Bombers Travel to Salisbury in League Play

The high school baseball season has flown by and many teams only have a quarter of their games left. With that being said, every single remaining game is crucial to solidify a playoff spot. On Monday, the Palmerton Blue Bombers traveled to the top team in the Colonial League, the Salisbury Falcons. The previous meeting left the Bombers in shambles as they fell to the Falcons 11-3. This time, the Bombers looked for revenge. [1] 

Slow Start

Both teams got off to a slow start at the plate. Through 3 innings, starting pitchers for Palmerton and Salisbury, Trevor Stroup and Thomas Lovelidge, were cruising on the mound. Both pitchers did not give up any runs in the first 3 innings.

Offense

However, the offense picked up in the 4th inning. At the bottom of the fourth inning, Salisbury scored 1 run to take a 1-0 lead. In the next inning, the Bombers responded. The Bombers scored 3 runs against Lovelidge, even though only 2 were earned. With that, the Bombers took a 3-1 lead. However, the Falcons responded once more. In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Falcons scored 4 runs to take a 5-3 lead. This game went back and forth the entire time. Once again, the Bombers responded. In the top of the 6th inning, the Bombers scored 4 runs to take the lead back. The Bombers now led late with a score of 7-5. With one last chance to stay alive in the bottom of the 7th, Salisbury scored 2 runs off of Brady Repth to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

Extra Innings

At the top of the 8th inning, Salisbury junior, Austin Spisszack, came through and pitched a scoreless inning. This switched the momentum back to the Falcons. In the bottom half of the inning, the Falcons came through. Junior AJ Borger gave up early hits to the Falcons, and soon enough, the Falcons loaded up the bases with nobody out. The Falcons ended up scoring 1 run to walk it off in extra innings against the Bombers.

Key Contributors

Salisbury pitcher, Thomas Lovelidge, had a solid outing where he pitched 5 innings and only gave up 2 runs. In addition, Lovelidge scored a run while stealing 2 bases. Owen Fogel has been dominant all year for the Falcons. He is leading the team in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, and runs batted in (RBIs). He continued his impressive season by tallying 2 runs and going 3-5 at the plate. Also, Michael Stauffer contributed with 2 RBIs. For the Bombers, junior Derek King was 2-3 with a double and 2 stolen bases. In addition, AJ Borger was 1-4 with a stolen base and 2 runs scored.

Impact

This win for the Falcons was a huge win. The win keeps them at the top of the Colonial League standings with a record of 12-1. Watch out for Salisbury to make a deep run in the league and district playoffs. They will look to keep the momentum going, as they face the struggling Catasauqua Rough Riders. With the loss, Palmerton drops to 4-10 on the season, and it makes the playoffs almost impossible for them to get into. Palmerton will look to bounce back at home against the Southern Lehigh Spartans.

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