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Eagles take down Knights in Backyard Brawl

By Andy Close 4 min read

Strong pitching, timely hitting and a little help from their opponents helped the Youngsville Eagles pick up their second win of the season, 13-6 in the Backyard Brawl against Eisenhower on Wednesday.

At a blustery Werner Park, it was actually the Knights that jumped out to a 4-3 lead, only to watch as Youngsville put up a 6-spot in the fourth to take control.

"It was an exciting game, back-and-forth for a while," said Youngsville coach Kevin Hoover. "Our bats came alive, our defense picked us up and it just feels really good to get this one. The kids are excited."

Sam Hoover pitched six strong innings for the Eagles, that included getting out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the first thanks to a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.

The Eagles weren't quite so lucky in the second, as 2-out RBI base hits from Zach Rohlin and Dakota Chase staked the Knights to a 4-1 advantage after a Jake DeSimone RBI single drove in Jason Beers to give Youngsville the lead in the first.

Youngsville (2-1) cut the deficit to 4-3 in the third thanks to a big 2-out, 2-run single off the bat of Nyko Mercado, the first of two key hits for the Eagle senior on the day.

Eisenhower (0-2) starting pitcher Owen Trumbull went three innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out seven.

He was relieved in the fourth inning by Jared Beers, but Beers hit three Youngsville batters in the fourth and was relieved by Teagan Gray.

The Eagles greeted Gray rudely, as a bases-loaded walk to Alex Kemery forced in a run, and Mercado came up with his second big hit in as many innings, another 2-run single. Damon Reese followed with a run-scoring single of his own, and an error allowed the sixth run of the inning for the Eagles to cross the plate.

That run support was more than enough for Hoover, who, after the second inning, settled in, allowing just one unearned run over his final four innings of work.

"Sam was on a roll," coach Hoover said. "He really had a good night."

Gray threw up three consecutive zeros of his own, but ran into trouble in the seventh.

With a 9-5 lead, the Eagles drew five free passes and a hit-by-pitch to end Gray's work on the mound and allowed the Youngsville to put up another crooked number, taking a 13-5 lead.

Trumbull doubled and scored in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't nearly enough for the Knights.

The Knights actually out-hit the Eagles 10-6, but it was Youngsville, led by Hoover, Mercado and a solid all-around and opportunistic team effort that led Youngsville to the win.

All-in-all, it was an important win for the Eagles, considering it came against their county rival and also came on the heels of a tough loss to Cochranton the day before.

"It was nice to get off on the right track tonight," coach Hoover added.

For Eisenhower, Beers had three hits and an RBI and Rohlin two hits and an RBI.

Youngsville returns to action Friday against Maplewood, while Eisenhower plays Saegertown, also on Friday, weather permitting.

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YOUNGSVILLE (13)

Curry cf 2-0-0-0, Victor ph-cf 1-2-0-0, Beers 3b 2-4-1-0, Hoover p-ss 4-2-1-1, DeSimone ss-p 4-1-1-1, Kemery 1b 3-1-0-1, Mercado lf 4-1-2-4, Reese rf 4-0-1-1, Walton 2b 4-1-0-0, Smith c 1-1-0-0, Totals 29-13-6-8

EISENHOWER (6)

Swanson c 4-1-0-0, Rohlin 1b-3b 4-1-2-1, Gray 3b-p 4-1-2-0, Chase ss 3-1-1-1, Roberts 2b-p 4-0-0-0, Trumbull p-lf 4-1-1-0, Benson rf 4-0-0-0, Alexander cf 3-1-1-0, Beers lf-p-1b 4-0-3-1, Totals 34-6-10-3

Youngsville 102 600 4 - 13 6 5

Eisenhower 040 010 1 - 6 10 6

Double Plays - Eisenhower 1. 2B - Beers (Y), Trumbull (E)

IP H R ER BB SO

Youngsville

Hoover (W) 6 8 5 2 1 5

DeSimone 1 1 1 1 0 0

Eisenhower

Trumbull 3 4 3 1 1 7

Beers (L) 1/3 0 4 4 1 0

Gray 3 1/3 2 6 5 7 1

Roberts 1/3 0 0 0 1 0

Starting at /week.