SCOTLAND — It was unfamilar territory for the Chambersburg baseball team — playing in the District 3 tournament for the first time since 2017.
But thanks to a strong offense and gritty pitching from Ryne Mills, the Trojans made it count, taking a 10-5 victory over Red Lion in the Class 6A first round on Friday at Greene Township Park.
Aiden Appleby
No. 5 seed Chambersburg (15-6) will play Monday in a quarterfinal game, at GTP vs. No. 13 Northeastern (11-10), which knocked off No. 4 seed Wilson, 3-1. The winner of that game advances to the semifinals and clinches a berth in the PIAA Tournament.
The Trojans staked Mills to a 3-0 lead after one inning, and, although the Lions (12-9) got it back to 3-2, they never led.
“That was huge to get that many runs in the first inning,” Mills said. “We felt like the coaches had us really prepared.”
Mills got the offense going in the first on a single to center with one out. Then came three more base hits — from Brady Truett, Ceagan Truett and Aiden Appleby, with the latter two geting RBIs. The third run scored on an error.
Chambersburg coach Scott Folmar said, “That was nice to put up three in the first because it really helps your pitcher. But they made that nice catch or we would have scored at least three more.”
With two outs and the bases loaded, Konner McMullen put a charge into one and sent leftfielder Braylen Smith nearly to the fence before he made a twisting catch to end the inning.
Red Lion had runners on base in each of the first five innings against Mills, but the only inning they scored was the fourth, when the Trojans made two costly errors on force plays that resulted in a pair of unearned runs.
Mills (6 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks) was up to 97 pitches when he started the sixth inning (pitchers get 105 pitches, up from 100, in the playoffs) and he registered three outs in just six pitches. It was his only 1-2-3 inning.
Folmar said, “He did not have his best stuff, but he battled them. He got himself into a lot of 2-0 counts.”
“I felt my fastball was good today,” Mills (8-0) said. “I was able to get it past their barrels. In that sixth, I knew I had to at least get the first two with no more than eight pitches, so that worked out.”
The Trojans made it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth when they had the bases loaded and one out and Brady Truett hit a fielder’s choice.
“That was a big run because we answered right after they had scored,” Folmar said. “We’ve been able to do that a lot this year.”
In the fifth, Chambersburg made it 6-2 when Matt Murphy singled to right to drive in a run and a Lions’ error allowed a second run to score.
The Trojans made it 10-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Mills walked and Brady Truett singled, followed by an RBI double from Ceagan Truett that knocked out Red Lion starter Ben Martin. Appleby singled in a run and Brycen Murray’s sacrifice fly made it 9-2. Bryce Deneen’s double to left-center brought in the final run.
NOTES: Ceagan Truett and Appleby each had 3 hits and a pair of runs batted in, while Mills, Brady Truett and Murphy each had 2 hits and 2 RBIs … Cam Wadel pitched the final inning for the Trojans and was touched for 2 hits and 2 walks that accounted for 3 runs … Aaron Vasquez made the defensive play of the game in the third inning. Red Lion’s Cooper Lawrence lefted a foul fly down the third base line that was out of the reach of third baseman Murphy. But out of nowhere, Vasquez cut behind Murphy and made a superb catch just in front of the fence while sliding on the warning track.