With the win, Youngsville is above .500 for the first time this season, now sitting at 5-4 with another big region game against Eisenhower looming on Wednesday.

“We had another decent day at the plate. We put the ball in play and forced Seneca to make the plays,” said Youngsville coach Eddie Dorunda. “There were plenty of positives to take away from the offensive side. We need to clean things up defensively and help out our pitcher a little more. We’re still moving in the right direction, but we can’t be satisfied. Back to work tomorrow to get ready for a big region game with Ike on Wednesday.”

Things started about as well as they possibly could for the Eagles on Monday. Starting pitcher David Manning retired the side in order in the first and Youngsville’s first four batters of the bottom of the inning would ultimately score.

James Johnson reached on an error to start the threat and Cole Johnson singled to put two on with nobody out. A few pitches later, Manning laced a two-run single that started the scoring. Manning would soon score on a perfectly executed RBI bunt single from Josh Pikna and Talon Mesel scored on a steal of home when the Seneca catcher was called for blocking the plate.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Elfstrom Youngsville pitcher David Manning winds up during the Eagles’ 11-7 region victory over Seneca on Monday at Davis Street Field in Youngsville.

The lead only extended from there. James Johnson led off the second with a single, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball before Cole Johnson’s RBI groundout that made it 5-0. An inning later, Bryce Spinks led off with a single and moved to third on a steal and a sacrifice bunt from Dylan DePasquale. Logan King then followed with his first career varsity hit — an RBI single that scored Spinks and made it 6-0 through three innings.

The visiting Bobcats got one run back in the top of the fourth, scoring on one of Youngsville’s seven errors on the day to cut the lead to five. Further damage was avoided when left fielder Spinks made a strong throw from left on a single that kept a Seneca runner at third base.

After giving up a run, the Eagles plated two of their own in the fourth. Manning walked and stole second ahead of Talon Mesel’s RBI single and Mesel scored on a passed ball to push the lead back to seven at 8-1.

Seneca plated two runs in the fifth with some two-out handiwork. Manning got the first two batters of the inning via strikeout before issuing a pair of walks. Bobcats senior Kendall Yosten made him pay for the free passes with a two-run double that made it 8-3.

Once again, Youngsville got the runs back, plus another in the fifth with a three-run inning that made it 11-3.

James Johnson singled and eventually scored on Cole Johnson’s RBI sacrifice bunt. A Manning double brought home Cole Johnson and Manning scored when a ball hit by Braydon Baker went off the first base bag for an RBI hit.

The 11-3 score held up until the seventh when things got a little more interesting than Dorunda would’ve liked. A one-out single from Greg Rupp preceded an RBI triple from Michael Peterson that cut the lead to 11-4. Another Eagles error would make it 11-5 and Manning was removed from the game after hitting his 100-pitch limit for the day.

Cole Johnson came into pitch and got the second out of the inning before a walk and another RBI single that eventually made it 11-7 with one big out left to get.

Cole Johnson swapped places with catcher James Johnson and the new pitcher went to work on getting the final out. On a passed ball, the Seneca runner on third broke for home, eventually getting caught in a rundown between third baseman Spinks and the Eagles pitcher James Johnson. Johnson applied the tag for the final out to cement Youngsville’s fifth win.

Manning, Mesel, Baker and Pikna all had two-hit days for the Eagles. Manning got the win on the mound, going six and one-third innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits with 11 strikeouts. James Johnson got the save.

Dorunda also praised the effort of James Johnson behind the plate saying, “he’s been outstanding behind the plate all season long. He has helped eliminate the run game and takes pride in blocking balls in the dirt and he continues to call a great game.”

KNIGHTS FALL AT

UNION CITY

UNION CITY — Union City used an 11-run second inning to build a big lead en route to a 17-2 baseball victory over Eisenhower on Monday.

Caleb Jakubczak drove in a run and Wyatt Neal had the only base hit for the Knights. Jakubczak, who surrendered four hits and three runs, and Jarius Casey shared the pitching duties for the Knights, who travel to Corry today. First pitch is 4 p.m.