WAYNESBORO – If you like pitching and defense, this probably wasn’t the game for you.
Waynesboro’s 13-6 victory over James Buchanan on Thursday afternoon at Robinson Field didn’t exactly make for a good game to pad the Earned Run Average stats.
Instead, it was hits – and some errors – that helped the host Indians overcome a 3-0 deficit and turn a close game into a one-sided contest.
Waynesboro beat James Buchanan 11-1 in their previous meeting in Mercersburg. The Tribe came close to doing it again, as they scored six runs in the sixth inning to turn a 7-5 lead into a 13-5 lead. Two more runs in the frame would have done it, but the Rockets got the final out of the inning and left two runners on base.
You know what they say: “It might not be pretty, but it was a win.”
Then again, the breaks that Waynesboro enjoyed against a young James Buchanan team might not be there on Saturday when the Indians face Greencastle-Antrim – or next Tuesday when they play at Northern York.
For now, however, Waynesboro notched another season sweep in the division. The Indians took care of West Perry in both of their games and took the first game against Northern York earlier this week.
Mason Gochenour struck out the side in the first inning and then ran into trouble in the second stanza as the Rockets took the 3-0 lead on a hit batsman, single, double and triple. Waynesboro caught a break when a JB base runner was tagged out between third base and home plate. Gochenour struck out the next batter and shortstop Kellan Smith gloved a pop fly for the final out of the inning.
The Indians offense went to work in the second stanza to tie the game at 3-3. Luke Martin and Jared Peck each singled. After an infield fly out, Dylan Morgan got on board with a single to load the bases. Smith followed with an RBI base hit. Dominic Moats hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knot up the game.
James Buchanan had one base runner in each of the third and fourth innings, while Waynesboro was denied a run in the bottom of the third after Garrett Blount led off with a double. A fly out and an inning-ending double play killed their chances to take the lead.
Gochenour struck out the first two hitters in the fourth. An error allowed the Rockets only base runner of the inning, and second baseman Morgan got the assist on the last out of the frame.
That set up a fourth inning during which the Indians scored three runs to take the lead for good. Moats recorded another RBI single. Brooks Maddox hit a sacrifice fly and Ethan Hotchkiss drove in a run with a base hit.
The Rockets got a run in the fifth but left a runner stranded at second and another out at the plate on an alert play by Gochenour, who received the throw from Brooks for the out.
James Buchanan plated a run in the sixth to make the score 7-5.
The Indians (8-3, 7-2 MPC) batted around plus two in their six-run sixth stanza. Smith and Martin tripled and scored. Peck singled and scored and Ethan Earley doubled and scored. Nathan Wynkoop and Blount walked and scored.
