Nobody could have predicted the game that Salisbury and Hatfield-Towamencin played in their first round game of the Region 2 playoffs for Legion baseball.

When all was said and done, the teams scored 42 runs on 38 hits and 13 errors as Hatfield downed Salisbury 26-16, sending the Falcons to the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

“That was probably the longest game I’ve experienced in my life,” said Falcon head coach Scott Heppenheimer. “We were down 12-3 and I thought ‘okay, this is going to be a rough one,’ and then we tied it and it looked good, then we couldn’t shut them down. The thing is, we kept battling and coming back, which was great.”

The three-and-a-half-hour game had every twist and turn you could imagine. Neither team played well defensively and at times it looked like they were trying to give the game to their opponents.

After falling behind 12-3, Salisbury put up the biggest offensive inning of the game when it put nine runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game.

Just as Heppenheimer thought it was a new day and that his team’s momentum was going to turn the tide, Hatfield came up with five runs in the top of the fifth to send Salisbury’s roller coaster ride back downhill.

Knowing that the tournament was double-elimination, Heppenheimer looked to minimize his losses and not tire out too many pitchers for the next day.

“I really only burned two pitchers [Andrew Sukanick and Lucas Irwin],” said Heppenheimer about Saturday’s marathon. “I tried to get everyone out of there before they had to have a day’s rest, so we had everyone available Sunday, except for our one and two guys for most of the summer.”

With the loss, Salisbury had no room for error through the rest of the tournament. With no time to rest, the Falcons took on Muhlenberg Sunday in an elimination game. After their error-filled run-fest on Saturday, Salisbury looked like a different team against Muhlenberg, with the first four innings being a scoreless battle.

After scoring two in the top of the fifth, Muhlenberg rebounded for one in the bottom of the inning, but Salisbury didn’t let up and took a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Again, the A’s fired right back with a run of their own and the two teams were locked in a 3-2 game heading to the bottom of the ninth.

“We played great on Sunday,” said Heppenheimer. “We didn’t make an error and guys were coming up with big plays for us. The pitching was great and we got some hits. We just couldn’t put them away.”

In the bottom of the ninth, Muhlenberg got their leadoff runner on with a walk and Braydon Keller tripled to tie the game and put a runner on third.

Heppenheimer intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases and considered bringing his center fielder in as an additional infielder.

“I thought about it, but decided against it,” said Heppenheimer. “As it turned out, the guy hits a groundball up the middle and they win the game.”

Colten Hagadus had two RBI for Salisbury on Sunday and Killian Mailander also drove in a run.

Salisbury’s team consists of a number of players from the high school team that finished the season 7-11 and breezed through the Legion season with a 15-3 record and a regular season championship.

Heppenheimer believes the Legion play gives some confidence for both the next Legion season and the high school season next spring.

“We have most of our guys back,” pointed out Heppenheimer, who is also an assistant coach for the Salisbury High School varsity team. “We only lose a couple of guys, so I think we can build on that and take that into next year.

“We haven’t won a game in the regionals, so next season, that’s one of our goals. For varsity, these guys will be better, but it’s all going to depend on how much work they put in when nobody’s looking.”