the second inning. Loyalsock would tack on two more runs in the fourth.
The Lancers were led by a strong outing from pitcher Jimmy Webb. Webb went three innings, allowing just three hits, striking out four, walking one and allowing the lone Trojan run. They also got two no-hit innings from Andrew Malone and Kyle Datres respectively.
Every one of Loyalsock's starters had at least one base hit.
Ben Sosa led all Loyalsock batters going 3-for-3 from the plate with an RBI. Evan Moore drove in two runs for the Lancers.
Kyle Jackson took the mound to start the game for the Trojans. He allowed just one hit in the first inning but began to struggle in the second.
He pitched one and a third inning facing 13 batters, allowing four hits, walking three, hitting two and allowing five runs.
Mitchel Morse came into relief following Jackson but struggled out of the gate. He faced five batters, allowed one hit and walked just one batter but allowed five runs due to passed balls and defensive errors behind him in just two-thirds of an inning of work.
Jarod Mattocks pitched the next two innings allowing two runs on two hits, and one walk while striking out two.
However, despite their struggles, it wasn't all bad for the Trojans. Troy managed to score a run against the Loyalsock Lancers. The run was the first run scored against the Lancers in district play.
Collin Binford of the Trojans hit a single in the top of the second inning to score Nick Stephani from third.
Coach Mattocks had this to say about his opponents following the conclusion of the game, "I don't think you'll ever see a better team in high school baseball in a long time."
The season isn't over for the Trojans. Despite their future matchup with the champions of District Three, Coach Mattocks is already hoping for another matchup down the road.
When asked about their matchup with the champions of District Three, Coach Mattocks said, "I figure we'll go down there, take care of business and get another shot back at these guys," referring to Loyalsock.
Being an annual powerhouse and a two time defending state champion has put a target on the backs of the Lancers and the Trojans want to be that team to dethrone them.
"We've had a good year but the kids aren't ready to be done yet, I think the kids are ready to go," said Mattocks.
