by Andrew Andreychik

The Danville Ironmen Baseball Team had a sluggish start to their game on Monday against a a struggling Milton team.  Nonetheless, the Black Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first.

“It was nice to play on a field that actually had a fence so I could depend on my power.”  Junior Designated Hitter, Jeff Ross

Milton kept that lead until Danville came up to bat in the third. Adam Creasy led off the inning with a single. Then Andrew Andreychik came up and hit a double to plate Creasy. Ryan Reichard and Jake Gronsky both got on base to bring up clean-up hitter Jeff Ross.

Ross took the first two pitches to make the count 1-1. On the third pitch, Ross belted one into deep right field to hit his first career varsity homerun and he also got himself a game high four RBI’s. “It was nice to play on a field that actually had a fence so I could depend on my power. I knew the Milton pitcher was working the outside part of the plate and I just tried to hit the ball into right field to score the runners. Luckily, the ball sailed over the fence.”

Kevin Hahn talked about Ross’ homerun and what it looked like from the dugout.

“Off the bat, it looked like a weak pop-up to center field, but it caught a wind current which in turn, helped the ball leave the ballpark.”

Joe Mertz jokingly added his thoughts on the shot heard ’round the world.

“I wasn’t impressed at all with Jeff’s hit. If I were him, I would start getting some more tee work in,” joked Mertz.  ”Also, he should probably hit the weight room. But, I’m proud of Jeff, and all that he’s accomplished thus far”  Mertz added. Milton’s field is known for its “short porch”, a baseball term referring to a smaller distance from home plate to right field.

After that hit, the momentum shifted to Danville and they scored 13 unanswered runs. In the bottom of the fourth, Milton scored a run to make the score 13-4. Coach Devin Knorr subbed some players in to give them experience, and they got the job done as they scored three runs. The ten run rule was back on and Nick Loeb shut down the Black Panthers in the fifth to seal the deal. Danville won 16-4 to improve their overall record to 7-2 and their league record to 6-1 to stay atop the Heartland Athletic Conference Division 1 ahead of Montoursville, who beat the Ironmen in their first meeting.