Susquehannock added an eighth win to their winning streak on their Teacher Appreciation Day, coming up big against the visiting Fairfield, 16-1.
The Warriors were able to score 11 runs in the first two innings alone, taking advantage of big Fairfield errors. Sophomore leadoff batter Connor Hood led the charge, going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs. Seniors Michael Spadafore, Sammy Miller, and Josh Houser each went on to hit a double for the team.
Starting pitcher junior Alex Palmer, pitched four innings, throwing 59 pitches and went 2-for-3 with an RBI. With his first start ever as a varsity pitcher, Palmer allowed only one run, three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
Head coach Tim Hare believes the team’s ability to throw strikes and pitch well are really helping their winning streak stay alive.
“Pitchers are throwing strikes. If you don’t throw any strikes you can’t get any outs,” said Hare. “Our defense is doing really well. We’re averaging less than an error per game which is almost impossible for a high school team. The offense is also coming up big, getting key hits at the right time.”
Prior to the game starting, the Warriors honored all their favorite teachers both presently teaching and retired. There were 15 teachers honored in total.
Senior third baseman Luke Knott thought that Teacher Appreciation Day was an important event to do.
“It helped all the players show their teachers how much they mean to us,” said Knott. “They do so much for us, and we wanted to show them how much we appreciate them.”
Susquehannock (8-1) has a lot more teams to go through in their regular season schedule before they think about the playoffs. Delone Catholic (8-1), Spring Grove (7-3), and Cumberland Valley all stand in the Warriors’ way to a division championship.
“We have the three hardest teams coming up in our schedule,” said Hare. “Those teams will definitely test our team during the season.”
Senior catcher Collin Tatersall believes that his team has the ability to beat the good teams out of their division.
“Our bats need to come alive,” said Tattersall. “We have to have solid defense like we’ve had throughout our eight wins, and we need to play the game we know we can play.”
That’s just what happened on Thursday, April 18 as Susquehannock took down Spring Grove in the final innings, 2-1, to stretch their winning streak to nine wins.
Miller earned the win, pitching through six innings. He had four strikeouts and allowed only one run. Houser shut down the Rockets’ offense in the bottom of the seventh, getting a huge third strikeout to end the game, leaving Spring Grove runners on first and third.
Knott was able to score on junior Cody Dennis’ RBI single in the top of the sixth inning, pushing the Warriors just one run past the Rockets.
One thing that all the Warrior baseball players can agree on is that their ultimate goal is a District Championship, taking place 16.4 miles away at the York Revolution Stadium.
“We want that division championship, and then we want to win the District Championship,” said Tattersall. “But we have to take it day by day, game by game.”
