CV's troubling trends

The last four games haven't been easy ones for anyone associated with the Cumberland Valley baseball program. Going back to the preliminary round of the District 3 Class AAAA playoffs last May, the Eagles have been in four straight games decided on the final pitch.

In the prelims against Penn Manor on May 17, Jordan Witmer smashed a walkoff home run to send CV to quarterfinals where it fell to top-seeded Manheim Twp., 1-0, in eight innings.

This year started much the same when Lower Dauphin handed CV an opening day loss thanks to a walkoff single in the last of the seventh. Then on Monday, Ephrata helped drop the Eagles' record to 1-3 in those four games with a bottom-of-the-seventh 4-3 win.

Keeping with the theme of one-run games, CV has now played in four straight games of that variety at War Memorial Field in Ephrata. In 2007, CV beat Pennridge, 1-0, in the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals before losing to Souderton two days later, 3-2.

But it's not all doom and gloom for the Eagles. In 2007, CV lost by one run in two of its first four games in starting 0-4. The Eagles also lost to Carlisle and Chambersburg by a single run that year before reaching the 3-AAAA final and narrowly missing a spot in the state championship.

Feel good stories and no-hitters

Today we begin the first full week of the 2009 high school baseball season and if the rest of the year is anything like the first two days, we're in for a thrilling ride this spring.

Friday marked the opening day of the season and with it came a big clash between Camp Hill and Northern. The defending PIAA Class A champion Lions won, 3-0, but that wasn't the biggest story of Day 1. In Lewisberry, Susquehanna Twp. catcher Kyle Hollingsworth finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Indians past Red Land, 6-4.

If you remember, Hollingsworth needed to be revived on the field after being hit in the chest and collapsing at home plate during last summer's Keystone Games. We hope that what could have been a tragedy will turn into a stellar year for Hollingsworth.

One day after Hollingsworth came through for Susquehanna Twp., Lebanon Catholic junior left-handed pitcher Mike Whisler tossed a no hitter to lead the Beavers past Berks Christian, 2-0.

Whisler struck out 13 and walked five.

Also on Saturday, Susquenita didn't give up a run in beating Greewood, 10-0, and West Perry, 5-0, to claim the Perry County Tournament at West Perry. The Blackhawks (2-0) have now won three straight games against the rival Mustangs (1-1).

Commonwealth takes it on the chin

The opening day of the high school baseball season is now in the books and the immediate reaction here is how bad the supposedly flagship division of the Mid-Penn Conference looked.

All four Commonwealth programs that were in action Friday lost. Some (Carlisle and Central Dauphin) were throttled while others (Cumberland Valley and Red Land) dropped narrow decisions.

Muhlenberg, a serious contender for the Berks County and District 3 Class AAA titles, came to West Hanover Twp. and destroyed the Rams, 13-2, in five innings. Carlisle hosted Mid-Penn Colonial Division power Waynesboro and put up little fight in a 13-0, five-inning loss.

Red Land, which returns only two starters from last year's PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal team, woke up too late in a 6-4 loss to Keystone Division favorite Susquehanna Twp. The Patriots trailed 6-0 before scoring all of their runs in the last of the seventh.

Maybe the toughest pill to swallow on Friday was CV's bottom-0f-the-seventh 6-5 defeat at Lower Dauphin, another Keystone player. The teams were tied through six-and-a-half innings before the Falcons escaped with a one-out single to drive in the runner at second.

Cedar Cliff, Chambersburg and Central Dauphin East were not in action Friday.

On Deck: Baseball Preview Edition

Friday marks the start of the high school baseball season and with it comes our annual preview.

Stories began running Wednesday in anticipation of the 2009 season and our one-page preview.

We'll take a close look at all the area teams and examine the impact of the new coaches at West Shore School District rivals Cedar Cliff and Red Land. There will also be a trip around the state and a list of top games for the first full week of the season.

District 3 All-Star Meet

The lineup for this year's District 3 All-Star Wrestling Meet at Elizabethtown High School has been announced. Tonight's action, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature 13 bouts between the top seniors in Class AAA against their counterparts in Class AA.

There are a slew of area wrestlers but only one bout will pit two against each other. At 145, PIAA Class AAA runner-up Joey Napoli (45-1), a state champion at 145 last winter, will meet PIAA Class AA third-place finisher Dakota Kuhn (38-5) of Boiling Springs.

At 125, Camp Hill's Ian Nisley (24-12) faces Dallastown's Jonathan Childress (31-7); at 130, Big Spring's Ryan Irvin (33-8) meets Oley Valley's Joshua Eddinger (24-11); at 152, CV's Bryce Busler (42-7), who finished third in the state in Class AAA this year and second at 140 last year, wrestles Bermudian Springs' Devin O'Brien (37-6) and at 171 Corey Mattila of Boiling Springs, who went 35-9 and won his first District 3-AA title, squares off with Chad Savage (35-6) of Lower Dauphin.

A complete lineup of tonight's action can be found at Road to Hershey.

Trio of area players on West squad

The rosters for the 2009 PSFCA East/West All-Star game were announced Friday afternoon.

The coverage area will be represented with three players not on the East side but on the West squad. Cumberland Valley's Nate Morris was selected as an offensive lineman while Trinity will send Christian Kuntz and Billy Phillipy. The Shamrocks were selected as a wide receiver and tight end, respectively.

Morris makes sense as a member of the West as the District 3 Class AAAA teams qualify for the PIAA Championships through that half of the bracket but District 3 Class AA remains in the east in terms of state bracketing. That doesn't make a lot of sense but the most important thing is that the area is represented in the ninth annual game, which will be played at Altoona's Mansion Park Stadium on Friday, June 19 at 6 p.m.

All three players were named first-team All-Sentinel and will continue their playing careers in college. Kuntz will head to Big Ten champion Penn State University while Phillipy plans to attend the University at Albany, the defending NEC champion.

Morris will join Pennsylvania's all-team leading rusher, Jeremiah Young of Steelton-Highspire, at Bucknell University this fall.

Click here for the complete East/West roster.

All-Sentinel Defense

First Team
Player of the Year – Ben Anderson, sr., Mechanicsburg
Defensive line – Tate Moore-Jacobs, jr., Cedar Cliff
Defensive line – Jeff Goyette, jr., Trinity
Defensive line – Jeremy Starner, sr., Boiling Springs
Linebacker – Richard Bullis, Carlisle
Linebacker – Travis Friend, jr., Cumberland Valley
Linebacker – Jared Mizak, Cumberland Valley
Linebacker – Matt Connors, jr., Trinity
Defensive back – Luke Barricklow, sr., Northern
Defensive back – Christian Kuntz, sr., Trinity
Defensive back – Ethan Noss, jr., Red Land
Defensive back – Sean Kelly, sr., Cedar Cliff
Punter – Chad Christen, sr., Red Land
Returner – Robbie Bleiler, sr., Northern

Second Team
Defensive line – Nate Hinkle, sr., Cumberland Valley
Defensive line – Travis Polillo, sr., Mechanicsburg
Defensive line – Matt Murphy, sr., Northern
Linebacker – Max Liddell, sr., Red Land
Linebacker – Chris Parthemore, sr., Cedar Cliff
Linebacker – Colt Kostelac, sr., Trinity
Linebacker – Ted Spinelli, sr., Trinity
Defensive back – Terrance Bennett, sr., Carlisle
Defensive back – Devon Hensel, sr., Mechanicsburg
Defensive back – Chaz Sheaffer, jr., West Perry
Punter – Matt Spiegel, sr., Camp Hill
Returner – Trevor Harman, jr., Cumberland Valley