By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — They say leadership can't be taught.
The seniors on the Messiah baseball team are sure doing their best.
The five upperclassmen in the Falcons' batting order — Dan Etter, Jordan Zimmerman, Sheldon Witmer, Adam Ranck and Jon Shenk — combined for 18 hits in 40 at-bats in Saturday's double-header against Arcadia University, putting up an impressive .400 batting average.
Backed by strong pitching performances from junior Travis Thome and junior Eric Spring, Messiah (18-15, 7-8) swept a crucial Commonwealth Conference double-dip against the visiting Knights, keeping its post-season playoff hopes alive: Behind Saturday's 6-2 and 10-3 wins, Messiah now controls its own destiny for possible inclusion into the four-team league tournament.
Thome took the mound for the Falcons in Game One. With Messiah in desperate need of conference wins, Thome (4-3) pitched a complete game, picking up the win. After Arcadia (8-26, 1-14) picked up two early runs in the first inning, Thome was phenomenal for the remainder of the game.
The junior allowed just three hits and no runs over the final six innings. For the day, Thome recorded nine strikeouts, including two straight in the seventh inning to close out the win.
“Travis threw really well for us,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “He got stronger as the day went on. We had to play catch-up, with (Arcadia) taking that early lead and we were able to do it, with Travis not giving up any more runs after that first inning.”
Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense was as steady and reliable as it has been all season. Engle's squad scored exactly one run in every single inning, and each run was scored with two outs on the board. Three of the runs were scored after Messiah had two outs and no one on base.
“That was the key to winning Game One,” Engle said. “The clutch hitting with two outs was unbelievable. It is just demoralizing to the other pitcher. Two-out hits are special, and we'll gladly take them whenever we can.”
Sam Tajiri started the scoring for the Falcons in the first inning. For the second straight game, the sophomore singled to lead off the game and swiped second base. Tajiri took third base on freshman Paul Mellinger's fly ball to center field and scored on Etter's RBI single.
In the second inning, sophomore Ryan Brown was hit by a pitch with two outs. He stole second base and scored on Shenk's RBI single.
Sophomore Wes Hollenbach plated the Falcons with their run in the third frame, hitting the first home run of his collegiate career. An inning later, Witmer doubled with one out and scored on Brown's RBI single.
In the fifth inning, Mellinger hit a two-out double and scored on Hollenbach's RBI triple. The Falcons capped off the scoring for Game One in the sixth inning, when Witmer doubled and scored on Brown's RBI single.
With the first two games of the series under their belt, the Falcons gave the ball to Spring in Game Two.
Spring (3-3) was just as effective as Thome, quieting the Knights' bats for the day. Spring pitched six effective innings on the mound, yielding just two hits, two walks and no earned runs. The hard-throwing southpaw whiffed 10 Knights on the day, taking home the win.
“What a gutsy performance by Eric today,” Engle said. “He wasn't feeling very well but we really needed him to throw well and he did that.”
Both of Arcadia's runs off of Spring were unearned, and in fact, all three runs for the game by the Knights were unearned runs.
After the Knights plated a run against Spring in the first inning, the Falcons put up two in the second frame. Shenk's two-run single with two outs scored Witmer and Ranck to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Messiah then scored again in the third inning, when Hollenbach walked, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and third base on Etter's single, scoring on Zimmerman's fielder's choice.
When the hosts exploded for four runs in the fifth inning, the game was largely in the Falcons' control. Three more Messiah runs in the sixth inning put the game out of reach for the visiting Knights.
A fifth-inning rally began with Etter's one-out single. Etter advanced to second on a wild pitch but when Zimmerman popped up to put two outs on the board, it seemed highly unlikely the Falcons would put together four runs.
However, Coach Engle's Falcons — who scored 12 of their first 13 runs of the day with two outs — did the inevitable. Witmer's RBI double scored Etter. Ranck followed with an RBI single and took second on the throw home. Brown scored Ranck on an RBI double and Shenk finished the damage for the inning, plating Brown with an RBI single.
The Knights tacked on an unearned run in the top half of the sixth inning, but the scoring against Spring was limited due to a catch by center fielder Jordan Zimmerman that stands unofficially as one of the greatest catches in the history of Messiah baseball.
Zimmerman backtracked on a ball hit to the warning track, gloving it just feet from the fence. The senior's momentum sent his entire body crashing into the fence, but the ball never came out.
“J-Z really takes pride in his defense,” Engle said. “He loves playing defense, even more than he likes hitting the ball at the plate. He is so confident out there in center field and he is so athletic that he can take a hit away at any time. He always finds a way to catch the ball. I would rank that catch right up there with one of the five greatest I have ever seen, and J-Z probably has three of those.”
Spring ran into some trouble later in the inning, as the Knights loaded the bases with two outs against the left-hander. With the tying run on deck, Spring recorded a big strikeout to end the scoring threat.
“I've said before the last out of the game is always the toughest one to get,” Engle said. “You can break that down to mean the last out of each inning is the toughest to get. We really took advantage of that on offense and kept them in control on defense.”
The Falcons' offense continued its assault in the sixth inning, as Hollenbach worked a one-out walk to start the rally. Etter doubled to put two men on for Zimmerman and the senior took advantage. Fresh off the defensive play of the day, Zimmerman smacked a three-run home run to deep left center field, a ball that probably traveled close to 415 feet.
Senior Elliot Thomas came on in relief in the seventh inning and closed out the game, giving the Falcons its fifth straight win.
“We're playing well right now,” Engle said. “We're still not perfect. There's definitely some things we can do better – getting the bunts down, getting guys on third base in to score – but what I have seen from this team is very encouraging.”
Witmer highlighted the day offensively for the Falcons, notching five hits, including four doubles. Shenk finished with four hits, raising his batting average for the season to .348. Hollenbach reached base four times, including a triple and home run.
The Falcons have just four games remaining for the regular-season. The team hosts Dickinson College this Tuesday before beginning its final push for the post-season: Messiah will engage in a three-game series with Lebanon Valley College beginning Friday afternoon. To qualify for the Commonwealth Conference Playoffs, the Falcons will need to win all three games.
“Essentially the playoffs get to start a week early for us,” Engle said. “It should be a fun atmosphere.”
Messiah will take its final tune-up against the Red Devils Tuesday at Starry Field. Game time for the nine-inning affair is set for 3:30 p.m.
