Lower Macungie competed in the Region 2 Legion Baseball tournament recently at Quakertown Community Park.

As Lehigh Valley League tournament champions, the Mustangs had some momentum coming into the double elimination tournament but ran into eventual tournament champion Quakertown in their opening game.

The Blue Jays, who are perennially a tough draw in the tournament, downed Lower Macungie 10-2 in the opener and the Mustangs’ run ended with a 9-1 loss to West Lawn, the team that finished third in the tournament.

Between those games were a pair of one-run wins against Boyertown and Nazareth.

Robbie Barnes had one of the hotter bats of any player in the tournament and finished with seven hits and a .583 average. The right-hander, who played for Emmaus varsity this past season, also gave Lower Mac a key shutout inning in a 3-2 win over Nazareth.

That game went to the bottom of the seventh tied 2-2.

Cole Geiger led off the inning with a single and stole a base to move into scoring position. Cole Moreau then delivered a single that moved Geiger to third for Ryan Hummell to lift a sacrifice fly to right field to win the game for the Mustangs.

“Robbie played well for us all season,” said Lower Mac head coach Jeff Smith. “He’s a good kid and puts in the work, so it wasn’t surprising to see him have success with us.”

Moreau started the game on the mound and went six innings, giving up two hits and three walks with six strikeouts. He allowed two runs, with just one of them being earned.

Hummell got the pitching assignment against Boyertown and needed just 82 pitches, 55 of which were strikes, to throw a complete game in a 2-1 win. He gave up just four hits, no walks, and struck out four batters. The only run he allowed was unearned.

Lower Macungie got on the board with a run in the fourth when Barnes and Chase Simmons both singled on the first pitch of their at-bat ahead of a third straight single from Drayce Schmidt that loaded the bases. Jack Sparango then drove in a run with a fielder’s choice ground ball for a 1-0 lead.

The winning run scored an inning later.

Aaron Fleetwood reached on an error and Barnes again jumped on a first pitch for a single that moved Fleetwood to third. Simmons then delivered a sacrifice fly to left on a 3-2 pitch to make it 2-0.

“Our guys have done things the right way all season, and that’s what they did with the varsity team this year,” said Smith. “We faced a lot of good teams, and they never quit. They stayed committed and played hard. You don’t always get that from kids in the summer because there are so many other distractions, so I’m proud of them.”

Lower Macungie finished the season with a league tournament championship, a good run in regionals, and a 15-10 overall record.