North Penn Knights
The Knights’ bats came alive immediately, with Kevin Brace opening the game with a double that sparked a six-hit inning
North Penn baseball shook off a rocky start and flexed its offensive depth to cruise to an 8-2 win over Ephrata in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament, advancing to Thursday’s PIAA quarterfinals, where the District 1 champs will face District 2 winner Hazleton at DeSales University.
Senior pitcher Trevor Lugara gave up two early runs on three straight hits in the top of the first, but the Knights wasted no time responding, scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take control, according to The Reporter. From there, North Penn never looked back, combining strong hitting with a lockdown pitching performance from Lugara.
The Knights’ bats came alive immediately, with Kevin Brace opening the game with a double that sparked a six-hit inning.
Christian Barnes delivered a crucial two-run triple to give North Penn a 3-2 lead, while Ben Grattan followed with an RBI single to make it 4-2, per the report.
Barnes was a standout at the plate, finishing a home run short of the cycle. North Penn's offense featured contributions throughout the order. Logan Waynick was 3-for-4 with three singles and a run, while Chase Jones drove in two runs with a pair of hits, according to the article.
On the mound, Lugara recovered quickly from the two-run first inning to deliver a complete-game gem. He allowed just five hits and did all his damage with fastballs, relying on placement and timing disruption to keep the Mountaineers off balance for the rest of the contest, according to The Reporter.
