After a performance strewn with home runs on Saturday night, Manheim is the new junior-midget champion of the LNP tournament.
The Lions clinched the title with an 11-1 win over Lampeter-Strasburg at Kunkle Field in Mount Joy.
The headliner of the monumental victory was Carter Kyle’s grand slam in round four. With the bases loaded, Kyle fired one over the boards to extend his team’s 7-1 lead.
“Carter is the confident leader,” Lions head coach Kevin Connelly said. “He’s like a coach in uniform there; he’s been our captain all year.
Kyle wasn’t the only Lion to contribute a long ball to the team, with Logan Geib slamming two of his own out of the park during the game.
Geib’s first shot came in the top of the third, when he sent two more runners home to put Manheim on the board with a 3-1 lead. Geib knocked out one again in the top of the sixth, scoring two more points for his team in the process.
“Yesterday I was just a bit off and…worked off the tee a bit, got the ball in place and practiced,” Geib said.
Geib said last week he wouldn’t have thought he and his teammates would proudly hold the trophy on Kunkle Field.
Connelly praised Geib’s double homer, which took his total to 11 for the season.
“He’s the best hitter on the team,” Connelly said.
The White Sox scored their only run in the first inning to open the game, but couldn’t find the pace to match the Lions’ dominating home run streak.
The win was particularly special for Connelly as it is his last season as a coach at this level, as it is his son Colin’s last year playing youth ball.
The win was seasoned with the sweet taste of a comeback after the Lions’ 4-3 loss to LS on Friday. Coach Connelly was proud that his team didn’t give up despite the adversity they faced.
“I think it’s the sixth time we’ve faced them,” he said. “We had to win one; we’ve all lost before.
No official celebration plan had been formulated, but the Lions were enjoying every minute of the trophy presentation on the pitch with huge smiles on their faces.