Post 143 alive and kicking
Defending champions bounced by rival in eight innings
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Article RatingLEWISBERRY — Ryan Magill wasn’t looking to be the hero at Brandt Cook Field on Friday.
His team, New Cumberland Post 143, was deadlocked, 2-2, in the eighth inning of a Cumberland County Legion baseball playoffs elimination game against Red Land Post 974. The bases were loaded, but in his at-bat, Magill was just trying not to disgrace himself — to make contact and hope for the best.
“In that situation, I was just trying to put the ball in play,” he said. “Coach told me to take a pitch or two.”
The result, however, was a memory Magill won’t soon forget. The Post 143 batter sent reliever Brad Medellin’s pitch to right field, where it bounded past the outfielder and drove in three runs. In the end, the hit went down as the game-winning play, as New Cumberland shut Red Land down in the bottom half of the inning for a 5-2 win.
“That was one of the biggest hits in my life, especially against (Red Land),” Magill said.
With the victory, New Cumberland advances to face Dillsburg at 2 p.m. in another elimination game on the road today. Red Land, the defending league and region champion that advanced to the state tournament a year ago, saw its season end.
But Post 974 nearly rallied in the bottom of the eighth. Medellin drew a walk — and advanced to second on a wild pitch — while teammate K.C. Beshore reached safely on a drive to right-center field and Josh Eshelman drew another walk to load the bases with two outs. However, New Cumberland’s Gordie Goodlin snared a ground ball hit by Adam Hegedus and threw him out at first for the final out.
“(Starter Matt Wilson) pitched a good game and (eighth-inning reliever Colin Rider) came in and finished it for us,” said Post 143 manager Dave Sherman. “I just felt that something good was going to happen to these guys, Each year, something bad happens here and (Magill’s hit) was one of our first balls to land fair in that situation.”
“Our hitting went down the tubes this week,” Post 974 manager Mitch Kauffman said. “We left 13 runners on base last night and at least that many tonight.”
Post 974 struck early in the game when Beshore ripped a line drive to right field in the second inning, bringing in Tyler McKim. McKim earned an RBI of his own the following inning, sending Josh Eshelman home on a line-drive single.
New Cumberland got on the board in the fifth when Corey Latsha connected for a bases-loaded liner that tipped off shortstop Teed Wertz’s glove, plating one run and keeping the bases loaded. Later, Goodlin drew a walk to push across New Cumberland’s second score.
Red Land starting pitcher Andrew Hunt struggled with his control, walking eight batters. However, the Post 974 pitcher struck out 13 on the day.
