Trojans open with 7

Mount Union's Cainen Atherton hits a home run against West Branch in a District 6-2A semifinal game May 27. Atherton stayed home with three of Mount Union's 10 hits, including a double and a home run, in Monday's 7-3 victory at Wyalusing in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A Tournament.

Mount Union opened its PIAA state championship tournament with a long trip to Wyalusing Valley Monday. The Trojans took care of business, holding the lead all the way to a 7-3 victory over the Rams.

Cainen Atherton and Brylan Knable each hit home runs for the locals. Bryce Danish had two hits, drove in one run, and picked up the win on the mound with eight strikeouts and four hits allowed over 5.1 innings.

"It's survive and move on," remarked Mount Union head coach Tim Hicks.

"We got off to a great start. I thought we prepared well for their pitcher. We put the ball in play and hit the ball hard. Once we got a lead we kept hitting and put runs up. We needed it at the end."

Mount Union (23-2) moves on to the quarterfinals Thursday. The Trojans will meet Calvary Christian Academy from Philadelphia. The Cougars were 16-1 winners over Tacony Academy.

The Trojans outhit the Rams 10-4. All seven men Mount Union left on base were in scoring position.

In the top of the second the Trojans took a 2-0 lead. After an error and a walk, Danish hit a sacrifice fly. Landon Chrisemer doubled to bring home Ryan Plank.

With one out in the third, Knable hit his sixth home run of the season. Atherton hit a two-out double but the half-inning ended with Mount Union up 3-0.

After retiring the first six hitters of the game, Danish gave up one run in the bottom of the third. He hit the first batter and two singles loaded the bases. A fielder's choice from Nick Vanderpool brought in a run for the Rams (17-7).

Wyalusing Valley added one more run after two out in the fourth. Two walks and two errors allowed the run to come home and make it a 3-2 game.

Mount Union had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth but Ryan Plank hit into an inning-ending double play.

Both teams scored one run in the sixth. Chrisemer's second RBI of the day made it 4-2, but a double and a base hit by the Rams in the last of the sixth kept it a one-run game.

The Trojan defense came through with a big play in the bottom of the sixth. Hicks brought the infield in and they were able to catch CJ Carr in a run down and stop the potential tying run from scoring.

"That was a huge play. Our defense held up really well in that situation," commented Hicks.

Mount Union built some breathing room with three runs in the seventh. Blaine Hunsinger led off with a double and Atherton connected for a two-run homer. It was his eighth of the season, tying the program record for most home runs. Brian Brown hit eight in 1979.

Another hit and an error put the Trojans up 7-3.

Atherton finished the sixth on the mound and closed the game in the seventh. He walked two in the seventh but preserved the 7-3 win.

"Braylan's home run was big and Cainen's in the last inning gave us some extra runs," said Hicks.

Danish (9-1) fanned eight in 5.1 innings, with two walks and four hits. Atherton allowed no hits and walked two.

"Bryce did a great job. He had them off balance at the beginning," stated Hicks.

Blake Morningstar, a Division I commit, was the losing pitcher, going 6.2 innings and giving up 10 hits, three walks, with seven strikeouts.

Hicks’ career record is now 117-27. He is tied with Huntingdon's Ed McDowell (117-30-1), who coached from 1952-55 and 1957-65, for seventh place on the Huntingdon County all-time coaching wins list.

This season Hicks passed Tussey Mountain's Chris Husick (105-91) and Southern Huntingdon's Gene Cornelius (113-76). Huntingdon's Bob Fultz (120-133) is next in the top 10 list.

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A clear sky. Hazy. Low 48F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

A clear sky. Hazy. Low 48F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Updated: June 6, 2023 @ 9:16 pm

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