Luke Wagner-Twin Valley

Luke Wagner’s first extra-base hit of the season came at the right moment. Twin Valley’s junior catcher crushed a three-run double off the wall in left-center to put the Raiders up 12-7 in the 8th at Exeter. That was the final margin as Twin Valley extended its winning streak to six. “I was looking to do something big. We needed more runs. He gave me a pitch I could hit and I took advantage of it,” said Wagner. The (8-3, 5-0) Raiders rallied from a 6-2 deficit after five innings. “We never give up. We always have something to say, something to answer,” replied Wagner. Twin Valley got a pair of runs in the 1st off sophomore Kamren Martin. The righty was just called up to the varsity team on Thursday. Martin settled down and allowed two runs on four hits over four innings. He struck out four and walked two. The (6-5, 2-4) Eagles responded immediately with four runs in the first frame. Brandon Weller singled to center field to score Alex Kelsey. Weller, a freshman catcher, had four of Exeter’s twelve hits on Friday afternoon. He knocked in three runs. Jake Franek’s RBI double to right-center tied it up. The Eagles took the lead on a wild pitch and a ground out. They added two more runs in the 2nd inning thanks to four consecutive hits with two outs. Jake Hafer and Weller provided RBI singles. Hafer, Kelsey, and Carter Redding each went 2-for-4. Kelsey, an All-County center fielder who’s committed to St. Joseph’s, scored three runs. The southpaw took over on the mound for sophomore Liam Porter in the 6th with two men on and nobody out. Wagner drew a bases loaded walk to get the Raiders within 6-3. Wagner, who’s batting .323, was walked three times. Logan Crunkleton grounded out to shortstop, but the throw to first base got away. Twin Valley scored two runs on the play. After a single by leadoff hitter Roman Cieless, Ben Vaughan hammered a two-run double to left-center to give the Raiders a 7-6 advantage. They managed five runs on only two hits in the 6th inning. A two-out line drive single to left field by Weller tied the game in the bottom half of the frame. Exeter put runners on first and second in the 7th, but Owen Rhoads got Kelsey to fly out to center to force extra innings in Reiffton. Rhoads earned the win in relief. He limited the Eagles to one run on two hits and three walks over 3.1 innings. “That was big. He’s one of our best pitchers. I was really comfortable with him coming in,” noted Wagner. Jon Oxendine gave up six runs, four earned, on ten hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out eleven and walked one. Oxendine and Rhoads are both committed to Elizabethtown College. Kelsey walked Nate Lord with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run in the 8th. Kevin Eden’s infield single with two outs made it 9-7. Wagner cleared the bases with a double. Wagner, Eden, Cieless, and Vaughan finished with two hits apiece. Designated hitter Paul Colombo was 1-for-3 with a couple of walks. He’s headed to Division II Anderson University in South Carolina. Colombo is batting .483 and Cieless is up to .486 this year. The young Eagles have dropped four of their last five games. They only had two seniors in the starting lineup. Kelsey was charged with eight runs on six hits over 2.2 innings. Exeter committed four errors. Meanwhile, Twin Valley is trying to bounce back from a (10-10) campaign a season ago. The Raiders didn’t qualify for the BCIAA or District 3 playoffs. “We know we’re more than mediocre. We’re pushing ourselves. We’re striving for those playoffs,” stated Wagner.