Huskies win 7-2 over Cedar Cliff
LEWISTOWN -- The Mifflin County baseball team won the second game of their doubleheader Monday against Cedar Cliff, 7-2.
Chase Hartung pitched 5 ⅓ innings with five hits and two earned runs allowed. "Chase has given us a couple of pretty good starts this year," Mifflin County coach Ray Hoppel said. "He is always around the plate. He is going to give us a chance to win every time he is out there. And today he put up some really good numbers against a really good team."
The Huskies were able to get their hitting going in the second inning. Evan Strohecker reached on an error which scored Thad Gerwick. Two batters later Karl Shirey hit a three RBI double to clear the bases and give Mifflin County a 4-0 lead.
"We have been struggling to score runs most of the year," Hoppel said. "Hopefully that big double from Karl kind of got us off the schneid a little bit. That really kind of broke it open for us and that was a hit that we needed for a long time."
The Colts used four pitchers over the course of the game, with each getting challenged by the Husky hitters. Strohecker led the lineup with a 2-for-4 performance with two singles.
"Those guys are the defending state champs, they have a lot of those guys back," Hoppel said. "To get a win against them is big for us."
The Huskies got it going again in the fifth inning. Gerwick added an RBI single which was followed by a Reese Christine two RBI triple to make it 7-0.
The Colts scored two runs in the sixth inning, but were shut down in order by Parker Crownover in the seventh to end the game.
"He has been kind of throwing some relief for us this year," Hoppel said. "If his slider and his two-seamer are on he is really tough to hit. He is not the most overpowering guy, but he is tough to square up."
The Huskies (2-3) will go on the road to face Mechanicsburg at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. "We have been in every game," Hoppel said. "All in all, the season is still pretty young. We certainly could have played a little bit better in some of those games. There is still a long way to go."