.:Manheim Township Legion Baseball:.

MT steals one from Hempfield
Keller's theft of home scores game's lone run

By Joel Schreiner
Intelligencer Journal

Published: Jul 16, 2004 9:07 AM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Manheim Township stole a win from Hempfield Thursday night --literally.Shawn Keller stole home in the second inning and pitcher Pete Andrelczyk made it stand, blanking Hempfield 1-0 in the nightcap of an American Leagion District 10 playoff doubleheader at Manheim Township.

In the opener, Conestoga Valley stayed alive by eliminating Lancaster, 3-1, in the double-elimination tourney.

Township, the No. 2 seed, will meet Lititz -- a 2-1 winner over Ephrata Thursday night -- as part of a tripleheader Saturday at 7 p.m. back in Neffsville.

Hempfield (14-6), the No. 3 seed, plays Penn Manor (18-2) -- who ended Marietta's season with an 11-0 win -- in an elimination game at 1 p.m.

CV (10-9), meanwhile, battles Ephrata at 3:30 p.m. The loser of that game is eliminated.

In a classic pitcher's duel, Andrelczyk and Hempfield ace Austin Hinkle put on a clinic.

"That's something you want, getting into a 1-0 pitcher's duel with the ace of the league," said Andrelczyk, who struck out five and walked one, while scattering four singles.

"I was hitting my spots more than I was throwing real hard," said Andrelczyk, who lowered his ERA to a tidy 1.09. "When I had to hit a spot, I did."

Hinkle, meanwhile, yielded the lone unearned run while surrendering just four hits. The righty also struck out six and walked none.

"Getting into a duel like that was fun," said Andrelczyk, who threw 91 pitches. "I had a blast."

Township scored in the second inning, thanks in part to a gamble and some shaky Hempfield defense.

Keller and Dane Yoder reached on back-to-back errors to start the inning. After Jared Ellis flied out and Josh Bucher grounded out, Hinkle drilled Sean Rigney to load the bases.

On Hinkle's 0-1 offering to George Eager, Keller noticed something.

"I saw his windup was slow," said Keller. "He didn't look at me on the 0-1 pitch so I told Doc (third base coach John Dochterman) that I thought I could steal it. So we took a gamble."

It paid off.

"As soon as I saw him put his foot down, I took off," said Keller, who scored easily as the pitch sailed past Hempfield catcher Sean Killian.

"That's kind of funny that the game came down to that," said Keller. "I didn't think that run would hold up, that's for sure."

Township manager Ned Butz, who coaches first base, wasn't even in on the decision but certainly liked the end result.

"It was a great call," said Butz. "It was fantastic. I thought he got a real good break off third and thought he would make it."

It was then up to Andrelczyk to hold the lead and he made it look easy.

After the third inning, Hempfield didn't have a runner reach second base and the Township righty retired 11 of the final 14 batters.

Andrelczyk has allowed only two extra base hits in 38-plus innings, but is somehow just 2-3 on the season.

"He was definitely on tonight," said Butz. "You could tell that he was really focused from the start."

Fittingly, Andrelczyk made the final out himself on a comebacker off the bat of Brian Millaway.

Township's Andy Dochterman was 2-for-3, including a double.

In the opener, Conestoga Valley also got a complete game gem from Jeremy Stoltzfus. Stoltzfus allowed six Lancaster hits, struck out four and walked just one.

Steve Russo was 2-for-3 for CV, including a double and triple, while scoring a pair of runs.

Marc Brown put CV ahead 2-0 when he homered off Lancaster starter Harrison Anderson to lead off the third inning.

Lancaster first baseman Nick Mumma went 2-for-3 with a double.

Source: Intelligencer Journal.