Jays freeze Bloom
SOUTH CENTRE TWP. —Central Columbia, through the years, has passed down a singing doll of Elsa from Disney’s hit movie Frozen.
The message for the kids is the same as the movie’s hit song — let it go.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Harris, who had the doll with his bat bag following their 10-2 win over Bloomsburg, did just that.
The Panthers looked as if they were up to the task of making it a short day for Harris, striking for four hits and two runs — via a home run by Arrick Beagle that he pulled to right.
“Coach [Ben] Eshelman, it was his kid’s and they had doubles of them,” Central coach Kirk Seesholtz said. “We use the song meaning as means for working on the outside pitch, and if something bad happens, you can’t keep it with you. … It’s kind of our little mascot.
“It’s been passed down from kids who graduated a couple of years ago and now Dylan takes control of it and makes sure it’s at the games. It’s a little gimmick the kids like.”
Harris didn’t get away from attacking the zone despite Bloomsburg’s early success. Instead, he changed his approach a little bit to play off the Panthers’ aggressiveness in the box.
“I just wanted to keep throwing strikes and have them put the ball in play and let the fielders do some work,” Harris said. “... I saw them kind of working the inside of the plate, and really crowding the plate. I just wanted to utilize that to my advantage.”
He made it look easy, hitting his spots throughout. He allowed just one more hit in five more innings of work. He struck out nine and walked one. Because he was working inside a lot, he managed to let two more Panthers (5-10) get on base via hit-by-pitch.
The Panthers had a great chance to add to their lead in the third, loading the bases via a single by Huey Curran, Chase Dube getting hit by a pitch and Damon Rasmussen working a walk.
Bloomsburg coach Jeff Davis noticed the lineup didn’t loosen up despite the lead.
“I think we just got a little overanxious. I think we were not taking the same approach. We were really loose when we started the game,” he said. “When we took the lead, we were tight at the plate and not taking pitches and looking at pitches that we should have. We swung at pitches that we really shouldn’t have.”
Harris, however, had other ideas, getting Daniel Guzevich looking at strike three to strand the bases loaded.
The Blue Jays’ (12-1) hitters needed a bit of the doll’s message after one turn through the lineup. Bloomsburg starter Sam Staib held the Jays scoreless in the first two innings, but they keyed into what he was doing and struck for eight runs - all eight different players - in the third inning.
The Blue Jays batted around, sending 14 batters to the plate. They collected six hits and five walks while getting some help from three Panther errors. The Jays proved they can be aggressive on the basepaths, stealing three bases and taking numerous extra bases on wild pitches and errors.
They proved to be quite tough to get out as the Panthers turned to three different pitchers — Staib, Guzevich and Dylan Kreischer — or one out apiece. Central’s 2-4 hitters, Dylan Harris, Luke Zeisloft and Trystan Crawford all reached base twice in the frame. The lineup’s depth was on display as the No. 8 hitter, Walker Coleman, had a two-run single for the lone multi-RBI knock of the inning.
“Our kids do a great job with communicating with one another, and they simply were taking what the pitcher was giving them,” Seesholtz said. “They were willing to take the ball the other way and take the extra base when it presented itself. It just took a little bit of adjusting to start the game.”
With both teams going to their benches all throughout the game, 32 different players got at least one at-bat.
Central managed to get production from its depth, scoring two more runs in the sixth. Troy Johnson — who struck out two in relief — singled on a line drive to left. He got to third five pitches later on Eli Morrison’s double the other way to right. They scored on Ionnis Stout’s infield single that Bloomsburg’s Sean Frey had to get well to the left for.
Bloomsburg 200 000 0 - 2 5 4
Central 008 002 x - 10 9 0
Sam Staib, Daniel Guzevich (3), Dylan Kreischer (3) and Huey Curran, Zechariah Huntington (5). Dylan Harris, Troy Johnson (7) and Carter Crawford.
Top hitters: Bloomsburg - Arrick Beagle, 1-2, home run, 2 RBIs, run. Central Columbia - Mason Yorty, 2-4, run; Luke Zeisloft, 2-3, double, run.
Link to story: https://www.pressenterpriseonl...
