JERSEY SHORE - Going into Saturday's American Legion baseball game with Williamsport, Jersey Shore head coach Todd Rishel knew his team would have to bring its "A" game to the field to walk away with a win.
As it turned out, Rishel's assessment of the game was right on as the two teams battled each other for 10 innings before Post 36 prevailed with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Post 1.
"I knew coming in they were going to have a good ballclub and that it was going to be a battle," Rishel said. "They played well, we played well, we had good pitching and it went 10 innings. What more can you say."
As for the good pitching, that was supplied by Travis Eiswerth as the right-hander went the distance to pick up the win. Eiswerth scattered seven hits, striking out seven and walking just one Post 1 batter.
"Basically, I just had good location," Eiswerth said. "I thought I was throwing hard and most of the time, I hit my spots. When I got in a jam, I just threw what they called and continued to try and hit my spots as best I could. I just tried to get ground balls to get outs and my defense played real tough behind me."
Rishel liked what he saw from his pitcher.
"He pitched real well," he said. "He hit his spots all game long and what else can I say? He threw strikes, he went 10 innings while throwing 103 pitches and just gave us a fabulous effort."
While Eiswerth was on top of his game, Williamsport starter Brock Danneker wasn't far behind. For his five innings of work, Danneker allowed just one run on seven hits, striking out a pair and walking no Shore batters. Danneker also showed his abilities at the plate by going 4-for-4 with the stick.
"We had good pitching, they had good pitching and it all came down to a couple of hits there at the end. That is what I expect from him," said Ed Danneker about his son. "He did his part and everybody did their part, but we just didn't get everything going for us together. We turned a couple of double plays when we needed to, but really, I think it just came down to time wearing us out. Both teams played a great game and anybody who was here got to see a great game."
Following the game, Rishel also had some good things to say about Danneker's performance.
"He (Danneker) was real good on both (offensive and pitching) sides," the Shore manager said. "He went 4-for-4 at the plate and he pitched well. We just couldn't seem to hit him very well. He didn't throw extremely hard, but he got outs and that is what he had to do."
In a close game, there is always one situation that a manager looks back on as one that got away, and for Rishel, that came for his club in the fifth inning.
With Shore clinging precariously to a 1-0 lead, Post 36 juiced the sacks with one out, but a 6-4-3 double play by Post 1 kept them off the board.
"That was one of those times where I was pretty confident that we would score, but we hit into a double play" Rishel said. "You don't like opportunities like that to pass you by."
With Shore holding onto the 1-0 advantage on a sacrifice fly by Eric Huling that chased Christian Rishel across the plate with the game's first run, Post 1 extended the game to extra innings when it scored its only run in the top of the seventh.
Jimmy Webb led off the frame with a triple to right and scored when Davey Ludwikowski plated him with a one-out sacrifice fly to right.
With the game tied at 1-all, Shore scored the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th when Cody Bradley walked, went to second on a neatly-executed bunt single by Boone Costa and scored when Colton Potter ripped a sharp RBI ground single to right.
"He (Potter) was down in the count and he battled real well," said Rishel of Potter's effort. "He was able to take the ball to the right side, which he has been doing all year. I was real happy with his effort."
Williamsport did pose a minor threat in the ninth inning when they had runners on first and second with one out. However, as he did throughout the game, Eiswerth induced a couple of ground ball outs to stay out of trouble and put the game into the books.
Twenty-four hours prior to the matchup with Williamsport, Post 36 had an easy time with Mifflinburg while posting an 11-0 shutout.
In Friday night's outing, Tellef Notevarp was on top of his game. The right-hander allowed Mifflinburg no runs on just one hit, striking out eight while walking a pair.
Notevarp's teammates provided him with plenty of offensive support, led by Brody Smith's 4-for-4 night at the plate. One day later, Smith opened the game with Post 1 with a pair of hits to extend his hitting streak to six straight at-bats.
Chris Glunk followed Smith's effort by going 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Eric Huling, Potter and Rishel each finished with 2-for-5 nights. Huling drove in one run, while Rishel's two hits were a double and a triple good for a pair of RBI.
Shore will hit the field again tonight for a game with Watsontown. First pitch for that contest is set for 5:45.
Jersey Shore 11, Mifflinburg 0
JS 201 500 3 - 11 15 1
M 000 000 0 - 0 1 2
JS: Tellef Notevarp and Christian Rishel. M: Andrew Leitzel, Aurand (5) and Aurand, Logan Cooper (5). WP: Notevarp. LP: Leitzel. 2B: Rishel. 3B: Rishel.
Jersey Shore 2, Williamsport 1
Post 1 000 000 100 0 - 1 7 1
Post 36 000 100 000 1 - 2 12 0
W: Brock Danneker, Kyle Hoover (6) and Justin Dymick. JS: Travis Eiswerth and Christian Rishel. WP: Eiswerth. LP: Hoover. 2B: JS (Cody Bradley). 3B: W (Jimmy Webb). DP: JS 2, W 1. SF: W (Davey Ludwikowski).
