Daniel Boone, Berks Catholic eliminated in district openers
Daniel Boone saw its season end Friday with a 3-2 loss at Greencastle-Antrim when it left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh in a District 3 Class 5A first-round game.
The 13th-seeded Blazers (12-10) were looking for their first district playoff win since 2017.
The Blazers scored twice in the top of the sixth to tie it, getting a two-out RBI triple from Conner McGough and an RBI single from Eli Rhoads.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (15-4) took the lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth.
Greencastle advances to play fifth-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg, a 2-1 winner over Spring Grove.
In the seventh, the Blazers got a leadoff single from Anthony Cizmarik, a sacrifice by Dylan Schueler and an infield single by Christian Eckstein. After Eckstein stole second Mason Walter was intentionally walked to load the bases. Winning pitcher Landon Huth got a strikeout to end the game.
Eckstein had two hits for the Blazers.
Schueler started and went five innings, allowing five hits and two runs.
Darren Kline hit a solo homer for the Blue Devils.
Daniel Boone fell to Muhlenberg 6-3 in the Berks League quarterfinals.
This was the Blazers’ first appearance in a district game since 2019.
Middletown 7, Berks Catholic 6
At Middletown, the eighth-seeded Blue Raiders scored a pair of unearned runs in the seventh to eliminate the ninth-seeded Saints in a District 3 Class 4A opener Friday afternoon.
The Saints (13-8) scored five times in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 lead.
Trey Stricker had two hits, Denny Rodriguez had two RBIs and Maxx Mace scored two runs to highlight Berks Catholic’s offense.
Stricker entered with one out in the first and pitched 4 1/3 innings, striking out seven. He allowed one hit and one unearned run.
Stricker took over when Parker Nein was knocked out after retiring just one batter. He gave up two hits, walked five and allowed four runs in the first.
Stricker and Derek Brynildsen combined to strike out 11 over the final 6 1/3 innings.
Each of Middletown’s final three runs was unearned.
Berks Catholic ended the season with three straight losses.
Middletown (12-8) advances to play Monday at top-seeded Bermudian Springs (15-4), which had a first-round bye.
The Saints beat Bermudian Springs 10-0 in their district opener last season before falling to Lancaster Catholic 2-1.