MANHEIM — As the wins accumulate, the confidence level goes up.
After a third straight District 3 playoff win on a wet Thursday afernoon, Chambersburg's baseball team has earned itself a shot at a Class 6A championship.
Ryne Mills
The Trojans, behind a sterling pitching performance from Ryne Mills and an opportunistic offense, handed No. 1 seed Hempfield a 4-1 defeat on the Barons Park turf field at Manheim Central Middle School.
Chambersburg (17-6), the No. 5 seed, will take on No. 11 Muhlenberg (13-7) on Monday at 6:45 p.m. at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster, home of the Barnstormers, for the district crown. The Muhls knocked off No. 2 Ephrata, 2-0, on Thursday night in the other semifinal.
"Every game we play, our confidence is getting better," Trojan coach Scott Folmar said. "The guys are excited, and they believe in each other more. They believe they can win, which is half the battle."
Mills was on his game on the mound, despite having to deal with a light rain that persisted most of the game. He walked 2 and hit 2 batters and had one wild pitch, while striking out 4.
However, the Black Knights did not record a hit until the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh, Braedon Eck, drove a grounder up the middle for a clean hit.
Folmar said, "Mills was about as good today as he has been all season. He was very sharp despite the conditions. The only inning they scored started with a walk; he was in control in every other inning. They didn't hit many balls hard — they hit a lot of fly balls."
Hempfield (18-5), which will play Tuesday for third place against Ephrata (17-6), scored in the third inning on a walk, a wild pitch, a fly ball to right that advanced the runner and a sacrifice fly to right by Logan Dougherty to score the run.
All four of Chambersburg's runs were unearned, but it made the most of the chances it had.
In the top of the first, the first two batters made outs, but Brady Truett reached base on an error by the second baseman. Ceagan Truett the drew a walk. Aiden Appleby then hit a hard shot to third base for an infield hit. The third baseman retrieved the ball, but his throw to first base was wild and went into right field, allowing both runners to score and sending Appleby to second.
Brycen Murray then singled sharply to center field to chase in Appleby for a 3-0 lead.
The Trojans then went down 1-2-3 in three consecutive innings and again in the sixth against reliever Jaxsen Hulock.
In the fifth, Aaron Vasquez singled, Mills bunted him to second, then Vasquez was out on a fielder's choice. Ceagan Truett singled up the middle, but Hulock got the final out.
That led to the top of the seventh, when Chambersburg added an insurance run. Devon Nalewak led off with a tapper back to the pitcher, but Hulock's throw to first was errant and Nalewak scooted all the way to third base. He scored the final run on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the seventh, Eck led off with his hit, but he was wiped out on a 6-4 fielder's choice, and Mills induced two more fly ball outs.
