The '80s rock band Huey Lewis and the News once sang of wanting a couple of

Although they may not have necessarily wanted it, the Penn Manor and Quarryville Legion baseball teams got a couple weeks off before playing the deciding game in the American Legion District 10 playoffs.

Interrupted by rain (remember rain?) and the Legion Region IV playoffs, the two teams were on hold since Manor 10-runned Quarryville in five innings, 15-3 on July 12.

In the interim, Penn Manor wound its way through the Region tournament until shocking back-to-back losses ended its playoff run. That was July 21.

Which meant that Quarryville had not raised its bats in anger in 19 days. For Penn Manor the sabbatical was 12 days.

And then there was the possibility of a Region tournament hangover for the Comets after going 20-and-0, then losing back-to-back in the space of eight hours. Would the game with Quarryville (13-8) be anticlimactic?

"We knew what needed to be done," said Zach Buterbaugh. "We just came and it was another day."

"I wasn't sure what to expect," Comet's coach Jim Zander shared. "I didn't know how we'd respond.

"But, this is a special group. They always come to play. They're self-motivated. They love the game and play it the right way."

And so the two teams gathered at Comet Field in Millersville Sunday afternoon to bring closure to the 2010 season.

Supported by Zach Buterbaugh's three-run home run, Jim Funk pitched Penn Manor (23-2) to the District 10 title and a 6-1 victory.

The Penn Tech-bound lefthander struck out a season-high 13 batters, walked one and allowed four hits, losing his shutout in the seventh inning on Mike Malloy's RBI double.

While the "vacation" seemed to have an adverse effect on his batters' timing, a fact Quarryville coach Bob Swarr readily acknowledged, Funk allowed it was good for him.

"It felt good having the break," he said. "Pitching through regionals was wearing on me. I could tell a difference (today)."

He worked his way through the Quarryville lineup, at one point retiring 12 in a row from Dan Wimer's first-inning single to Kevin Cotchen's fifth-inning double. His defense turned a pair of double plays behind him and he always seemed to get the key strikeout when he needed it.

"I was just keeping them off balance," said Funk. "I didn't really have my curveball today. I just threw fastball, changeup, splitter."

The splitter, a pitch he'd mastered over the summer, felt comfortable enough for Funk to throw it for an out pitch. "Yeah, a 1-2, 0-2 pitch," he said. "I'm still working on it, though."

Meanwhile, Manor's bats were also aslumber, at least through the first four innings.

Buterbaugh led off the Comet first with a single, only to be erased in the first of two twin-killings hit into by his brother, Cody.

Andrew Hershey walked to leadoff the second, but was picked off by Quarryville starter Jack Buzzard. Tanner Kennedy tripled to deep right leading off the third and had to scramble back when Kevin Cotchen gloved Zach Rayha's grounder up the third-base line.

Zach Buterbaugh walked on four pitches, but Cotchen made a leaping stab of Cody Buterbaugh's hot bouncer, initiating an around-the-horn double play and stranding Kennedy.

A two-base error by Cotchen on Funk's one-out grounder in the fifth allowed the Comets to finally crack the scoreboard as Funk came the whole way around when Kyle Eby muffed Patrick Welsh's grounder to second.

"You know," Swarr shared, "when you show up with these guys you just can't make a mistake."

Cotchen doubled deep to the alley in right leading off the Quarryville fifth and Funk hit Malloy with a 1-2 pitch. Both advanced on Ryan Ferguson's grounder to third, but Funk got back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.

Having escaped a possible tie, Penn Manor blasted the game open in the bottom of the fifth.

Kennedy singled and stole second before taking third on Buzzard's wild pitch-ball four to Rayha. Rayha then stole second during Buterbaugh's at bat.

Buzzard went 3-0 to Buterbaugh, who took a questionable strike, up-and-in, then unloaded.

"A walk would've loaded the bases and we needed base runners," said Buterbaugh. "(3-1) was a hitter's count. I was looking fastball, got as fastball, it was high and I just turned on it."

The ball cut a majestic trajectory over the left field fence, and Funk had room to breathe.

"It took some weight off my shoulders," said Funk. "I could relax out there, not worry if I made a mistake, it would hurt me that much."

The rally continued as Cody Buterbaugh singled through the hole at short, ending Buzzard's day, and Patrick Welsh greeted reliever James Pashuck with an RBI double off the fence in left.

Josh Longsderff scored Welsh with a hit and the Comets loaded the bases before Pashuck got Rayha looking at a 1-2 curve.

In the fifth Funk issued his only walk of the afternoon, to Eby, behind an Zach Buterbaugh's error on John Kefever's grounder to short. But Welsh made a great short hop grab on Brad Dunn's grounder, triggering a 4-6-3 double play.

In the seventh Buterbaugh made a great play, knocking down Cotchen's shot deep in the hole, but Cotchen beat the throw for an infield single. After doubling Cotchen home, Malloy took third on a wild pitch, but Funk struck out the side to end the game and end the season.

Notes: Prior to the game the league distributed its awards. New Holland (East Division), Lititz (West) and Penn Manor (South) received trophies for winning their respective divisions. In a vote of the league's coaches and board members, New Holland's Corey Trupe was named the East Division MVP, Kyle Keener of Lititz was MVP of the West Division and Zach Buterbaugh nabbed the South MVP. Joe Henderson was named the Outstanding Umpire and Jim Zander received the Anthony "Ants" Souders Award, awarded to the Outstanding Coach of the Year. All five of Souder's sons, as well as many members of the family, were on hand to present the trophy.

dbyrne@lnpnews.com