Eagles Win After Late-Game Heroics
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata baseball team earned an exciting win on Wednesday afternoon over the visitors of Lancaster Bible. After mounting a thrilling comeback to force the game into extra innings, the Eagles grabbed a walk-off win in the bottom of the tenth inning.
The scoring opened for both teams in the first inning, with Lancaster Bible notching a run in the top of the inning, before Juniata responded with two of their own in the bottom of the frame. Corey Daniels (Vandling, Pa. / Forest City Regional) rapped a single to right field, earning himself two RBIs and giving Juniata the lead. However, the pitching of Lancaster Bible would then clamp down and keep Juniata off the scoreboard for six-straight innings, while they scored three runs in that time to take a 4-2 lead.
The drama would heighten in the eighth inning. The top of the frame saw Lancaster Bible push two more runs across, giving them a four-run lead with time running out for Juniata. The Eagles responded to the urgency with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, propelled by an RBI double from Joey Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland), singles from Isaac Maclay (Belleville, Pa. / Mifflin County) and Joey Allegrini (Hershey, Pa. / Hershey), and two fielding errors from the Chargers. With the score now 6-5 in Lancaster Bible's favor, reliever Dominic Hoyle (Woodbridge, Va. / Garfield) held the Chargers off the board in the top of the ninth, giving his offense a chance to tie the game. And tie the game they did, with Daniels working a lead-off walk. Michael Warren (New Berlin, Pa. / Mifflinburg Area) would then perfectly execute a bunt single, reaching first and advancing Daniels to second. Woodrow would then lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance them to second and third with only one out. This brought Allegrini to the plate, where he promptly lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Daniels home and tie the game at six apiece.
Entering the 10th inning, Hoyle again went to the mound and kept the Chargers off the board. He earned himself the win with his two innings of work, allowing only one hit and striking out two batters. The bottom of the tenth began grimly for the Eagles, with back-to-back strikeouts. However, Maclay would come to the rescue with a single to left field, before stealing second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Then, with Maclay on third and two outs, Jake Swank (Portage, Pa. / Portage) picked the most opportune time to get his 100th career hit, ripping a walk-off single up the middle as Maclay galloped home and the Eagles' dugout spilled onto the field to chase down Swank and celebrate.
The win puts Juniata at 9-15 overall, with an away doubleheader at Mt. Aloysius on the horizon. The games will start at 1:00 PM on Saturday.