By Dave Bryne
New Era Correspondent
It is said Heaven helps those that help themselves. Which
certainly held true Monday evening for Lititz VFW's Brent
Stoltzfus. However, Heaven was powerless to help Hempfield Black.
Stoltzfus ripped a grand slam home run in the first game of a
Junior-Midget doubleheader at Mount Joy's Kunkle Field. It was
all the support he would need to pick up the win in a 5-2
verdict over Manheim Township Black in the New Era Tournament.
The Mountville Angels slugged five homers, including two by
winning pitcher D.J. Ream, to bounce Hempfield Black 12-4 in the
nightcap.
Lititz and Mountville will meet at Kunkle Field tonight at 7
p.m., weather permitting, to decide the J-M championship.
Oddly, in a time where local teams run into each other every
weekend in tournaments, this will be the first meeting this year
between the champions of the Susquehanna League - VFW
(32-5-1) - and the Penn Manor League champion Angels (29-0).
VFW's championship invitation hung in the balance in the sixth
inning as Manheim Township Black protected a 2-1 lead.
Lititz had taken a 1-0 lead on Zach Snyder's third-inning
single, but Black (24-9) tied the game on a first-and-third balk
by Stoltzfus in the fourth and Carlo D'Angelis's bases-loaded
single in the top of the sixth.
Stoltzfus avoided further damage, getting the next hitter, Pat
Kelley, to ground back into an inning-ending double play.
Meanwhile, Township starter Tyler Stoltz had held Lititz to one
hit through five innings.
He got the first out of the sixth, then walked Zach Shank. Black
coach Larry Bires visited Stoltz, then waved Carlos Medina in
from second base.
Snyder greeted Medina by singling into the left field corner and
Freeman walked to load the bases.
Stoltzfus offered a weak check swing at Medina's first pitch,
then took two balls. Finally, he got a fastball down the middle
- just what he was looking for.
He didn't miss. The ball took little time to escape over the
left field wall.
|
(Click on photo to enlarge or see other photos)
It's another magical comeback
for Lititz VFW
By Jason Guarente
New Era Sports Writer
Joe Noll couldn't stop smiling.
Who could blame him?
His team's come-from-behind victory had just been completed and
he was still soaking it in.
As he answered questions about the game, he naturally started
talking about how Lititz VFW always believes it can make a comeback.
That's because the players are always at ease.
"When you get nervous and you press, it shows in your swing,"
Noll said.
And when you relax?
"You hit the ball out there."
Noll pointed in the general direction of where Brent Stoltzfus
hit his grand slam. Who knows where it landed? It was out of
sight, at least 50 feet beyond Kunkle Field's cozy left-field
fence.
Stoltzfus' blast was the difference as Lititz VFW defeated Manheim
Township Black 5-2 in the New Era Tournament Junior Midget semifinals
Monday night.
Noll runs his team with the kind of rah-rah spirit you'd want
in a youth baseball coach. He offers instruction and is stern
when he needs to be, but most of what he says is designed to
build up his boys' confidence.
That was evident when Lititz fell behind Manheim Township 2-1
in the sixth inning. After his players jogged off the field,
Noll offered this succinct bit of encouragement.
"We can do this," he said.
There were reasons Lititz might have experienced a flicker of
doubt. The team's bats had been silent the entire game - producing
just three hits.
But once the players gathered outside of their dugout, you had
a sneaking suspicion that a rally was on the way.
"One thing we started since Day 1 is we come in here and meet
in a huddle after every inning," Noll said. "What just happened
in the field stays in the field. We're on offense now."
Were they ever.
It took four batters, the heart of Lititz's lineup, about 10
minutes to break the game open.
Zach Shank walked. Zach Snyder doubled. Michael Freeman walked.
Then Stoltzfus hit his majestic home run.
It was the kind of home run that keeps boys tossing and turning
with anticipation at night. The kind we all imagine, but so few
of us get to hit. Lititz's season-long goal was to play for the
New Era championship and Stoltzfus clinched it with one clutch
swing.
Talk about a thrill.
"It was pretty awesome," he said. "I don't know how to explain
it."
Good fortune brought Stoltzfus to the plate at that moment, but
perhaps he earned it. With six strong innings on the mound, he
had kept his team in the game. After he put Lititz in front,
Snyder got the final three outs in the seventh to seal it.
Comebacks are nothing new for Lititz. Noll's team has put together
a bunch this season, including one game against Ephrata where
Lititz rallied from 9-1 down to forge a tie.
When it came time to bat with the season's goal at stake, Lititz
never blinked. It didn't tense those muscles.
"I knew we had the players to do it," Stoltzfus said.
That's because they've done it so many times before.
|
