Gritty effort by Eagles not enough to hold off Warriors in District 3 quarterfinal
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
LITITZ — Exeter strung together three straight hits in the seventh inning Monday to extend its District 3 Class 5A quarterfinal before Warwick walked it off in the eighth to win 2-1.
The 15th-seeded Eagles (12-9) head to the playback round where they’ll need to win two straight to return to the PIAA Tournament.
Exeter plays at No. 14 Shippensburg Thursday at 4:30; the third-seeded Greyhounds (12-9) were beaten 8-0 Monday by sixth-seeded Mechanicsburg.
The Eagles were limited to one hit through the first six innings by Chase Martin. The senior right-hander retired the first batter in the seventh before the Eagles got consecutive singles from Joel Ummarino, Jake Hafer and Luke Giering, with courtesy runner Brenton Feathers scoring on the third hit to tie it 1-1.
The defending PIAA champion Warriors (12-9) won it the following inning when senior Tyler Marley ripped a one-out single into the gap in right-center, allowing courtesy runner Keldyn Loraw to easily score from second.
The Eagles got a strong pitching effort from sophomore Gavin Miller, who allowed just four hits and a run over 6 2/3 innings. He was removed after reaching the PIAA pitch limit. He struck out eight.
Top starter Deven Sheerin was not eligible to pitch after throwing more than 100 pitches Friday when Exeter knocked off second-seeded Gov. Mifflin 4-1 at Shillington.
Sheerin will be back on the mound Thursday, and could possibly start the state qualifier on May 30 if the Eagles advance.
| Exeter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Warwick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Eagles | AB | R | H | RBI | Warriors | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Kelsey, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Adomnik, dh/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sheerin, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Valudes, 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cupitt, c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Blazek, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ummarino, 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Johnson, ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Feathers, cf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | C. Martin, p/2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Hafer, lf/p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | J. Martin, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Giering, 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Van Brookhoven, c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Franek, dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Loraw, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Blew, lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | S. Martin, lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rhoads, ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lutz, rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Westley, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marley, 3b | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Redding, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gerhart, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stuhltrager, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Shaffer, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Zipko, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 28 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
E: Rhoads. 2B: C. Martin. SB: Kelsey 2, Hafer; Gerhart. CS: Kelsey; Johnson. LOB: Exeter 6, Warwick 9.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Miller | 6 2/3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | C. Martin | 6 2/3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| Hafer, L | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Adomnik, W | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
WP: Miller 2.
