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Prior to Game 2 of his team's best-of-five George B. Kelley Federation championship series against Sheetz Thursday night at Vets Field, Rodney Shultz was emphasizing the game's must-win importance to his Tyrone Legion teammates.
Then Shultz -- who was a big part of Tyrone Area High School's PIAA Class 3A state championship run this spring -- went out and led Tyrone Legion to a 9-8 victory with his bat and his arm that evened the series at one game apiece.
Shultz's bases-loaded, three-run triple highlighted a five-run fifth inning for two-time Kelley Federation defending champion Tyrone Legion, which overcame an early 6-0 deficit.
Shultz also pitched the final two innings for the save, striking out four batters.
Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. tonight at Vets Field.
"Our plan was to go ahead by winning Game 1 (Wednesday), but when that didn't work out, we didn't want them going up two games to none,'' Shultz said. "We knew that we had to even the series, and we did that today.''
Tyrone showed its mettle by getting up off the deck after Sheetz had scored six second-inning runs with the help of six hits and two Tyrone errors to take its 6-0 lead.
"I love how this team fights -- they always have that in them,'' Tyrone Legion manager Kevin Soellner said. "They believe in themselves, and they never think that they're out of a game.
"We put the ball in play all night, and we played with determination,'' Soellner added. "This is obviously the first step, and it gives the team a lot of confidence.''
Behind 6-0, Tyrone Legion chipped away with four runs in the third inning. RBI singles by Shultz and Nick Lehner produced two runs, and two others scored on Sheetz errors.
Sheetz committed six errors in the field, offsetting the efforts of its outstanding batting attack that produced 14 hits.
"We were up 6-0 and kind of cruising, then we caught a couple bad bounces on ground balls in that third inning,'' said Sheetz manager Ben Shaffer, whose team was missing three starters with Aidan Steinbugl and Erik Rhodes participating in a college baseball recruiting showcase in Virginia, and Braxton Zitsch playing on a Babe Ruth League state championship team in New Jersey.
After Sheetz scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-4 lead, Tyrone Legion put together its five-run rally in the fifth inning to complete its comeback and go on top, 9-7.
With two outs and nobody on, Sheetz starting pitcher Dalton Gochnour allowed a single by Jesse Yingling and walked Sam Crilly and Bryce Hunter in succession to load the bases.
Shultz stepped to the plate and hit a slicing line drive to deep right field just out of the reach of the outstretched glove of Jaxson Ferguson that rolled to the base of the fence for a triple as Yingling, Crilly and Hunter scored to tie the game, 7-7.
"We were within five or six inches of catching that ball, and that cleared the bases,'' Shaffer said.
Shultz -- who went 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs and two runs scored, felt good about the ball when it came off his bat.
"He threw me a fast ball, and I knew that I hit it well,'' Shultz said. "As I was heading to first, I saw it moving away from the outfielder, and then I knew that it had a good chance to get past him.''
Shultz then scored the go-ahead run on Ross Gampe's single to left field that put Tyrone Legion ahead, 8-7. Gampe went to second when the ball was misplayed, then promptly stole third and scored on a throwing error to stake Tyrone to a 9-7 lead and complete the big rally.
Soellner credited Gampe with keeping Tyrone Legion in the game by pitching five solid innings in a starting role. Gampe allowed seven runs, but only three of those were earned.
Michael Boston had three singles and Jacob Detwiler drove in two runs with a pair of singles for Sheetz.
Third baseman Lehner epitomized Tyrone Legion's grit after he sustained a nasty injury while chasing a foul popup in the third inning. Lehner made a valiant running, sliding try to catch the ball near the Tyrone dugout, but the ball hit him in the face and split open his lip.
"His tooth went through his lip, and we couldn't stop the bleeding for awhile,'' Soellner said.
Lehner left the game for a couple of innings, but returned in the fifth and played the duration.
"It was good to see the guys keep fighting tonight,'' Shultz said. "Winning this game is big motivation for us.''
TYRONE LEGION (9): B. Hunter cf 320, Shultz ss-p 524, Gampe p-ss 422, Lucas 1b 210, Lehner 3b 301, Seegar 3b 100, A.J. Coleman rf 401, M. Buck c 300, Crilly cr-2b 110, C. Hunter cr 000, Yingling lf 412, Light 2b 200. Totals - 32-9-10.
SHEETZ (8): Harbaugh cf 501, Yost lf 522, Wilson ss 422, Detwiler c 402, Winters cr 000, Boston 1b 413, Gochnour p-3b 400, Lindsey 2b 412, Shehan 3b-p 310, Ferguson rf 412. Totals - 37-8-14.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Tyrone Legion 004 050 0--9 10 4
Sheetz 060 101 0--8 14 6
E--Gampe, Lehner, Coleman, Light, Detwiler 2, Gochnour, Lindsey, Shehan, Yost. 2B--Wilson 2, Lindsey. 3B--Shultz. RBI--Shultz 4, Gampe, Lehner, Detwiler 2, Yost, Lindsey. SB--Gampe 2, Shultz 2, Lucas, Lehner, Gochnour. HBP--Gampe by Gochnour; Lucas by Gochnour; B. Hunter by Gochnaur; Lehner by Shehan. LOB--Tyrone Legion 11, Sheetz 9. DP--Sheetz turned 1 (Wilson unassisted to Boston on a ground ball by M. Buck).
PITCHING
Tyrone Legion: Gampe (W) 5IP, 11H, 7R, 3ER, 1BB, 4SO; Shultz (SV) 2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 4SO.
Sheetz: Gochnour (L) 4 2/3IP, 8H, 9R, 6ER, 4BB, 2SO; Shehan 2 1/3IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO.
WP--Gampe 2, Gochnour 2. PB--M. Buck.
Umpires: Sam Patton (plate); Mark Eberwein (first base); Bill Wolf (third base).
Time of game: 2:07.