By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – Taking the diamond with significant holes in their roster, the Bradford Legion Post 108 baseball team’s budding win streak was clipped early, falling behind and suffering their second loss of the season at the hands of DuBois Post 17, 8-3.
Missing a handful of key contributors and facing a dynamic Post 17 squad, most of which came into their first legion game of the season fresh off a trip to the PIAA state championship, Bradford was looking to get some experience under the belt on the mound, rotating in a flurry of men to tend the bump.
“We were going to take a different approach to our pitching. I wanted to go seven pitchers in seven innings, but our pitching was actually really good today so it was hard to accomplish,” said Bradford head coach Jim Henry. “All our pitching looked pretty good today.”
The experience came head on. DuBois wasted no time putting Post 108 in a bind, opening with back-to-back lead-off baserunners via a walk and single. One batter later, Isaac Dennison drove in the inaugural score of the day with a sacrifice grounder. Before heading to the outfield, Post 17 tacked on one more first frame run, seeing Nate Witherite rattle off an RBI-single to put them up by two.
While Bradford managed to slow down DuBois, they never found a complete stop. Over the next three frames, Post 17 consistently added to their side of the scoreboard, finding four scores as they built a cushion. However, Bradford’s own bats finally came alive sooner rather than later.
After connecting on just one through the opening two innings, Post 108 offense found a spark in the third. Leading off, Jaron Lohrman laid down a perfectly placed bunt, followed by Ryder Christjohn and Ryder Iantorno who reached base on a single and DuBois error. With only one out, Jay Parisella broke the stalemate with a sacrifice grounder that brought Christjohn around home plate.
“The guys are just relaxed and playing loose,” said Henry, whose team combined for 23 hits in their two wins on Saturday. “I’ve been seeing a lot of confidence from them.”
Although Bradford’s effort to slim the lead amounted to just one run in the third, their embers at the plate refused to go out. One frame later, Post 108 brought in another run via a Drayden Norton single that scored Braylan Austin before shutting out DuBois for the first time of the game in the top of the fifth.
Their reprieve, however, only lasted so long. After stunting Bradford in the bottom of the same frame, Post 17 resumed producing men on base who found ways to streak across home. Holding a 6-2 lead, DuBois continued to retain their lead with back-to-back runs in the sixth and seventh.
Despite adding another run to their resume in the bottom of the sixth – Christjohn picked up an RBI via sacrifice which scored Ben Woodhouse – Bradford’s comeback fell well short of materializing, instead suffering their second loss of the season.
Austin and Iantorno both led Bradford with a pair of hits each. Austin ended 2-for-3 with one run scored while Iantorno went 2-for-4. Christjohn finished 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI followed by Norton with one RBI during his 1-for-2 day at the plate. Taking over for the third and fourth frame, Evan Whitmore came away with three strikeouts while only giving up one hit.
Bradford will get another chance at downing DuBois, as they will head into hostile territory for a double-header against Post 17 on Saturday. First, however, they will see another familiar face when they host Crosby Post 976 on Thursday.
“I think today was a big confidence booster for the upcoming game (against DuBois) this weekend,” said Henry. “We’re going to take it one game at a time. We’ll take on Thursday and then look forward to Saturday.”
AT BRADFORD
DuBois 212 101 1 R:8 H:7 E:3
Bradford 001 101 0 R:3 H:8 E:6
DuBois: Dennison (4 SO, 0 BB), Knouse (5) (0 SO, 0 BB), Johnson (6) (2 SO, 2 BB) and Barrett
Bradford: Iantorno (0 SO, 2 BB), Whitmore (3) (3 SO, 0 BB), Collins (5) (0 SO, 0 BB), Strotman (6) (0 SO, 2 BB), Christjohn (7) (0 SO, 0 BB) and Woodhouse, Iantorno
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