HUMMELSTOWN — With an opportunity to reach the District 3 Class 5A baseball championship game if it could defeat Lower Dauphin, Greencastle-Antrim grabbed a 3-0 lead. But 5 errors by the Blue Devils played a huge part of the story.

The Falcons kept G-A off the scoreboard for the final five innings and gradually worked their back, before taking the lead for good in the fifth inning to hand Greencastle a 4-3 loss in a District 3 semifinal game on a rainy Friday afternoon at Nye Elementary Field.

Mason Mellott

“I’m proud of our guys,” G-A coach Eric Shaner said. “We competed until the end, even when things didn’t go our way. We were within one run against a really good team, despite having all those errors.”

The No. 3-seeded Blue Devils (19-3) will host No. 8 New Oxford (15-8) in a third-place game on Tuesday at 4:30. No. 2 seed LD (20-2) will meet No. 5 Lampeter-Strasburg (16-4) in the championship game Monday at 4 p.m. at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster. L-S defeated New Oxford 7-2 Friday.

Greencastle got off to a great start, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning.

Andrew Weaver produced a leadoff single off starter Rylan Ulrich and Cam Rakaczewski then slammed a double to left to score Weaver and moved to third on the throw home. Nolan Sullivan then lifted a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score the run.

In the top of the second, with reliever Max Hoopes now pitching, Mason Mellott belted a solo home run to left field, his first of the year, to make it 3-0.

But Hoopes (4.1 innings) and Braedy Danner (1.1) kept the Blue Devils in check the rest of the way.

Shaner said, “(Lower Dauphin) played well — error-free — and their pitchers made some big pitches. In the seventh, Weaver led off and (Danner) went to a 3-0 count. But he fought back, got it to 3-2, and then got a strikeout on a nice slider. Great pitch.”

The Falcons took advantage of some misplays by G-A to get back in it. In the bottom of the second, the first two batters reached, and on a bunt, Greencastle pitcher Ryder Linn slipped trying to field the ball and the bases were loaded. LD got one run on a sac fly by Hoopes.

Danner singled to lead off the third for LD, and an error on a double-play grounder put two on. On another bunt, Linn fielded the ball, but lost his footing and threw wildly to first, allowing a run to score. Gavin Westerberg then hit a sac fly to tie the game 3-3.

Shaner said, “It was tough. It rained lightly most of the game, so the grass was wet. We’re not complaining — the game definitely should have been played. And, really, the dirt was in great shape. We don’t know why Ryder slipped those two times, but they were bad breaks.”

The eventual game-winner scored in the bottom of the fifth, when Evan Ketty doubled with one out and scored on a base hit by Hoopes.

In the top of the sixth, G-A loaded the bases on a hit by Manny Brookens and walks to Mellott and Landon Bishop. But with two out, Danner entered and coaxed a grounder to end the threat.

Linn threw 5 innings and allowed 7 hits and 3 walks for 2 earned runs. Rakaczweski, who had 2 of G-A’s 6 hits on offense, tossed the final hitless inning.