Danville rallies past Milton to district final

May 21—ALMEDIA — Corey Burkholder leaned against a fence in the visitor's dugout at Engle Memorial Field and nodded along as a bystander explained how Milton's incredible recent success worked against his team Tuesday.

The Black Panthers, who turned around their season by winning eight of their previous 10 games, held a lead over top-seeded Danville into sixth inning of their District 4 Class 4A semifinal game.

Perhaps if they had just meandered into the postseason instead of barreling in like a runaway freight train, the pressure of that late-game advantage would have overwhelmed the Ironmen.

"I think a month ago we might have said we could come in here and easily beat 'em," said Danville junior Matt Acor. "Now, it's like, we knew they were hot and we didn't want to take them lightly."

The Ironmen got four innings of one-hit, scoreless relief from Wyatt Shultz, biding their time until they were able to break through against Milton ace Luke Goodwin with a four-run sixth to win, 8-5, at Central Columbia H.S.

"Anyone that would underestimate that Milton baseball team hasn't watched a lot of baseball in the area," said Danville coach Devin Knorr. "They're just a hot-hitting team, and when they have a premier athlete on the mound, they believe that they can win every game — and they've been winning those games. We knew we were going face a strong opponent. They didn't quit when we got an early lead on them, so we had to come from behind again."

The Black Panthers answered a four-run Danville rally in the second inning with four runs of their own in the third. Goodwin was terrific with a 5-4 lead, throwing three scoreless frames until the Ironmen fanned the ember of an infield single into an inferno with three consecutive run-scoring hits in the sixth.

"Being in the dugout, everyone is so focused and everyone is more hype than ever," said Shultz. "We're cheering on our teammates, and as soon as that run comes by and we tie the game we're even more excited."

Danville (16-4) earned its first district final berth since 2022 — a 15-0, three-inning loss to Montoursville. The Ironmen face the second-seeded Warriors (14-4) for the Class 4A title Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Williamsport's Bowman Field.

Montoursville beat third-seeded Mifflinburg 6-0 in Tuesday's other semifinal, handing the Heartland Athletic Conference-Division II crown to Danville, which at 8-2 edged the Wildcats (7-3) in the division race.

"When these kids were freshmen and a couple of them had a chance to play in 2022, we weren't quite ready for that big stage," said Knorr. "They got a peek, and some of our other guys were there to watch that game. Now, a couple years later, they've grown as people and as baseball players, and we've worked to get to this point. We knew this day could come. Their moment's arrived, and I don't think the moment will big too big for them."

Milton (11-11) broke the ice Tuesday after loading the bases with no outs in the second inning. The Black Panthers settled for Dominic Lytle's sacrifice fly, stranding four runners (three in scoring position) over the first two innings.

Danville answered with a four-run spree in the home second, sparked by Jack Gibson's leadoff single and a Lincoln Diehl RBI double. Eli Welliver tomahawked a one-out RBI to left field, and Acor delivered a two-run single to center with two outs for a 4-1 lead.

"We never get down when we're behind," said Acor, who is batting .397 in the two-hole. "We always battle back."

Milton did the same, parlaying a pair of one-out walks into four runs with the help of RBI hits from Avery Reiff (2-for-3) and Landon Tillson (2-for-3). An errant pickoff throw allowed a run to score ahead of Monty Fisher's sacrifice fly that made it 5-4 in the third.

An energized Goodwin retired eight of 11 Ironmen, pitching around fourth- and fifth-inning walks. He ended the third and fifth innings with emphatic swing-and-miss strikeouts to keep the Black Panthers in front.

The home sixth began innocently enough, with Diehl beating the throw on a slow roller to the right side. Garrett Hoffman then bunted to the right side, but no defender covered the bag in time to record an out.

Milton got a big out when Goodwin lunged off the mound to snare a flared bunt. However, Carter Raup and Cole Duffy shot consecutive run-scoring singles to the outfield for a 6-5 lead.

"You get a baserunner to start it, and that's such a huge thing. Then we executed with a bunt, and we've worked on that so hard in practice," said Knorr. "We've explained to the kids that these are going be the big moments in these playoff games, these pressure situations, and we were able to execute. Then we were able to come through and get the clutch hits."

Acor followed by chopping a ball through the middle of the infield for his second two-run hit of the game, capping a four-run rally for the second time.

"I didn't want to do too much. Stay loose, just nice and easy, and my coaches always say, 'Line drive does the trick,'" he said. "To deliver, you know, it feels good to be able to do that for the team."

The outburst made a winner of Shultz, who sat down the last 10 Milton batters and needed just 47 pitches to book four innings.

"I pitched against the team before, so I knew about them and what they were going to swing at," the junior right-hander said. "All I had to do was shut them down and my team will pick me up and score some runs."

The Black Panthers won 11 games for the first time since 2012, shrugging off a 3-8 start and losing to only Class 6A Williamsport and Class 5A Selinsgrove during a 10-game span in May."

"Leadership. Not just senior leadership, but leadership from the whole program," explained Burkholder, their second-year coach. "The accountability of the kids; the kids enjoyed coming to work every day. The previous coach, Chip Rearick, was around almost daily, providing support and encouragement. That leadership and devotion from the whole program was key."

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DISTRICT 4 CLASS 4A BASEBALL

SEMIFINAL

At Don Engle Memorial Field

Central Columbia H.S.

NO. 1 DANVILLE 8, NO. 5 MILTON 5

Milton;014;000;0 — 5-8-1

Danville;040;004;x — 8-8-2

Luke Goodwin and Landon Tillson. Garrett Hoffman, Wyatt Shultz (4) and Jack Gibson.

WP: Shultz. LP: Goodwin.

Milton: Dominic Lytle RBI; Ethan Rhodes 1-for-4; Logan Shrawder 1-for-4; Goodwin 1-for-3, double, run; Brayden Gower run; Avery Reiff 2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI; Tillson 2-for-3, run, RBI; Monty Fisher RBI; Peyton Rearick 1-for-3.

Danville: Cole Duffy 1-for-3, run, RBI; Matt Acor 2-for-3, 4 RBIs; Gibson 1-for-3; Casey Mills run; Lincoln Diehl 2-for-3, double, RBI; Landon Rogers run; Hoffman run; Eli Welliver 1-for-2, run, RBI; Carter Raup 1-for-2, 2 runs, RBI.