Mounts Hold On For Win

The somewhat strange go-ahead run shouldn’t negate Ephrata’s comeback. In fact, in the Mountaineers’ three-hour Lancaster-Lebanon League baseball marathon against Donegal on Wednesday night, a quirky final run seemed fitting.

Down three at one point, Ephrata battled back and pushed three runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning, then watched as the Indians loaded the bases in the top of the seventh.

However, reliever Zac McGillan, the Mounts’ fifth pitcher of the game, induced a gentle comebacker for the final out of Ephrata’s crazy 8-7 victory.

Pinch runner Jacob Zimmerman scored the eventual winning run on the back end of a double steal, sprinting for home as Ricky Bromirski intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second.

Donegal played the double steal well, throwing to second, then home, but the ball was jarred loose at the plate. Originally called out, the umpires eventually ruled Zimmerman safe.

“I didn’t see the ball pop out, but I saw their pitcher come and scoop it up. I heard the ump call him out but our whole section (of fans) was cheering, said Adam Maser, the Mounts’ winning pitcher.

With one out in the sixth, Andrew Thomas reached on an error and Adam Schwartz walked. Both scored, tying the game when McGillan’s infield single was thrown away.

Turning point: The Indians took a 7-4 lead with three runs on five hits in the top of the fourth. Tanner Kohler drove in two runs with the first of his two hits, and Patrick Beaudoin brought home Kohler.

When Donegal threatened with a pair of runners in scoring position in the fifth, Maser came in and shut the door, retiring six of the seven batters he faced before the Indians got two on with two outs in the seventh.

“I just came in and wanted to pitch to contact,” said the lefty Maser, who kept Donegal off balance with a sweeping curve. “It was working for me so I just kept pitching the same way.”

Mounts answer first deficit: Despite committing four errors, three of which led to a 4-1 deficit, Ephrata scored three times in the bottom of the third, one on Schwartz groundrule double. The other run scored on a passed ball and a ground out.

Bromirski pounded two triples for Ephrata, which improved to 3-2 in Section Two and 3-3 overall. Donegal fell to 1-4, 3-5.

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