Bucktail Bucks Fight Hard but Fall Short in Close 8-7 Battle Against Northwest Rangers

SHICKSHINNY- Northwest entered their Mid Penn Conference cross divisional meeting with Bucktail as heavy favorites. The Rangers, at 6-3 were hoping to build on their push into the postseason. Bucktail entered at 0-9 and a loss on the road would mathematically end their postseason hopes.

The Rangers may have been looking for an easy Senior Day win, but they never heard of Bucktail’s Austin Mosher. Mosher would continue his surprising rise as a pitcher by throwing three dominating innings, in which he allowed just two runs and only one was earned. He also fanned 4 Northwest batters.

Neither team could find a run through three innings before the Bucks broke through with a single run in the top of the fourth inning. The Rangers would take a 3-1 lead following their half of the fourth, but the Bucktail bats would come to life.

The Bucks would grab a surprising 6-3 lead following a 5-run fifth inning. The Rangers would knot things up at 6-6 following a three-run inning of their own.

Neither team could break the deadlock in the sixth inning. Ethan Kalafut’s RBI single in the top of the seventh gave Bucktail a 7-6 lead and the Rangers were facing the possibility of falling to winless Bucktail.

Northwest would respond. A Jake Noss RBI single and a Bucktail error would lead to the Rangers sneaking away with an 8-7 thriller to improve to 7-3 on the season.

Bucktail slugged the ball all over Shickshinny on Wednesday night and out hit the hosts 14-12.

Keller Friese and Braylon Fantaski both had strong days at the plate. Both went 3 for 4 with Friese adding a double and an RBI. Kalafut collected 2 hits, as did Tyler Hillyer. Brett Mason, Ethan Charcalla, and Johnny Green all had singles too for the Bucks.

Bucktail, now 0-10 will continue searching for that elusive first win when they travel to St. John Neumann on Friday. The Golden Knights narrowly edged the Bucks 6-5 back on March 26.