(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since May of 1999, the Times News Sports Department has featured an On This Date practically every day, highlighting an event that happened in the past. With the coronavirus putting a halt to sports locally and nationally, the On This Dates have been expanded to the stories that actually ran in the next day’s newspaper. Today’s On This Date story is from April 15, 1988).

By Times News Staff

Lehighton baseball manager Tom Schaeffer received a pleasant surprise Friday to keep the Indians in the hunt for the first-half Centennial League honors.

Ron Steigerwalt pitched 6 2/3 innings before tiring to help key the Tribe to a 6-5 victory over host Northwestern. The victory gives Lehighton a 3-1 league record, 4-1 overall.

“That’s the longest that Ron Steigerwalt has thrown in a while,” Schaeffer said. “He had a broken collarbone last summer. He hadn’t thrown that well; this is the best he’s thrown.”

Steigerwalt struck out four and walked three while giving up four hits. He also received good defensive support from his teammates.

The best play of the game happened in the sixth when Tiger Ed Davidheiser’s ground ball went through the legs of Indian first baseman Mike Barry. Second baseman Frank Bokan, racing to his left, got the deflected ball but slipped. While on his backside, Bokan was able to get just enough on the throw to nip Davidheiser at first on a very close play.

Northwestern was burned early by mistakes, which Lehighton took full advantage of, but came back strongly with good defense and solid hitting to nearly pull out the victory.

The Indians scored two runs in each of the first three innings. With two out in the opening frame, Barry walked and Clayton Andrews tripled him home. Andrews scored on Charles Bowman’s double.

Four Tiger errors led to a pair of Tribe runs in the second. One run scored on an error and Dan Bowman doubled home the second.

The hosts pushed a run across in the bottom of the inning. Lance Miller beat out an infield single, moved to third on Davidheiser’s hit and scored when Brian Good singled through the left side.

Lehighton added its final, and decisive, runs in the third. Andrews and Charles Bowman both singled and advanced a base on a wild pitch. With the infield drawn in, Tim Frey blooped a hit to left for one RBI. The ball was misplayed in the outfield to allow the second run to score, but the relay to the plate was cutoff by pitcher Brian Wanamaker, who then fired to second and shortstop Miller tagged out Frey.

Wanamaker settled down after that and did not allow another run. The defense was perfect the rest of the way, including turning a double play.

The Tigers rallied in the seventh to make the contest close. With one out, Wanamaker walked and Jason Hlavac was hit by a pitch.

Schaeffer brought in Trevor Miller to replace Steigerwalt. Jason Mengel reached on a fielder’s choice and Joe Fatzinger singled up the middle for one RBI. Lance Miller then took Trevor Miller downtown with a blast over the left field fence for a three-run homer. But the Indian hurler retired the next batter to end the game.

“We were down one too many,” said Tiger manager Len Smith. “You can’t play four innings, you’ve got to play seven. That hurt us, but the kids did bounce back. Hopefully, that’s a step in the right direction.”

Though Northwestern dropped its third straight game to fall to 2-3 in the league, the Tigers have been in all three and could have won them.

“Once these kids believe in themselves that they can play baseball, I firmly believe there isn’t any one team that we can’t play or that we can’t beat,” Smith said. “But we’ve got to come not only physically ready to play, but mentally ready to play.”

Lehighton 222 000 0 - 6 9 2

Northwestern 010 000 4 - 5 6 5

Steigerwalt, Miller (7) and Niehoff; Wanamaker and Good. W - Steigerwalt. L - Wanamaker. HR: Northwestern - L. Miller (7th, two on).