As the Player of the Game, Bella Mackison took possession of The Belt. A boxing champion-style bauble, it was a fitting honor on this day as she belted a pair of home runs, pacing Donegal to an 11-5 victory over Manheim Central on Monday afternoon in Mount Joy.
Mackison lifted a three-run shot to dead center in the first inning and, after walking in the second inning, drilled a line-drive solo shot, clearing the fence in left in the fourth.
“The second one, I didn’t think was going over,” said Mackison. “I just had to battle through the strike zone.”
She nearly had a third, driving Baron right fielder Brynn Lehman to the fence on a fly ball that moved Cara Biesecker and Ruth Myers into scoring position in the fifth inning.
“I felt good for her,” Tribe coach Wayne Emenheiser said. “She just missed one Saturday (in a 5-4 loss to Lower Dauphin), with two on in the top of the seventh. She’s really gotten good at taking what they’re giving her.”
Monday was the second of three meetings on the season for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three’s top teams. Donegal (9-0 league, 12-2 overall) won the first 13-1, but that was no indicator for Monday, at least as far as the Barons (7-2, 7-5) were concerned.
“It was a totally different ballgame than the last time we played them,” head coach Janelle Heying said. “Our girls showed up today.”
And they brought their bats.
Held to four hits by Biesecker in five innings of work three weeks ago, Manheim had exceeded that total 10 batters into Monday’s start.
Mickey Lauver (3-for-4, RBI, three runs) singled to start the game, advancing to third on a pair of infield outs before scoring on Riley Hostetter’s single to right.
Donegal struck back on Mackison’s three-run blast in the bottom of the inning.
With two out and Paige Garner on second in the second inning, Lauver singled her in, then scored from first on Ava Kenneff’s double to center. Kayleigh Detz (2-for-4, two RBIs) delivered Kenneff with a hit to center to cap the rally.
The Barons’ 4-3 lead was short-lived as Esther Myers (2-for-3, two runs) singled in Kara Heidlauf in the third, scoring behind Allie Beamesderfer on Biesecker’s two-run single.
Like two stags locked together in a to-the-death battle, Manheim answered back, drawing to 6-5 on Detz’s second RBI of the afternoon.
Mackison’s second round-tripper opened the Tribe fourth and Emma Garber followed with a double. With two outs, Grace Graham ripped an RBI double off the fence in left, scoring Madison Coble, pinch running for Garber.
A walk, an error on a sacrifice, Mackison’s deep fly out, a wild pitch and Garber’s RBI groundout plated the final three runs for Donegal, putting the Tribe back in the win column after a tough, nonleague loss to Lower Dauphin on Saturday.
The Falcons, currently ranked 20th in District Three 5A, appear to have shed the slow start attributed to offseason turmoil that enveloped the program. They’ve won three of their last five, losing by a run to 5A No. 2-ranked Mechanicsburg, which had 10-runned LD earlier in the year.
“We needed a game like that,” Emenheiser said. “We needed a game like this. It’s pretty much the way we have to play.
“We don’t have a dominant pitcher in the circle,” he said. “She (Biesecker) does a great job keeping people off balance. We do ... Click here to read full article
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