ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - In a back-and-forth affair at The Yard, Eastern emerged with a gritty, hard-fought 10-9 triumph over the Haverford Fords on a beautiful Wednesday evening.
Matt McHale scored the game-winning run on a balk in the eighth inning, and
Jason Hall caught Haverford pinch runner Jordan Stand stealing second to secure the Eagles first home triumph of the season.
After a scoreless first inning, Eastern struck first in the bottom of the second frame.
Camden Angell reached on a Haverford error in the outfield, and
Griffin Falco brought him home on a sacrifice fly to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. McHale added another sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to increase Eastern's lead to 2-0.
Coming into the game in relief is the top of the third, junior
Jin Lee was both effective and efficient. The Horsham, Pa. native pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, scattering six hits while striking out three. Lee recorded two key strikeouts in the fifth and sixth frames to strand three Haverford runners in scoring position.
With Lee dealing on the mound, the Eastern bats came to life. The Eagles scored three runs in the fourth on Angell's second home run of the season and RBI singles from
Mark Cruser and
Evan Barks. In the fifth, Falco scored Angell on an RBI single,
Brian Lang scored on a Haverford throwing error, and Hall hit an RBI groundout to make it an 8-1 Eastern lead. Cottrell followed in the sixth with a bomb to center field, his first home run of the year, to put the Eagles ahead 9-1.
Haverford came roaring back in the seventh and eighth inning with unanswered run to tie the contest at 9-9 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The run was highlighted by a three-run bomb from Zach Crampton and a solo shot from Kyle Beach. Furthermore, all three of Haveford's runs in the eighth came with two outs.
The Eagles, however, remained resilient. McHale opened the bottom of the eighth inning with a double to left field, and later advanced to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt from Cottrell. With Angell at the plate, Haverford pitcher Ethan Goldstein, plating McHale for the 10-9 lead. Haverford was able to put a runner on first with one out, but after a popup and a flyout, Hall caught Shand stealing second to cap off the victory.
Joziah Trevino (1-1) earned the win, while
Zackary Bollinger picked up his first save in an Eastern uniform. Barks and Cruser each finished with a pair of hits and one RBI, while
Griffin Falco drove in a pair of runs and Angell scored three runs.
Eastern is back in action at The Yard on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against Messiah. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 noon.
