BALTIMORE, MD – The York College Spartan baseball squad banged out 15 hits against 12 different Johns Hopkins pitchers as the Spartans posted a 10-3 upset of the #6 Blue Jays on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in Baltimore.
The Spartans snap a two-game losing skid as they improve to 21-20 overall. The Blue Jays fall to 33-6 with the loss. The win by York also snaps a two-game losing streak against the Blue Jays.
The Spartans opened the scoring in the second as senior Drew Frankenfield (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) drove an Ed Bryner delivery out of the park to right center as the Green and White seized the early lead.
York struck for a trio of two out runs in the third, pushing their lead to 4-0. Andrew Hershey (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) started the uprising with a double down the left field line. Senior Dustin Worthman (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) plated Hershey with single up the middle. Junior Colbe Herr (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) then blasted his second home run of the year; a line drove that just got over the four-foot high wall down the left field line.
The Blue Jays reached Spartan starter Josh Kohn (Derwood, Md./Col. Zadok Magruder) for an unearned tally in the fourth as a run scored on a wild pitch strikeout. The pitch eluded Herr behind the plate and caromed into the Hopkins dugout allowing Jeff Lynch to score the Blue Jays' first run.
The Blue Jays tightened the game in the seventh as back-to-back doubles trimmed the York lead to 4-2. Lynch then brought the Blue Jays to within one with an RBI single to left center. Reliever Zach Philippi (Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman) extricated the Spartans from the jam as he coaxed Mike Delinger into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the inning.
York answered the Blue Jays two runs in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of their own in the top of the eighth. The inning started with a sharp double to left center by senior Justin Cohen (Severn, Md./Old Mill). Frankenfield moved Cohen to third with a single and then Nic Long (North Wildwood, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) ripped an RBI single to left to score Cohen with the Spartans' fifth run of the game. After a sacrifice bunt moved Frankenfield to third and Long to second, Jimmy King (Frederick, Md./Frederick) lofted a long fly ball to center. The ball carried over the head of centerfielder Christopher Casey as Frankenfield scored.
After a quick bottom of the eighth, the Spartans erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth to blow the game open. Frankenfield singled with the bases loaded to plate the first run of the inning. Long then drove home a pair with a shot to right center and King plated the final run of the game with an RBI single to center.
Kohn earned the win as the senior continues to pitch well for York. He improves to 4-1 as he went five innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. Philippi allowed two runs on three hits with a pair of walks in his 1.1 innings of action while Josh Miller (Briarcliff, N.Y./Briarcliff Manor) and Mike Sarecky (Brookeville, Md./Sherwood) combined to toss the final 2.2 innings, allowing just two base runners on a hit batter and a walk.
The Blue Jays sent a school-record 12 pitchers to the mound as they decided to go pitcher by committee with the Centennial Conference Tournament starting on Friday. Hopkins is the top seed in the tournament and will host the four-team tournament in Baltimore.
Bryner took the loss as he allowed Frankenfield's home run in the second. He allowed a run on the hit with one strikeout. Bryner is now 2-1 with the setback.
York had five players bang out multiple hits led by Hershey and Frankenfield as they each had three knocks. Frankenfield added two RBI and a three runs scored while Hershey scored once for York. Long came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with a season-high three RBI. Herr and King both had a pair of hits and two RBI while Herr also scored twice for York.
Casey and Colin McCarthy led the Blue Jays with two hits each while McCarthy also had an RBI. Lynch finished the game 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Spartans play their final road game of the year on Saturday when they travel to Randolph-Macon to face the Yellow Jackets in a non-conference contest. First pitch from Ashland is scheduled for 1:00 pm.