Ace pitcher, grand slam homer help Northern Lebanon blank Warwick in L-L League baseball quarterfinal

May 7-FREDERICKSBURG - Adrian Gonzalez tossed a gem.

Tyler Hornberger supplied the power.

And Northern Lebanon's baseball team kept its magical season humming right along in dominating fashion.

Gonzalez, a hard-throwing senior right-hander, allowed just two hits and struck out 11 in six spectacular innings. Hornberger gave the host Vikings an early four-run lead with a grand slam. And Northern Lebanon, the Section 4 champ, blanked Section 2 co-champ Warwick 10-0 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinal on Thursday.

The Vikings (20-0) will take on Section 1 champ Manheim Township - a 2-0 winner over Manheim Central - in semifinal on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

Northern Lebanon is seeking its first league title since 1986.

Gonzalez was practically unhittable on Thursday. The Penn State Harrisburg recruit allowed back-to-back one-out singles in the top of the third - one by Derek Mumma, the second by Seth Metzler - but he worked out of that jam with a punch out and a grounder to second.

Warwick (9-10-1) hit just two fly balls. Gonzalez, throwing every pitch in his arsenal with conviction, didn't walk anybody. He struck out the side in the fifth.

"I felt confident with every pitch I threw," said Gonzalez, who improved to 8-0 this season. "I know I'm locked in when I can throw a changeup out of my slide step. I really hadn't been able to do that all year. I usually spike it, and then I don't throw it."

Everything Gonzalez threw Thursday - changeup, breaking ball and two-seam fastball - was on the money.

"I was locked in," he said.

You always remember your first varsity hit. Hornberger, a baby-faced freshman, will never forget his second. Batting ninth and handling the designated hitter duties, he laced a grand slam down the left-field line with one away in the bottom of the second.

Connor Stoltz reached on a bunt single, Christian Anspach walked and Blake Burdick singled to juice the bases. Hornberger, who got his first varsity hit on May 1 in an 11-1 win over Cedar Crest, un-loaded them with one mighty hack.

"Means a lot," he said. "My second varsity hit ever was a grand slam, so yeah, it's a big moment for me. I feel like I did pretty good with the moment. It felt like a normal at-bat. I just wanted to hit the ball hard, and hopefully something good happened."

Four runs happened. And the Vikings never looked back.

"To get four runs with one swing, it was a big lift off of our shoulders," Gonzalez said. "Then we were able to just breathe and go out and play."

Northern Lebanon added a fifth run in the second inning when leadoff man Andrew Via doubled, and scored on Landon Copenhaver's groundout.

The Vikings tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Kaden Beamesderfer lined an RBI single to left, plating Owen Fahringer, who opened the frame with a single.

Later, courtesy runner Kole Lesher stole home, when the Vikings purposely got in a run-down on the bases. And Beamesderfer scored on a wild pitch for an 8-0 lead.

Fahringer's RBI groundout scored Via, who reached on an error, for a 9-0 cushion in the bottom of the fifth. And Northern Lebanon forced the 10-run rule - making it a walk-off win - when Blake Burdick belted a single to left with two outs in the sixth, bringing home Stoltz to end it.

Northern Lebanon had 12 hits, eight off Warwick starter Joe Diffenderfer. He went the first four innings for the Warriors, who will wait and see if they make the District 3 Class 5A playoff bracket.

Northern Lebanon is at No. 1 in the Class 4A power ratings.

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