NTL BASEBALL: TROY JUMPS OUT EARLY HOLDS ON LATE TO DOWN WYALUSING (2024-03-29)

Northern Tier Sports Report
WYALUSING — Troy had a tough start to the season, taking on the defending NTL champions in their opener, and then traveling to face the district champions on Thursday. After edging out Athens 4-2 they held on late to top Wyalusing 11-7, passing their first tough test of the young season.

“A great team win,” said Canton coach Lyle Wesneski. “Wyalusing the district champion for a reason, they have a lot of pride. I knew they were’t going down without a fight, so it was great to see our team respond when they dropped a five spot on us in the fourth.”

Troy used a 3-run second and a six-run fourth to take a 9-1 lead only to watch the Rams cut it to 9-6 by the end of the inning.

The Trojans got one back in the fifth, Wyalusing came back with a run in the sixth, and Troy got their final run in the seventh for the 4-run win.

“A great outing for Cam (Allen) and Reed (Palmer) today,” remarked Wesneski. “Both pitched with some swag, and executed numerous key pitches. Defense was solid, and our hitters battled against the big lefty and found ways to get it done. We put some pressure on them defensively.”

Allen got the start, and the win, going 3 2/3-innings with five strikeouts, three walks, seven hits, and six runs, three of which were earned. 

Palmer went the final 3 1/3-innings with one strikeout, no walks, two hits, and one earned runs.

Troy finished with 13 hits on the day as their bottom four batters went 9-for-15 with 4-RBI and five runs scored.

“Tough, hard nosed kids down there and they just find a way,” Wesneski said. “Not always pretty but the results are the same, and they were our spark plug today.”

Joseph Frye (3-for-4) scored twice and drove in a run as Jackson Taylor (3-for-4) scored and had an RBI.

Lincoln Chimics (2-for-3) scored twice with an RBI while Palmer (1-for-4) had a double with a run scored, and an RBI.

Up near the top Mason Smith (2-for-5) had two doubles with 2-RBI and a run scored with Camryn Harwick (1-for-5) also had a double with a run scored.

Brendan Gilliland (1-for-1) walked three times while scoring twice.

Wyalusing hit the ball, too, garnering nine with five of them of the extra base variety.

Trehnon Hugo (3-for-4) had two doubles with a triple to go with a run scored, and an rBI, while Isaac Shaffer (2-for-3) scored and drove in a run.

Kaeden Kusmierz (1-for-4) had a double with a run scored, and an RBI, as Hunter House (1-for-3) had a double with a run batted in.

Kenny Mapes (1-for-4) knocked in two runs while CJ Carr (1-for-4) scored a run. Nick Vanderpool, Parker Petlock, and Casey God also found home.

House took the loss, going 3 2/3-innings with six strikeouts, five walks, six hits, and nine runs, four of which were earned.

Carr went the next three innings with four strikeouts, seven hits, one walk, and two earned runs. Petlock went the final third with one strikeout.

It was Wyalusing getting on the scoreboard first when Vanderpool reached on an error, then scored on a 2-out House double in the bottom of the first.

Troy answered with three runs in the second, two of them with two outs.

Gilliland led off with a walk, then scored on a 1-out hit from Chimics. Frye brought Chimics in with a 2-out single, then scored himself on a Taylor hit for the 2-run lead.

The Rams looked to get one back in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-out Kusmierz double, but he was thrown out at the plate off a Shaffer hit to keep it a 2-run game.

Hugo led off the third with a double but was stranded.

In the fourth Chimics got things going with a hit, then scored on a Palmer double. Taylor would single but a strikeout by House got the Rams one out away from getting out of the inning.

Smith would bring in both Palmer and Taylor, though, on an error off his bat to push Troy’s lead to 6-1. The Trojans then drew four straight walks to score two more runs to make it 8-1. Gilliland made it 9-1 by taking home on a wild pitch.

The Rams didn’t lie down, though, as Carr came back and got on with a hit in the bottom half of the inning.

Petlock and God drew back to back walks with Kusmierz bringing in Carr on an error off his bat. Shaffer would then ground out but it allowed Petlock to score, cutting it to 9-3.

God then scored on a wild pitch, followed by Hugo hitting a triple, which scored Kusmierz, to make it a 9-5 game.

A 2-out hit by Mapes would plate Hugo for a 9-6 score, but that’s as far as Wyalusing got in the inning.

Troy would score again with two outs in the fifth as Frye led off with a single. He would get out on a Taylor fielder’s choice, then Taylor was caught stealing.

Harwick would double to get the rally going again, as Smith brought him home on a double of his own for a 10-6 score.

Wyalusing looked to have a big inning coming in the bottom of the sixth as Shaffer led off with a single, followed by a Hugo double to put runners on second and third with no outs.

After an out Mapes hit a sacrifice fly to score Shaffer, cutting it to 10-7. Palmer then induced a ground out to get out of the inning.

Troy got that run back in the top of the seventh as Frye and Taylor had back to back singles. After an out Smith doubled in Frye to pad their lead.

In the bottom of the seventh God reached with two outs on catcher’s interference, but Palmer got a fly-out after that to end the game.

Wyalusing’s (1-1) busy week continues as they host NP-Mansfield (1-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday while Troy (2-0) is at NP-Mansfield on Tuesday.

“Back to work in the morning,” said Wesneski.

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PHOTO CAPTION: Troy’s Lincoln Chimics gets an RBI single…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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