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Lacey Township Falls Late to Brick Memorial

Lions allow four runs in the sixth inning in loss to Mustangs.

After battling back from a tough first inning, Lacey Township pitcher Ryan Hanula appeared to be at the peak of his game, Thursday afternoon.

After allowing the first four Brick Memorial batters to reach base- resulting in three runs- Hanula had not allowed another run in the next four innings, as the Lions were able to storm back to tie the game at three.

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Hanula would record just one out and allow four more runs that the Mustangs were able to take back the lead, eventually taking the game 7-3 at Brick American Baseball League.

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"We got good pitching today again, it's not like we got bad pitching," Lions head coach John Mahar said, "He [Hanula] wasn't as sharp in the first inning as he was in the rest of the game but the mistakes we made in the last inning hurt us."

Lacey Township took the lead in the top of the first inning, scoring a run without notching a hit. After Ryan Reitmeyer lead the game off with a walk, Anthony Marotta would be hit by a pitch, reaching base as well. 

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Reitmeyer would score two batters later, after being advanced to third base, on a throwing error from Brick Memorial's catcher Ryan Shaughnessey as Patrick Jensen attempted to steal second base.

The Lions, trailing 3-1, would climb back into it, due in large part to the play of Kevin Hanula. The senior first basemen sparked some life in the Lions when he belted a one-out home run to left field, drawing Lacey Township within a run at 3-2.

Later, in the fourth inning, Hanula would come up clutch, driving in courtesy runner Tyler Dickson with two outs on a single to centerfield.

The Lions would surrender the lead when Hanula would be called for a balk in the bottom of the sixth. 

Brian Emerson would come on in relief of Hanula, and allow just one hit. He allowed two runs to score, but they were charged to Hanula as he left the game with the bases loaded and one out.

"We didn't get the hitting that we've had the last couple days," Mahar said, "We made some mistakes out in the field that came back to hurt us big time."

Hanula ended up pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and struck out two batters.

The Lions had base runners in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Dickson in the sixth and Eric Reitmeyer in the seventh, both were stranded on first base.

The loss snapped Lacey Township's five game win streak.

Despite the loss, Mahar wasn't discouraged by the team's effort.

"We've been doing that the last seven games," he said, "Since we came out a little slow, we've been playing really good baseball."

The Lions will be back on the field today, taking on Middletown South at 3:45 p.m.

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