Goldey-Beacom continued its North Carolina trip with a thrilling 8-7 win against Mercy at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC.
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Goldey-Beacom struck early, with a run in the first inning. After sophomore
Christian Petrillo (New Brunswick, NJ) stole second, fellow sophomore
Braden Kolmansberger (Lewisberry, PA) doubled to center field to drive in Petrillo.
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Mercy tied up the score in the bottom of the second inning with a sacrifice fly on a double play.
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Kolmansberger in the third inning continued right where he left off in the first. Back-to-back hits by Petrillo and junior
Kyle Walker (Wilmington, DE) gave Kolmansberger a chance to further the Lightning's lead. Grounding out to third, Petrillo scored his second run of the day. Walker was brought in by junior
Darin Miller (Mifflinburg, PA), who also grounded to third, giving the Lightning a 3-1 lead.
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Two more Lightning runs came in the fourth, one by senior
Marlon Lindsey Jr. (Lafayette Hill, PA) scored off a single by sophomore
Jake Vitale (Laurel Springs, NJ). An error by Mercy lead Vitale to score and further the lead to 5-1.
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The bottom of the fifth brought pressure for both teams. Trailing 5-1, the Mavericks had bases loaded with two outs. A fly ball to right field was dropped, a costly error by the Lightning, leading to four runs by the Mavericks and the score to 5-4.
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The Mavericks struck again in the sixth, with two runs. A double drove home one and the other came from an error. Attempting the steal bases, an overthrow from home to second base lead to home base being stolen and Mercy took a 6-5 lead.
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But the Lightning were not out. Lindsey, reaching base on a hit by pitch, advanced to third on a single by junior
Demetrius Johnson (Glassboro, NJ). A balk by the Mavericks tied the score up at 6-6. freshman
Anthony Charles (Mullica Hill, NJ) drove home Johnson, who had stolen second, on a single and gave the Lightning the lead back at 7-6.
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A final Lightning run came from Walker off another Kolmansberger double in the ninth. Despite a Mercy run in the ninth, they were able to tie or take the lead, giving the triumph to the Lightning.
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Kolmansberger ended with two hits and three RBI. Wilmington, DE junior
Lance Hinton (1-0) claimed the win, pitching 3 1/3 innings and recording three hits and four strikeouts.
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Sean McAdams closed with two hits and Joseph Gonzalez ended with two RBI for Mercy.
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Goldey-Beacom close the weekend trip with a single game against Mercy at 2:00 pm in Cary, NC.
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