WAYNESBORO – It’s been that kind of season for the Waynesboro Area Senior High School varsity baseball team.
Up and down.
It was down on Wednesday, as the Indians appeared on the verge of another come-from-behind victory like the one against Northern York last week (a 3-2 thriller). This time, however, after overcoming a 2-0 deficit and tying the game, it was West Perry that snapped the tie with two runs in the top of the seventh inning and shutting down Waynesboro’s batting lineup in order in the home seventh for a 4-2 Mid-Penn Colonial Division matchup at Robinson Field on Senior Day.
Seniors Dylan Morgan, Aiden Campbell and Devin Wynkoop were recognized prior to the game, not long before the skies opened and periods of rain fell through most of the game.
This week’s showdown between the Tribe and the Mustangs was the reverse of last week’s game against Northern that saw Waynesboro rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with three two-out runs. This time around it was the Indians who took a 2-0 lead, only to see the Mustangs tie the game in the fifth frame and score twice in the seventh and get shut down in the bottom of the seventh.
Tribe starting pitcher Mason Gochenour successfully neutralized West Perry’s offense by pitching four shut-out innings. The Mustangs did threaten but left runners on first and second in the first and second innings and another on second in the fourth stanza. Gochenour set down the side in order in the third inning.
Waynesboro, which beat West Perry 12-6 on April 11 in Elliottsburg, broke the scoreless tie in the third when Gochenour hit a lead-off single, Ethan Hotchkiss delivered a one-out base hit and Tyler Caron hit a single that scored Gochenour. Logan Clapsaddle doubled to score Hotchkiss.
However, the tale of the game was Waynesboro’s inability to cash in on scoring chances. The Indians left the bases loaded in the second and had another forced out at second in that inning. They stranded two more runners in the fourth inning and two more in the sixth with another forced out. And, with a chance to blow the game open early, Waynesboro left the bases jammed in the third with another forced at home.
The bubble finally burst in the top of the fifth when the Mustangs scored two runs to tie the game. Two innings later, they broke on top and stayed there.
The win drops Waynesboro’s record to 8-7 and ends a three-game win streak.
The Indians will next play on Saturday at Greencastle-Antrim. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
