WAYNESBORO – Greencastle Post 373 brought the bats and starting pitcher Caiden Smith kept Waynesboro Post 15 from keeping pace in Saturday’s Franklin County American Legion League game at Robinson Field.
Greencastle scored eight runs in the top of the first inning, more than it needed en route to a 9-1 victory.
“Right now it’s just the bats,” said Waynesboro manager Dan McCleaf, whose team lost 11-1 last week at Chambersburg. “The bats aren’t clicking. The timing is off, with guys missing games and not getting enough reps in there.
“I’m hoping next week we’ve got games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll start clicking and start getting their timing better.”
Waynesboro hosts Chambersburg on Monday, plays at Fayetteville and hosts Shippensburg on Wednesday, all league games.
Post 15, which dropped to 3-3 in the FCALL and 5-4 overall, then travels to Frederick, Maryland next weekend to play in a tournament. Each team is guaranteed four games, with more possible if they advance from pool play.
The plus side for Waynesboro was that the hosts played even with visiting Greencastle after a disastrous first inning during which Post 373 tallied eight runs on five hits, two walks and an error and sent 12 batters to the plate.
Ryan Farrow singled off starting pitcher Bryce Shaffer, and what followed was not exactly a made-for-the-highlight reel for McCleaf’s bunch.
Farrow was forced at second base, but the barrage of hits kept coming. Seth Farrow walked and Smith singled. Connor Rohm drove in Seth Farrow for the game’s first run. Aiden Grudzinski walked to load the bases, setting up back-to-back two-run hits for Post 373.
Shawn Eby drove in the third run when he reached base on an error. Garrett Decker followed with a two-run single. Nick Johnston pushed in two more runs, and he scored on a Darren Kline base hit.
For his part, Smith controlled the game on his terms. He struck out two batters in each of the first four innings and struck out the side in the fifth inning as Waynesboro could no get on track at the plate.
Logan Clapsaddle came on in relief of Shaffer with the bases loaded and no outs. He gave up a sacrifice fly for what proved to be Post 373’s final run of the game.
Greencastle had a chance to add to the lead in the third inning but left the bases loaded. Post 15 catcher Evan Swanson threw out a runner attempting to steal second base and Clapsaddle struck out two batters to end the inning.
Smith allowed only six base runners the entire game, and Waynesboro’s only run came in the fourth when Shaffer hit a one-out single and scored on a two-out single by Garrett Blount. Blount, who reached base in all three at bats Friday, singled in all three at bats Saturday.
