Baseball: Vikings Fall to Manheim Township in LL League Semifinal Heartbreaker

Vikings Fall to Manheim Township in LL League Semifinal Heartbreaker

After defeating Warwick 10-0 on Thursday to open the Lancaster Lebanon League Playoffs, Northern Lebanon was back in action Saturday afternoon with a chance to keep its perfect season alive and earn a trip to Penn Medicine Park, home of the Lancaster Stormers, for Monday night’s championship game.

The Vikings traveled to Ephrata for a semifinal matchup with Manheim Township, and for most of the afternoon, it looked like one run might be enough. Instead, the Blue Streaks rallied in the bottom of the 7th to hand Northern Lebanon its first loss of the season, 2-1.

Blake Burdick got the start on the mound for Northern Lebanon and had to work out of trouble early. After the Vikings were unable to take advantage of Owen Fahringer’s 1st-inning single, Manheim Township put pressure on Burdick with a walk and a stolen base, then another walk to place two runners on. Burdick stayed composed and got out of the inning to keep the game scoreless.

The same theme continued in the 2nd. Connor Stoltz drew a walk to give the Vikings a baserunner, but Northern Lebanon could not cash in. In the bottom half, Burdick again faced traffic with runners aboard, but once again found a way to escape.

After a quiet 3rd, Northern Lebanon finally broke through in the 4th. Stoltz led off with a double, and Christian Anspachfollowed by driving him in with an RBI single to put the Vikings ahead 1-0. Manheim Township limited the damage from there, but the Vikings had the lead.

Burdick continued to protect that advantage, working through the 4th, 5th, and 6th while adding strikeouts in key spots. Northern Lebanon had chances to add on, including a 5th-inning double by Landon Copenhaver and a 6th-inning opportunity that began with a walk to Adrian Gonzalez and another walk to Stoltz, but the Vikings could not find the insurance run they were looking for.

That left the door open for Manheim Township in the 7th. After Burdick exited with two runners on, Andrew Via came in looking to close it out. A walk loaded the bases, and a wild pitch brought home the tying run. Moments later, a hit batter forced in the winning run, giving the Blue Streaks a 2-1 walk-off victory.

Northern Lebanon finished with five hits, led by Copenhaver, who went 2-4 with a double and a triple. Stoltz doubled, scored the Vikings’ lone run, and drew two walks, while Fahringer and Anspach each added a hit.

Manheim Township was held to just two hits, but the Blue Streaks found a way late. Alex Derderian and Landon Crane had the team’s hits, while Jack Keneff earned the win in relief after throwing two scoreless innings.

Northern Lebanon is now 20-1. The Vikings have one regular season game remaining Tuesday against Lebanon before shifting their focus to the District 3 Playoffs.