PHOENIXVILLE, PA- The Valley Forge Christian College baseball team competed in their final game of the week, hosting East Region competitor, Baptist Bible College. The team fell behind early, but late run rally's put the team within reach of tying the game. Several times the men trailed by just three runs but were unable to completely catch up and fell by final scores of 1-13 in game one and 12-16 in game two.
After giving up 13 runs in game one, the Patriots were looking to make a comeback against their rival in game two. After each team blanking in the first inning, the Defenders recorded seven runs at the top of the second and refused to let the Patriots answer, keeping them from recording a single run for their turn at the plate.
VFCC managed to record one run in inning three before giving up two at the top of the fourth. Going into the fifth, the Patriots trailed, 2-9 and it looked as though the Defenders would take the game. Suddenly things started to go for the Patriots, as the Defenders defense' began to crumble and the men recorded five runs to get within two. After a series of singles and walks, Jordan Diaz took a free pass to first to bring
Bryce Koch across the plate. One play later, a miscommunication among the Defenders led to
Jonathan Manning stealing home. Confusion and fluster continued among the Defenders as a missed throw from 3
rd base allowed Matthew McKenzie to reach first and advance to second and Jon Hadinger advance to home. Before the Defenders recorded their third out,
James Comenzo ripped a single into right field, bringing in Jordan Diaz and
Matt McKenzie to record two RBI's. BBC's pitcher retired the next two batters to stop the damage and close the inning.
Top of the sixth, the Defenders stretched their lead, recording seven more runs to go up 16-7. Now it was the Patriots' turn. After Jon Manning took a walk to first,
Jonathan Hadinger recoded a double to bring Manning home. The Defenders struck out the next two batters and VFCC was now facing a two-out disadvantage. Not letting it get to them, the men powered the ball into the outfield to record one double and two triples to etch another five runs to their total score before the Defenders recorded their third out. The Patriots now trailed just 12-16. Sadly, a comeback was not in the cards for the home team, as both schools finished the final inning just as they started the first inning, without any runs. Reaching the end of the game, the Patriots fell the Defenders just four runs shy of tying, 12-16.
James Comenzo and
Jonathan Hadinger each recorded a double while
Josh Strohm recorded a triple.
Jared Boothman went 3-for-4, recording two triples and two RBI's.
The team takes the next two days to regroup before heading out to compete against another East Region competitor, Cairn University. The game is set for Tuesday, April 15 with a start time of 1pm.
Go Patriots!
