Schuylkill Haven's Johnny Fessler prepares to swing in a Schuylkill League Division II baseball game Thursday against Williams Valley at Scott Buffington Field. The Hurricanes defeated the Vikings 12-3. Also pictured is Williams Valley's catcher Fletcher Thompson and umpire Kris Dean (Photo by Eli Doyle).

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Schuylkill Haven’s bats came alive late.

The Hurricanes’ rally began in the bottom of the fourth inning and continued from there as Schuylkill Haven rolled past Williams Valley 12-3 in a Schuylkill League Division II baseball game Thursday at Scott Buffington Field.

“We scored more than they did,” Hurricanes’ coach Scott Buffington said. “We scored a bunch in the fourth inning after not even sniffing a guy for the first three innings, which is hard to explain because they’re high school kids. It’s hard to explain a lot of things that they do, or don’t do. Why we started in the fourth, I know coach (Dennis) Siket talked to them, but it’s just part of the game.

“There’s 21 outs you have to get. We used them all.”

Trailing the Vikings (3-3, 2-2 D-II) 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman Chase Yoder singled and senior Hunter Correll followed with a double as Schuylkill Haven (6-2, 4-0) got runners in scoring position early in the inning. Michael Terefencko walked to load the bases for Johnny Fessler. Fessler, a senior, pushed across Yoder on a fielder’s choice to get the Hurricanes on the board.

One batter later, Chase Maley roped a line drive into center field that scored Correll and tied the game 2-2, while also advancing Fessler all the way from first to third. Landon Trostle worked a four-pitch walk and Brayden Fasnacht capitalized with a two-run double to put Haven ahead 4-2.

And it was still only beginning for the Hurricanes’ offense.

Trostle scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Talan Spittler, after Alan Evans was hit by a pitch. Fasnacht scored on a balk before Yoder added the seventh run of the inning for Schuylkill Haven on a triple that plated Evans easily.

Williams Valley escaped, but the damage was done as the Vikings’ bats couldn’t match the Hurricanes.

Schuylkill Haven outscored Williams Valley 5-1 over the final 2.5 innings of the game as the Hurricanes remained undefeated in Schuylkill League action. Schuylkill Haven took advantage of two errors by Williams Valley in the bottom of the fifth inning and tacked on two more runs. In bottom of the sixth, Fessler added an RBI single and Terefencko recorded a sacrifice fly.

“Hitting is contagious, people know that,” Buffington said. “Not hitting is also contagious. And when somebody starts it rolling, well then people just seem to say, now it’s your turn, now it’s your turn, now it’s your turn. And that is how you score lots of runs in one inning. And if we’re good enough, or opportunistic enough to add on, then it makes it a whole lot easier on your pitching and the defense.”

Evans, a sophomore, threw a complete game for the Hurricanes. He settled in after a rocky start that saw the Vikings go ahead 2-0 in the first inning. Evans allowed three runs, all earned, on five hits, and fanned seven over seven innings. He threw 99 total pitches.

For Williams Valley, Brady Shomper, Fletcher Thompson and Mason Bowser each tallied an RBI. Shomper, along with Cody Boehmer, had a double for the Vikings. Chase Deibert started on the hill for Williams Valley, pitching 3.1 innings and striking out five.

“(Evans) struggled with control, he struggled with his breaking ball, but he a battler,” Buffington said. “Everybody knows that. And he went out and just worked through it, and settled in. And once we got ahead, he got a little tougher, which again is part of the game. A complete game in high school is something that you don’t see too often. That was his last batter, he was out of pitches. We’ll take that and move on.

“That is a much better Williams Valley team,” Buffington added. “They have a bunch of athletes on there. Even though the score was not indicative, they have a very talented team and they’ll be in the hunt.”

Game Summary
Schuylkill Haven 12, Williams Valley 3
At Scott Buffington Field

WILLIAMS VALLEY (3) — Boehmer cf 2 1 1 0, Martin rf 0 0 0 0, Rautzahn dh 2 0 0 0, Thompson c 3 2 2 1, Shomper ss 2 0 2 1, Deibert p 2 0 0 0, Bowser p 1 0 0 1, Co. Berger p 0 0 0 0, Ca. Berger 3b 3 0 0 0, Achenbach lf 3 0 0 0, Trawitz 1b 3 0 0 0, Adams 2b 3 0 0 0. Totals 21 3 5 3.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (12) — Evans p 3 1 0 0, Diehl cr 0 0 0 0, Spittler ss 3 1 1 1, Krouse lf 0 0 0 0, Yoder dh 4 2 3 1, Correll 3b 3 1 1 0, Terefencko rf 2 0 0 1, Fessler cf 3 2 1 2, Maley 2b 4 2 2 1, Trostle 1b 2 1 0 0, Malinoski ph 0 0 0 0, Fasnacht c 3 2 2 2.  Totals 27 12 10 8.

WV (3-3, 2-2) — 200 001 0 — 3

SH (6-2, 4-0) — 000 723 x — 12

E — Williams Valley 4, Schuylkill Haven 0

LOB — Williams Valley 4, Schuylkill Haven 8

2B — Boehmer, Shomper, Fasnacht, Correll, Spittler

3B — Yoder

SB — Deibert, Shomper, Thompson, Fessler 3, Evans, Fasnacht, Maley, Yoder

CS — Boehmer, Diehl

SF — Terefencko, Spittler

Williams Valley
Deibert (0-1) 3.1, 4, 6, 6, 4, 5
Bowser 1.2, 2, 3, 1, 0, 0
Co. Berger 1, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1

Schuylkill Haven
Evans (3-0) 7, 5, 3, 3, 2, 7

HBP — By Bowser (Evans), By Bowser (Correll). WP — Deibert, Bowser, Evans. BK — Bowser 2. T — 1:56