The Thunder came up one win short again.
For the second consecutive summer, they had to watch as the opponent celebrated the MLB Draft League championship.
This time it was a 5-4 loss to Williamsport in which the Thunder stranded the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first in the ninth inning on Thursday night at Journey Bank Ballpark in Williamsport.
Trailing 5-3 entering the ninth, Jack O’Reilly led off with a double and then scored on an RBI single by Hunter Dorraugh with one out. Chase Engelhard then hit what looked like it was going to be a game-ending doubleplay ball to second, but the throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag.
Santino Ross then reached on a fielder’s choice when a throwing error was charged to the shortstop trying to get the force at second. With the tying and go-ahed runs on base, right-hander Parker Kruglewicz froze Joaquin Monque with a pitch on the outside corner for strike three.
The Thunder took a 3-1 lead in the third inning when Andy Blake, who played at Hopewell Valley and did a prep year at Hun before moving on to Columbia where he was Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior in 2023, cleared the bases with a three-run double.
The Crosscutters wrestled the lead back in the fourth against Thunder starter Jackson Balzan with three runs. Porter Brown hit a two-run homer to tie it at 3-all and Jacob Corson singled home a run for a 4-3 lead.
Williamsport added an insurance run in the sixth on a wild pitch, which proved vital when the Thunder scratched one across in the ninth.
The championship was the first in 21 years at any level for Williamsport.
The Thunder won the inaugural Draft League title, although that season didn’t have a championship game. Trenton advanced to and hosted the final last summer as the first-half champions.
This time the Thunder reached to one-off decider as second-half champion after they went 23-18 and got in ahead of West Virginia on a tiebreaker after both lost on Wednesday night on the final day of the regular season.
Williamsport finished last in the second half but hosted the game because it was the first-half champion.
