Benninger’s big night lifts Montrose to Class AA championship

By Conor Foley
Times-Shamrock Writer

Montrose and Hanover Area players line up along the baselines for the National Anthem. One of the athletes stands out.

Players and coaches remove their hats, place them over their hearts and look out toward the flag. But one, the Meteor wearing No. 20 and standing fourth in line from home plate, salutes the colors.

Montrose pitcher Matt Benninger is enlisted in the Marine Corps. He reports to boot camp

Oct. 12.
“Now that I’m enlisted and everything like that, I kind of have the privilege to be able to do that,” he said. “It’s something really special. It makes me extremely proud of what I’m about to become, and all the new experiences I’m going to be able to experience. It’s just going to be something awesome.”

He managed to stand out during Monday’s game, too.

Benninger tossed a complete-game shutout and drove in the only run of the Memorial Day night, helping Montrose beat Hanover Area, 1-0, in the District 2 Class AA championship at PNC Field.

It is Montrose’s first District 2 title in baseball. The Meteors will face the District 4 champion in the first round of the PIAA tournament, which begins June 1.

“This whole day, it’s not just baseball,” Benninger said. “It’s something a lot bigger than that. I’m just glad to be able to play the game I love on such an important day to me.”

Benninger’s first impact on the game actually came on the offensive side of the ball.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Hunter Traver singled to left and then stole second base, using a nifty slide to avoid the tag. Benninger lined an opposite-field single to left, and Traver raced home. It was the first run Hanover Area pitching allowed in the district tournament.

“We knew we’d have to come out strong to win this game, for sure,” Traver said. “If we didn’t come out strong, this wouldn’t be our win.”

Turns out, that would be all the run support Benninger needed.

He struck out two in the first inning, started a 1-3-6 double play in the second, and pitched a three-up, three down third inning, thanks in part to Mike Vanness’ defense in center field.

With one out, Kyle Kowalski smashed a ball to left-center that appeared destined for the gap, or at least the ground and a base hit. But Vanness got a good jump, made a full-extension dive, and hauled in the drive. The next batter, John Morgan, lifted a fly ball deep to the right-center gap. Vanness covered plenty of ground and made the catch for the final out of the inning.

“The pitcher’s working his butt off, and you just got to (make the play),” Vanness said. “The dive was the tougher play, but I mean, it had to be made.”
Benninger struck out two more in the fourth, the second ending the inning and stranding two Hanover Area runners. He would coast the rest of the way.

Using a knee-buckling breaking ball and an up-in-the-zone fastball that looked too enticing for Hanover Area hitters to pass up, Benninger retired nine of the last 11 batters he faced, and the final seven in a row — four of them on strikeouts.

He finished with nine strikeouts against three walks, and allowed only three hits.

“He’s stronger as the game goes on,” said Montrose coach Josh Winn, who is in his first year of coaching the varsity team. “He’s always been that type of kid. He’s one of the loosest players I’ve ever coached. He doesn’t get tight. He was long-boarding before we got on the bus to come here, and smiling and grinning.”

Hanover Area starter Kevin Rimmer also went the distance, allowing just the one run on six hits, striking out five and walking five.
But Benninger outdueled him.

“This is probably the most special game I could have ever possibly have been a part of,” Benninger said. “I’m just absolutely out of words. It’s just amazing. We’ve worked so hard, and just to actually be here and actually do what we just did, it’s — I don’t even have any words to speak about it.”
Benninger said he’s the first in his family to enlist in the military. His battery-mate, Ethan Stankiewicz, plans to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point.

So, the meaning of playing on Memorial Day wasn’t lost on any of Meteors.

“We were talking on the way here about the respect we needed to show this day,” Winn said. “Because this is bigger than baseball. This is an important game, and I love this game. I love being here — what a fun atmosphere. But honestly, what they’re about to do in their lives, and what these other seniors are about to do, it’s far bigger than what we’re doing here.”