Darkness suspends Montgomery-Southern game
By WES BRINK, wbrink@sungazette.comMONTGOMERY— Colin Klebon delivered a big blow early, a two-run home run on the seventh pitch of the game. Montgomery fought back, tying the game with two runs in the sixth. But a winner wasn’t determined Thursday.
Not yet, anyway.
The teams were deadlocked at two apiece when the game was suspended after eight innings because of darkness. A continuation date, if one will be played, has not been set.
Klebon, who earlier in the week was named second-team all-state in boys Class AA basketball, blasted a two-run home run in the top of the first to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
The lead held up early, thanks to freshman lefty Tim Benner. Benner retired the first 10 batters he faced before Joel Worthington singled in the fourth. Benner reached his pre-determined pitch count, and Southern coach Randy Young pulled his starter after the fourth. He struck out four.
“We had a pitch count in mind for all the kids and once they get to their pitch count, no matter what the situation is, they’re coming out,” said Young. “A lot of people don’t understand that, but that’s the way it works. Our pitchers all did a great job today.”
Southern brought in Trevor Behrent in the fifth, and the Montgomery bats came alive one inning later. Ryan Hecknauer delivered an RBI single to left before he scored on an error on a pickoff attempt.
Hecknauer led off the eighth with a single and soon stood at third on a two-base error on another botched pickoff move. Montgomery later had runners at second and third, but couldn’t score.
Klebon, a six-foot-seven lefty, who came in to pitch in the sixth, didn’t allow the Red Raiders to score. He got a pop-up and then recorded two strikeouts with runners in scoring position.
“All three pitched well, we just couldn’t get that run to make a difference,” said Young. “Montgomery’s a very good ballclub, so we knew it was going to be a tough battle coming in today.”
Hecknauer and Worthington each had two hits for Montgomery.
“We were hitting the ball hard but everything was right at them,” said Montgomery coach Pat Adams. “Our guys hung in there. I have to give them credit for that.”
Southern, last year’s district runners-up, received two hits from center fielder Aaron Barnes.
“It was two good teams,” said Adams. “We’re excited about our season and it was another test for us. We’re going to learn from it. It’s early in the season and we did some things tonight that we’re going to learn from and our kids will bounce back.”
Montgomery is at Shamokin Saturday.
Southern Columbia 200 000 00—2 5 2
Montgomery 000 002 00—2 5 2
Tin Benner, Trevor Bethrent (5), Colin Klebon (6) and James Carl. Billy Smith, Joel Worthington (5), Seth Winder (8) and Jake Ulrich.
Top Southern Columbia hitters:Klebon, 1-4, 2-run HR; Benner, 2b, run. Top Montgomery hitters: Ryan Hecknauer, 2-4, RBI, run; Worthington, 2-3; Bobby Ulrich, run.
