Late Bulldog rally foils Huskies’ afternoon

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: April 7, 2015

By Kenny Varner

Lewistown – Four runs, two teams, one inning and one momentum shift was all it took Monday afternoon when Mifflin County faced a tough Jersey Shore team at the Huskies home field.

With the game tied at one going into the fifth inning, the Bulldogs exploded for four runs, taking the advantage and later the contest despite the last innings battle of the Mifflin County offense.

But in the end, the Bulldogs used that inning to hold onto to the lead, winning a 5-2 contest.

Picking up the victory for Jersey Shore was River Haines while Mifflin County hurler Ty Bodtorf suffered the loss.

“The first time through we were hitting early in the season but we work hard on defense,” said Jersey Shore skipper Steve Waldman. “As far as hitting goes. They are seeing the ball better. We haven’t been outside much hitting. The light outside compared to the light inside is a whole different thing and it suffered a little. But the kids stayed in there and battled.”

Defensively, the Huskies started off strong, pulling off four consecutive double plays, cutting numerous base path advantages by the Bulldogs.

“When you turn that many double plays, you would think you would win a game. I thought that the defense overall was excellent,” said Mifflin County coach Bernie Howard. “We played very well defensively last week and tonight I thought our defese was sparkling. We couldn’t of asked much more from our pitchers as they did a real nice job.”

Going into the fifth, Lance Welsh got inning offense going, walking to take first base. Lane Hale moved Welsh up a base, blasting a Huskie offering into centerfield.

A sacrifice bunt by Colton Eisworth moved both Welsh and Hale into scoring position, setting the stage for Dillen Soar. Soar sent a slow chopper at the pitcher and the play at the plate was not in time, putting Jersey Shore in the lead for the first time at 2-1.

Mifflin County deliberately loaded the bases, giving lead off hitter Levi Larson first via an intentional walk.

Eric Hurling put the Bulldogs up by three, posting a bases loaded single into right field, scoring two.

Teammate Zach Miller, upped the lead to 4-1 posting an RBI single of his own smacking a single to right, ending the scoring at 5-1.

“I am excited about the team. Our pitching as well. River was a little off at the beginning but once he started working on things he came through and shut them down which is good.”

In the first inning, Mifflin County got on the board first, posting two hits to start their inning off.

Max Remy led off the Huskies’ first at bat with a single into right centerfield. He moved up to third thanks to a single to right field by Hunter Walker.

Isaiah Kearns sent a blast into the outfield, allowing the Huskies to take the lead when Remy tug up and ran home.

“We hit a little bit of a lull there in the middle innings offensively and certainly can’t take anything from Jersey Shore. They made a couple of defensive plays that stymied some potential rallies by us,” Howard added. “ So timely hitting kind of evaded us today.”

After trailing by four runs, Mifflin County refused to go away and picked up a run in the bottom of the sixth, cutting it to 5-2.

However, it wouldn’t be enough on this night as the Bulldogs held on for the victory.

Mifflin County (1-2) hosts Red Land today while Jersey Shore (1-0) hosts Williamsport on Wednesday.