Juniata Comes Up Short In Back and Forth Battle With Pitt. - Bradford

BRADFORD, Pa. The Juniata baseball team fought hard Tuesday afternoon, rallying to overcome an early deficit, but eventually fell against the Pitt. – Bradford panthers. Despite the loss, the Eagles showed in their last game of the season that the future could be bright.

The Eagles put themselves in a hole early, committing two costly errors in the opening frame, but were able to bounce back in the top of the third inning. The Eagles scored five runs on five hits and took the lead by a score of 5-2. Even when they lost the lead in the bottom of third, they continued to fight. Down 13-5, the team kept their comeback bid alive when they scored five more in their half of the seventh inning.

In the end, the Panthers proved to be too much for the Eagles, but there were several positives to take away from the tight showdown with the Panthers. Not only did Juniata score 10 runs but those runs came on 12 hits as well. Beyond that, several Eagles helped demonstrate the potential of the Juniata offense.

The future looks promising for an Eagles team that got five hits from the underclassmen on the team. Freshmen Joe Klusman (Wilmington, De./St. Elizabeth High School) and Sheridan Doan (Timonium, Md./Dulaney High School) combined for three hits, two runs batted in, and three walks. Sophomore Cody Krepps (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) added to the youth movement with two hits of his own, a walk, and a run batted in. On the year, another freshman, Kyle Pannebaker (Thompsontown, Pa./East Juniata) proved to be one of the team's biggest rising stars. Pannebaker hit .321, with two homeruns, and 11 runs batted in.

The impending success of the team's underclassmen was not the only bright spot in 2012-13 for the Eagles, however. Senior Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) was one of Juniata's most prominent performers, yet again, hitting at a .323 clip, driving in 19 runs, scoring 22 runs, and stealing eight bases. Junior Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland) also turned in a great year for Juniata, (Johnstown, Pa./Richland), hitting .303 while driving in 21 runs and stealing three bases. Gray's fellow junior Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) proved to be a source of power for the Eagles hitting two homeruns while driving in 26 runs and hitting at a .320 average.

The Eagles will look to build on their strong, young foundation and mix that with their veteran presence to come back better next season.