YORK — In their first game of the Cornerstone Classic, the York Cornerstone Junior Blue matched up with Schuyler.
York’s Bret Gardner led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple and came home on a wild pitch. Runs scoring on wild pitches soon became a trend, as York scored its first five runs in that manner due to control problems from Schuyler’s starter Kyle Emanuel.
Emanuel made another errant throw to bring home Gardner again in the fourth inning as he attempted a pick-off at second base that wound up in center field. With Gardner’s second run of the game, the Schuyler hurler had thrown six runs in York’s direction and given the Blue a 6-1 lead.
York got its only two RBI on the day when center fielder Brady Mills smacked a double down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth to bring in Matt Hansen and Brady Miller.
York only managed two hits in the game, but with aggressive baserunning and patience at the plate they were able to put runs eight runs on the board.
Drew Danielson was on top of his game on the mound, shutting down Schuyler hitters all day long. The York starter only allowed one hit in the game, an infield single.
“Drew threw really well,” head coach Matt Kern said. “He had them off balance and didn’t walk many guys.”
Going the distance for York, Danielson held the opponent to just one unearned run, striking out seven Schuyler batters along the way while only walking four.
“My fastball was working well and I was throwing first pitch strikes,” Danielson said. “The defense was excellent and Matt (Hansen) did a great job behind the plate.”
The York defense was solid behind Danielson, only committing two errors on the afternoon to help lead York to its 8-1 victory.
“Our defense was excellent,” Kern said. “I’ll take just two errors in a game all day.”
York was scheduled to play David City Sunday, with the winner of that game advancing to the championship game. Mother Nature reared her ugly head once again and washed away the remainder of the Cornerstone Classic.
The Cornerstone Blue will be in action at Levitt Stadium again Tuesday night at 5:30 when they take on Valparaiso.