WAYNESBORO – The Waynesboro Indians varsity baseball team put up five runs after four innings, and Tribe starting pitcher Jack Knepper earned the mound victory as he pitched 4 2/3 innings before giving way to Chance Hall.
Hall finished the game, striking out two batters in the top of the seventh to earn the save as the Indians defeated the ‘Hounds 5-2 at Robinson Field on Wednesday, April 8.
Waynesboro did what it needed to do at the plate and in the field. Knepper started strong as he struck out three in the top of the first inning. He walked a batter and gave up a base hit in the second stanza. He got out of the inning when third baseman Ryan Jenkins scooped up a ground ball and threw to first baseman Nate Nystrom for the third out of the inning.
Knepper allowed hits in the third and fourth innings, but without any further damage. His only hiccup of the game occurred in the fifth frame when he gave up three hits and two runs. Knepper gave way to Hall, who induced a pop-up to Jenkins to end the inning.
Hall retired the side in order in the sixth and struck out a pair of batters in the seventh inning, including one to end the game.
The win was Waynesboro’s seventh to start the season. Its 4-2 record in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division places it one game behind Boiling Springs, whom the Indians lost to last week.
The Indians will play six of their next seven games on the road, with the lone home game on April 16 against Boiling Springs.
Waynesboro struck with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Riley Eaton and Knepper each hit two-out triples for one run. Jenkins accounted for the second run when he rapped a run-scoring single.
The most important inning offensively for the Indians was the fourth. Waynesboro posted three runs that came with two outs.
Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt singled, then stole second and third bases before scoring on a base hit by Zach Bowers. Frazer-Hewitt’s run proved to be the winning run, but the Indians added two more just to make sure. Elijah Miller followed with a single, and Eaton (who bats leadoff) singled home Bowers. Caiden Shacreaw, Miller’s courtesy runner, stole home.
Photos by Toya McCleary:
