Hanover rallies past Mifflinburg
Jun. 6—ALMEDIA — Zack Wertman used the short walk back to home plate to discuss swing mechanics with himself.
The Mifflinburg senior was just glad his foul pop fell harmlessly near the first-base line, giving him another chance with two runners on base and two out in the first inning.
"I knew what I did wrong. I got under a little bit, my shoulders were dipping, and I had to make him pay the next swing," Wertman said. "I guess it worked."
Wertman drilled a two-run double to deep left field, staking the Wildcats to an early lead Monday in the Class 4A first-round state playoff game.
Mifflinburg's batters didn't get anymore do-overs.
Hanover senior lefty Justus Feeser turned the Wildcats' offense into a fly-ball machine, stringing together six shutout innings while the Nighthawks gradually pulled ahead. The District 3 runners-up then broke open the game with a clutch, two-out hit in the seventh to beat Mifflinburg, 6-2, at Central Columbia's Don Engle Memorial Field.
"It's a tough pill to swallow, (especially) with all my seniors," said Wildcats coach Tom Church. "They hit the ball timely when they needed to. They didn't really hit (Mifflinburg starter Zeb Hufnagle) hard, but they put it in spots where we weren't.
"That's just the way it goes. That's baseball."
The District 4 champion Wildcats (16-8) had just three hits after the first inning, but they had plenty of opportunities to score. They left runners at second and third in the third inning; they failed to score a runner from third with no outs in the fourth; and they left the bases loaded in the fifth.
All told, Mifflinburg stranded seven runners, all but one in scoring position.
"That kills you," said Wertman. "When you don't get those (runs) in the momentum swings to the other team, and they took advantage of it.
"We were saying that, we're going to put some up eventually. But he put some zeroes up on us, and then they broke it open. That makes it difficult."
Feeser, a shade under 6-feet tall with bleached-blond hair, a bond the Nighthawks have rallied around, struck out just three (two in the first inning), but he coaxed flyballs for 16 of the Wildcats' 21 outs.
In fact, each of Mifflinburg's golden scoring opportunities in the middle innings ended with a flyout. When Luke Rokavec led off the fourth with a single and moved to third base on a stolen base and wild pitch, Feeser worked free with two infield pops and a fly to left.
"Getting popups is just the best thing ever," Feeser said. "Infield popups when there's someone on third base is just amazing. That was just the best."
The Eastern Mennonite recruit had a 23-pitch first inning when he fell behind 2-0, and his count was at 54 after three. Still, he never really sniffed the 105-pitch limit, retiring the last seven Wildcats in a row to finish at 98.
"He's done this all year," said Hanover coach Fritz Allison. "He's had command and he's just done a fantastic job with pounding the strike zone. He's beat some really good teams, and I was completely confident he'd keep us within reach."
"I was kind of getting sloppy when I was throwing my pitches, getting high in the count," Feeser said, "so I just had to settle down and stick to my stuff."
The Nighthawks (17-7) struggled against Hufnagle early, striking out four times the first trip through their order. They eventually chipped away with clutch hitting, getting four of their first six hits when Hufnagle was ahead in the count, and four of those with two outs.
Chase Roberts' opposite-field flair with two outs in the third made it 2-1. Hanover tied it in the fifth after a leadoff walk, an errant pickoff throw and a wild pitch set the stage for an RBI groundout. The go-ahead run was knocked in with a two-out single the other way by nine-hole hitter Daniel Corbin in the sixth.
"When we do that as a team, we're really successful," said Allison. "We talked yesterday about situational hitting, and they did a real nice job of it."
Troy Dressler's two-out hit in the home fifth was followed by an infield error a hit batsman to fill the bases for Mifflinburg. The inning ended with a flyout to right on a 1-0 pitch.
"We didn't swing at really good pitches," said Church. "That's what (the Nighthawks) do: They make you swing and pop the ball up, and that's what we did. (Feeser) kept us off-balance. Our kids tried to muscle-up and hit it really hard, and they didn't need to. Just put it in the place we needed to put it."
The Wildcats hoped to get to the last of the seventh trailing 3-2 for the top of their batting order. Instead, Hanover opened the seventh with consecutive singles and a misplayed bunt that loaded the bases. Two outs later, Cayden Jones lined a 2-0 pitch to right field for two runs. Another run scored late on the play, making it 6-2.
"That's pretty deflating," said Church. "He made a great pitch, and the kid just stuck his bat out there."
Hanover will play District 2 champion Dallas (15-7), a 12-1 winner in five innings over District 12 runner-up Nueva Esperanza, in Thursday's quarterfinal.
"I am proud of my kids," said Church. "I'm proud of every one of my seniors, (and) I feel bad for them that they're not going to advance because they really played well this season and they deserved to advance.
"And I told them, 'Listen, you underclassmen, you should have a burning in your belly until we get back here next year to play again.'"
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PIAA CLASS 4A BASEBALL
FIRST ROUND
At Don Engle Memorial Field, Central Columbia H.S.
HANOVER 6, MIFFLINBURG 2
Hanover;001;011;3 — 6-10-1
Mifflinburg;200;000;0 — 2-5-4
Justus Feeser and Jake Bamford. Zeb Hufnagle, Luke Rokavec (6) and Lucas Whittaker.
WP: Feeser. LP: Hufnagle.
Hanover: Tyler Hansford 1-for-4, run, RBI; Jaxon Dell 1-for-4, run; Chase Roberts 3-for-4, run, RBI; Feeser run; Bamford 1-for-4; Anthony Steel run; Cayden Jones 2-for-4, 2 RBIs; Gavin Trish 1-for-3; Daniel Corbin 1-for-3, run, RBI.
Mifflinburg: Hufnagle 2-for-4, run; Troy Dressler 1-for-4; Nate Chambers run; Zack Wertman 1-for-2, double, 2 RBIs; Rokavec 1-for-3.
