MEDIA, PA- The final score of this one is slightly deceiving to say the least. Until the fifth inning, this was a complete shutout by Lower Merion to the score of 9-1 to the point I left during the fourth expecting to be writing about a blowout, and here we are.
The first four innings of work for the Aces were going as good as you could possibly hope for a high school team. After scoring just one run in the first and allowing one run in the bottom of the first, the Aces were cruising.
After a lone run scored by Penncrest in the first, it was off to the races for the Aces for the next three innings. From the second to the fourth inning, Lower Merion would turn a 1-1 tie into a 9-1 deficit in a true full team effort.
Just about everyone went barrel to ball, and while we can’t highlight all contributions, there were plays of all types all over the field. In three innings, The Aces saw Ryan Scholz, and Nicholas Dragut double, a pair of triples by Dragut and Gus Wright, and not to be forgotten, inside0the-park HR by Charlie Parsons. There was no doubt LM was going to be finishing this game in under seven innings. Until there was.
In the bottom of the fifth Penncrest had their own rally, and this game was no longer cut and dry. After the leadoff batter was HBP, the Lions got a free base runner, and he would come in handy.
After a single and a double, the leadoff batter would score, and this game was 9-2. Still a hefty deficit but the Lions proved they still had life, and the next two sequences would only help their case. After going up 9-2 the Lions would benefit from an error and would build up to 9-4, the Aces would get the final two outs to end the inning, but there was more to come.
To make this game more interesting, the Aces would go down in order to start off the sixth, leaving Penncrest to build on their momentum, and they did just that. A single by Landon Graham and double by Harry Giles would get the Lions within two runs of the Aces in a game where they were previously down by 8.
At this point it was the seventh and although they were still in the lead, but Lower Merion had a whole different game plan than originally expected when you go up 9-1 early, but at the end of the day it would all work out.
The Aces would get rolling once more to add on three more runs with the help of a Parsons triple and a Leo Ufburg single and would hang on despite the Lions last hoorah run in the seventh to reach the final score of 12-8.
It was nothing short of a full team rally on the day for the Aces, but they pick up the win and move to (6-3) in the Central League and will be back in action tomorrow at home against Springfield (1-8).
Penncrest (2-7) will fall today but go on to visit surging Conestoga (5-4) tomorrow in a Central League matchup.