READING, Pa. - The Blue & White traveled to Reading and handled business with a sweep of the defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) champions from Penn State Berks. The Lions got a strong outing from sophomore Clint Hicks (State College, Pa. / State College) in the opener, a 2-1 victory, before getting the bats going in their 10-2 win in the finale.
Harrisburg's is in their final stretch of the regular season and pitcher Clint Hicks came through again for the lions with a strong performance in game one. He threw six innings, holding Berks to one run before handing the reigns over to late inning specialist Tom Chaney (Lancaster, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg)
Chaney came into the game in the bottom of the 7th after Penn State Berks started the inning off with a double. He handled the pressure with class striking out his first batter looking, grounding out the next, and popping up his third for three important outs that gave them the win. Hicks got his fifth win of the season and Chaney earned his second save of the year.
Harrisburg scored both their runs in the third inning thanks to a huge single from Colton Houseal (Maytown, Pa. / Donegal) which brought in Travis Crammer (Cerritos, Cal / Cerritos) and advanced Clay Thrasher (Hummelstown, Pa. / Lower Dauphin) to third. Clay followed Crammer to home thanks to a Berks error from their right fielder.
By Game two, Harrisburg's bats were more than warmed up. Leadoff man, Crammer scored two runs, and hit a double going 2-4. Cody Henry (Halifax, Pa. / Halifax) also went 2-4, but his two doubles also helped get him three RBI's on the day. John Cataldo (Pine Grove, Pa. / Pine Grove) went 3-4, also doubling, scoring a run, and getting an RBI. Catcher Tim Gonzalez (Whittier, Cal. / St. Paul) doubled and had two RBI's helping the lions to an impressive victory in the finale.
Jim Klingerman (Telford, Pa. / Souderton) pitched the entire game to gain a team high sixth win of the year. He also struck out four, while only allowing four hits and two runs. Harrisburg has now extended their win streak to 16 games. These two wins also set a new school record for most consecutive wins in all sports at Penn State Harrisburg.
Despite being 10-0 and on this impressive streak, the Lions have not clinched anything but a playoff spot. The North Eastern Atlantic Conference will likely determine the regular season champion tomorrow afternoon when the Lions go up against Penn State Abington. Abington is currently in second place with an 8-2 conference record.