GRANTHAM, PA – The York College baseball squad captured game one of the 2025 MAC Commonwealth championship series with a 9-4 win at Messiah on Saturday afternoon in Grantham, PA.
The Spartans had a pair of four runs innings in the win while they also scored a single run in the sixth. York got seven strong innings from Evan Hughes as the sophomore starter added to his potential Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year resume with another great outing. 
York improves to 25-17 overall while the Falcons fall to 29-14. The Spartans have now won seven straight.
 
Runs: York 9 – Messiah 4
Hits: York 9 – Messiah 6
Errors: York 1 – Messiah 3
LOB: York 6 – Messiah 6
WP: Evan Hughes (7-1); LP: Christian Foltz (5-3)
 
How It Happened
• The two starters, York's Evan Hughes and Messiah's Christian Foltz, were both dominate early on as neither team could get anything going in the first three innings. After York went quietly in the top of the fourth, the Falcons got something cooking in the bottom of the inning. Isaiah Parido tripled down the right field line to open the inning. Jarrett Gordon drove him home with a sacrifice fly to center for the 1-0 Falcon lead. After a strikeout, Evan Wagaman tripled to right and then came home on a Dylan Beard single to left for the 2-0 lead. Hughes got out of the inning without and further damage.
• The Spartans responded with a big top of the fifth. Chris Nesensohn led off the frame with a walk. He moved to second on a Matthew Wade single to right center. After the Spartans failed to get a bunt down, Lucas Prendergast ripped a single through the left side to load the bases with one out. Michael Tinneny got the Spartans on the board as he was hit by a pitch. After a line out to left for the second out of the inning, Chris Betler launched a three-run triple to center to give the Green and White a 4-2 lead.
• York tacked on a run in the sixth as Nesensohn was again in the middle of the action. He reached on a tough error charged to the second baseman with one out. He then moved to third on a failed picked off attempted and scored on a sacrifice fly from Wade to give York a 5-2 advantage.
• The Falcons got to a tiring Hughes in the seventh as Luke Ott doubled down the right field line with one out. He moved to third on a wild pitch but Hughes got the second out with a pop out to second. However, Nick Moyer doubled to left to score Ott, slicing the Spartan lead to 5-3. Hughes retired a pinch hitter to prevent any further damage.
• For the second time in the game, the Spartans answered a Falcon score with a four spot of their own. In the top of the eighth, Richard Kline began the uprising with a one-out single to right. Nesensohn moved him to second with single to center. Wade singled to left to load the bases with one out. Luke Moser had a great at-bat to draw a walk to make it 6-3 York. Prendergast scored Nesensohn with a sacrifice fly to center. Michael Tinneny then had the big blow in the inning with a two-run single to right as York's lead grew to 9-3.
• The Falcons nicked the Spartan bullpen for an unearned run in the eighth but closer Ethan Kennedy got York out of the eighth without any addition damage. Kennedy then tossed a perfect ninth to close out the win.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Chris Betler: 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 3B
Matthew Wade: 2-for-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI, SF
Michael Tinneny: 1-for-4, 1 run, 3 RBI, HBP
Chris Nesensohn: 1-for-2, 3 runs, 2 BB
Lucas Prendergast: 1-for-3, 1 run, RBI, BB
 
Spartan Pitching
Evan Hughes: 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 3K, 0 BB, WP, 93 pitches
Jason Cassidy: 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 1 run, 0 ER, 3 BB, HB, 19 pitches
Ethan Kennedy: 1.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 K, 15 pitches
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 3-2 all-time against Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth tournament and 2-2 against the Falcons this season … York is now 12-8 all-time in the Commonwealth tournament … York is making their third Commonwealth championship series appearance in their fifth season as a member of the league … York enters this championship series 1-1 with a title in 2021 and a runner-up finish in the 2022 series … the Spartans are now 12-7 on the road in 2025 … York is now 10-3 against left handed starting pitchers … York is 4-1 when scoring nine runs in a game … the Spartans improve to 7-11 when their opponent scores first … York is 20-1 when leading after the sixth inning … York is 16-0 when recording more hits than their opponents … during their current seven game win streak, the Spartan pitching staff has struck out 42 and walked 17 during their 61 innings of work … Chris Betler and Matthew Wade each had multiple hits in the win … that's Betler's 12^th game with multiple hits while Wade now has seven … Michael Tinneny had his 11^th multiple RBI game of the year while Betler had his sixth multi-RBI game of the year … Tinneny extended his current reached base safely game to ten.
 
Up Next
The two teams meet tomorrow with a Commonwealth championship on the line. The Spartans need to win one game to capture the title while the Falcons must sweep York to keep the title in Grantham. The action kicks off at Houck Field at 12:00 pm on Sunday afternoon.