Many miles remain in the race to the Mid-Penn Commonwealth baseball title, and Cedar Cliff finally shifting out of neutral Wednesday afternoon in Camp Hill. Paced by three Grant Breneman RBIs and a pair of John McGee hits, the Colts turned back a youthful CD East contingent 12-0 in five innings.
The trend-setting moment came in the bottom of the first, when Julian Bury's lead-off triple ignited a five-hit rally that pressed the Panthers in an immediate 6-0 hole. Game-winner Noah Malone, oozing confidence following the first-inning barrage, took care of the rest.
McGee drove in two runs while Stephen McKee scored three times in Cedar Cliff's first division win of the season.
ROUNDING THIRD
Sophomore righty Christian Fulp, making his first varsity start, was victimized by Cedar Cliff's aggressive approach and a few defensive blunders behind him.
It went south after McKee's single to right plated Bury with the Colts (2-4, 1-4) first run. Seconds later, back-to-back errors on hard shots by Brayden Lackey (two runs) and Kyle Wickenheiser (two RBIs) set the stage for a big inning.
“He was really hitting his spots but we didn't do a good enough job with some plays in the field,” said Panthers skipper Jim Mazzolla. “But they had some great hits, too. They hit some tough pitches.”
Following a Brandyn Smith fielder's choice, which plated McKee, Breneman's two-run triple to right really stung the Panthers (1-3, 0-3). Lackey's RBI double and Breneman's sac fly headlined Cedar Cliff's four-run second. The Colts sent 20 batters to the plate through two complete.
Malone, meanwhile, only allowed a Rahkeem Stern single in the third. However, after plunking Arik Leota to put two runners on, the Colts defense turned a Stephen McKee pop up to center into a triple play. Malone struck out five in four innings of work.
DUGOUT CHATTER
“It's one of those things where you string one or two hits together and really get things going. We hit the ball hard all the way around. With Noah it's not a physical issue, it's a confidence issue and believing in himself. When he gets that confidence and just starts to throw, he's as dominant around here as you're going to get.” – Cedar Cliff coach Justin Phillips
“We'll get after it tomorrow and just try to learn from some of the base-running mistakes and plays in the field.” – Mazzolla