This was the kind of comeback you tell your grandkids about. The kind of rally that defies logic, breaks scorebooks, and leaves both dugouts wondering if they really saw what just happened.
Penn State Brandywine, down 11-0 in the sixth inning, stormed back with a furious 12-run surge to stun Penn State Mont Alto, 12-11, in extra innings late Saturday night in the second game of their season-opening doubleheader.
And just like that, Brandywine had completed the biggest comeback in program history.
Let’s pause for a second. Let this sink in. Eleven runs down. Just six outs away from defeat. And yet, when the dust settled, it was Brandywine walking off with the win, courtesy of a Jamey Massung RBI single in the eighth inning.
For the first five-and-a-half innings, this was a blowout. Mont Alto dominated, piling up an 11-run lead behind steady offense and Brandywine’s struggles at the plate. But then came the bottom of the sixth, and a hint—just a hint—of life.
Owen Lawton scampered home on an Evan Shade groundout to get Brandywine on the board, making it 11-1. No big deal, right? Just a meaningless run in a lopsided game? Wrong. It was the first domino to fall in what turned into an avalanche of offense.
The seventh inning? Well, that’s where things got wild. Brandywine sent 14 men to the plate. They scored 10 runs. And they did it while only collecting four hits. How? A parade of six walks, a hit batter, three Mont Alto errors, and a relentless approach at the plate.
Nate Turner got things rolling with a two-run double. Shade followed with a two-run single. Massung worked a bases-loaded walk. Ryan Snyder took a fastball off the arm for another run. A wild pitch made it 11-8. Then, with two outs and the bases packed again, Turner—up for the second time in the inning—smoked a two-strike, two-run single to center. Brandywine was suddenly within one.
And then, the moment where every Mont Alto glove tightened just a little more. A simple pickoff attempt at first base. A throw that sailed wide. And just like that, the game was tied.
Extra innings were inevitable. Noah Walker took the mound for Brandywine in the top of the eighth and, for the first time all day, set Mont Alto down in order. One-two-three. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was momentum. Maybe it was just baseball being baseball.
Bottom of the eighth. The stage was set. Mike DeGirolamo reached on a throwing error. Pinch-runner Daniel Horowitz moved up to third on a balk and a wild pitch. And then, Massung, already in the middle of the chaos an inning prior, delivered again—ripping a two-strike single through a drawn-in infield to bring home the winning run.
Ballgame. History. And maybe, just maybe, a season-defining moment for Brandywine.
Turner finished the night with four RBIs. Shade drove in three. The game-one loss? A distant memory. Because for one night, Brandywine didn’t just win a game. They authored a comeback for the ages.
Other Philly D-III Scores
No. 4 Misericordia 4, Ursinus 1
Hood 5, Ursinus 4
PSU Berks 10, Gwynedd Mercy 9
Gwynedd Mercy 7, PSU Berks 1
Rutgers-Camden 11, Immaculata 4
Rutgers-Camden 10, Immaculata 6
Shenandoah 1, Widener 0
Widener 6, Shenandoah 2
Eastern 5, PSU York 4
Washington College 12, PSU Abington 4
Wilson 12, Delaware Valley 5
Swarthmore 9, Washington & Lee 6
Marywood 13, Rosemont 2
Marywood 8, Rosemont 5
PSU York 10, Eastern 4
