Last year, the Shamrocks of Trinity made their first District 3 final, only to fall to a great pitching performance in the championship game. A year later, it was the same result, against fellow Diocesan school foe Lancaster Catholic, whose lefty ace Noah Zimmerman shut down the ’Rocks bats the entire game in a pitching gem that vaulted the Crusaders to the Class 3A championship at Wenger Field in Fredericksburg in the glowing twilight of May 31.
Lancaster Catholic celebrates another District 3 baseball championship in the program’s storied, successful history.Zimmerman only gave up three harmless singles in the game’s first innings and Trinity was never able to get more than two runners in scoring position the entire game. The junior southpaw does not overpower you with velocity, but his crafty breaking balls and pinpoint command painted the corners the entire night.
Offensively for the Crusaders, they were led by Reese VanScoten, who delivered the game’s big knock with a right center gap piercing triple that plated the only runs the Crusaders would need. Brandon Wingenroth, a Penn State Nittany Lion recruit, delivered an insurance RBI single to give Lancaster Catholic a cushion in the game’s late innings.
Lancaster Catholic (20-2) did have a few fielding miscues in the penultimate sixth inning, but Zimmerman slammed the door with a couple of key strikeouts to end the ’Rocks threat. Zimmerman finished with 12 strikeouts in a dominant pitching performance that brings district gold medals back to Lancaster Catholic after a several-year drought. “I am really happy with my performance today,” the winning pitcher said afterwards.
Trinity (14-10) lost their first round PIAA state playoff game and Lancaster Catholic has reached the Elite 8 of the state tournament.
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness
