Penn State York baseball rides team effort to 13-game winning streak
Thomas KendzioraWhen the calendar turned to April in 2023, the Penn State York baseball team had only six official games under its belt. This year’s Nittany Lions certainly made the most of March.
Penn State York reeled off 13 straight wins before the streak finally came to an end last Friday. Head coach Todd Meckley’s team enters April with a 15-4 record and a 7-1 mark in the PSUAC. And the Lions don’t plan on slowing down.
The streak began at the tail end of PSY’s six-game week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as victories on March 7 and 8 sent the Lions home with a 4-3 overall record. Then came five consecutive doubleheader sweeps — first on March 15 against Central Maine CC, then March 19 against Bucks County CC, then March 22 and 24 against Penn State Scranton before another sweep last Thursday against Penn State Hazleton. PSY added another triumph in Game 1 on Friday before suffering a one-run defeat in the nightcap.
Tuesday’s scheduled doubleheader against Central Penn was postponed due to rain; no makeup date has been announced. The Lions will resume conference play with a home doubleheader Saturday against Penn State Schuylkill, then hit the road to complete the four-game series Sunday.
Everything has to go right in a 13-game winning streak. Penn State York averaged eight runs per game while allowing just 2.8 runs per contest during its run, but the Lions still won five straight games decided by three runs or fewer and pulled away late in some other contests. PSY is hitting .304 as a team while holding opponents to a .255 batting average overall.
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Senior Cole Sinnott (Kennard-Dale) has been the ace on the mound, going 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 34 innings across six starts. Freshman Devin Niemiec has picked up four saves and three wins in his seven appearances, allowing one run in 8.2 innings for a 1.04 ERA. Junior Kolby Miller has two wins, a save and a 0.48 ERA in 18.2 innings pitched. But the staff’s success is a testament to its depth, as 10 different pitchers have made contributions so far this spring.
Offensively, eight of PSY’s nine leaders in plate appearances are hitting above .300. Sophomore outfielder Cavin Constein has caught fire of late and now leads the team with a .417/.500/.556 batting line, while sophomore third baseman Andrew Miller (Susquehannock) leads the Lions with two homers, 16 RBIs and a .581 slugging percentage. Both of Miller’s homers came in Friday’s 13-8 win, the 13th of the win streak.
Before the season, Penn State York reached an agreement to play its home games at WellSpan Park, home of the York Revolution, through 2026. The Lions played their first contest in the new digs on March 22, when they swept a doubleheader against Penn State Scranton, and they’re still a perfect 4-0 at the venue. PSY has four doubleheaders and a single game on April 23 remaining on the home slate, plus a potential rescheduling against Central Penn.
This program had made the PSUAC playoffs just once prior to 2022 and picked up its first league tournament win last year. If the Lions keep playing at this level, though, there’s no telling how high their 2024 ceiling can be.
SPARTAN STANDOUTS
Five York College athletes received MAC Commonwealth weekly honors for their performances last week, including sweeps in both men’s and women’s lacrosse.
On the men’s side, attacker Will Harnick was named MACC Offensive Player of the Week and Brent Blackmon took home Defensive Player of the Week. Harnick scored a season-high five goals in the Spartans’ 10-9 win Saturday at Denison, which snapped a five-game losing streak. Blackmon caused three turnovers in the triumph; he has a team-high 24 forced takeaways this season, while Harnick leads York (3-6) with 18 goals.
York Catholic graduate Sydney Mentzer earned weekly honors on offense for the Spartan women’s team, as the sophomore registered five goals in York’s 15-10 home win over Christopher Newport last Wednesday. Senior goalie Bella Garabo, meanwhile, made a whopping 18 saves on Saturday in the Spartans’ 9-6 loss to No. 4-ranked Salisbury. Garabo has won two weekly honors this season and 10 in her career.
The women’s team (also 3-6) remains ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division III ahead of Wednesday’s game at Mary Washington, its first contest all spring against a team neither ranked nor receiving votes. York College’s men, unranked for the second straight week, will look to pull off an upset at No. 9 Gettysburg.
On the baseball and softball diamonds, meanwhile, the Spartans have kept playing the hits.
Softball catcher Daphney Adams was named MACC Player of the Week (as well as the Spartan of the Week) on Monday after going 8 for 10 with a homer, two doubles, 10 RBIs, two walks and a hit-by-pitch in four York victories. That’s an .846 on-base percentage and a 1.500 slugging percentage. The Spartans improved to 16-5 (5-1 MACC) with doubleheader sweeps of Franklin & Marshall and Stevenson last week.
The baseball team is 15-4 overall and 7-2 in the conference after sweeping Stevenson on Friday and Saturday. The Spartans tallied 31 runs in the three-game set, and the offense is now hitting .354 with a .957 OPS this season. Evan Hughes was the star on the mound, striking out 12 batters and allowing just one earned run (four total) in 6.1 innings to begin Saturday’s twin bill.
York’s golf, track and tennis teams will return to action Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.
