RECAP >> It was a tough home-opener on Senior Day for Emmaus on Friday afternoon at Church Lane Park against visiting Cedar Cliff from District Three.
Facing a team that had reached the PIAA Class 6A state semifinals a year ago, the Hornets were held to just two hits, and defensively, four errors proved costly in the field as Emmaus suffered its first loss of the season, 9-2.
Cedar Cliff, the defending District Three champs playing in their first game of the season, jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it as they scored runs in all but two innings, pounding out 10 hits against three Hornet pitchers.
Sophomore second baseman Owen Anastasi, the team’s No. 9 hitter, led the offense going 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and three RBI. Starting pitcher senior Cayden Bender had two hits and two RBI to help his own cause, while senior third baseman Carter Enders also had a pair of hits.
Bender picked up the win on the mound striking out six in just two innings of work. On the afternoon, three Cedar Cliff pitchers combined on 11 strikeouts.
For Emmaus (2-1), senior shortstop Emmit Budick went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in the third. The Hornets only other hit came from senior third baseman Cohen Schadler.
On the mound, sophomore Robbie Barnes made his first career varsity start. Barnes suffered the loss after giving up four runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings, but he did strike out seven in the game. Another sophomore, Jaden Betz also saw his first varsity action of the young season as did junior Zach Heller, both going 1 2/3 innings of work.
Eleven (11) Emmaus players were honored on Senior Day: Michael Kernechel, Wiley Fleck, Colin Wilson, Noah Hogan, Emmit Budick, Cohen Schadler, Dayne Schmidt, Chad Kauffman, Shane Ohl, Josiah Williams and Daniel Rohlsen.
The Hornets will return to league play on Monday as they host Allen at 4 p.m. at Church Lane Park. They’ll also host East Stroudsburg North on Wednesday at the same time before closing out the week with a non-league game on Saturday at Noon at Twin Valley.
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Cedar Cliff 9, Emmaus 2
CC – 210 132 0 – 9-10-1
Em – 101 000 0 – 2-2-4
CC – Cayden Bender (2 IP, 1R, 6K, 4BB), Peyton Price (3 IP, 1R, 2K ), Luke Sowers (2 IP, 1H, 3K, 2BB) and B. Secrest; Em – Barnes (3 2/3, 6H, 4R, 7K, 2BB), Jaden Betz (1 2/3 IP, 4H, 5R, 3K, 1BB), Zach Heller (1 2/3 IP, 1K, 1BB) and Bryan Kain, Dayne Schmidt. HR – CC: Anastasi (solo 2nd), Em: Budick (solo 3rd)
WP – Bender (1-0), LP – Barnes (0-1)
