Railriders sweep Doubleheader from Columbus

The Railriders and Clippers played in a matinee doubleheader on Wednesday morning. After a shutout the night before, the Railriders looked to get back in the win column and get closer to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the standings. They would play two 7 inning games. The Clippers would be the home team in Game 2 as they were making up the game that was to be played in Columbus.

Game 1
In Game 1, Chance Adams got the start for the Railriders. The Clippers went with Michael Peoples. Adams would start off by striking out the side in the top of the first. Tyler Wade would hit a leadoff home run to give the Railriders a 1-0 lead just like that. Dustin Fowler would follow with a single to center, but would be picked off at first on the next batter. After a groundout, Ji-Man Choi would draw a walk but a flyout would end the inning. Adams would strike out the next two and then get a flyout to right for a 1-2-3 second for the Railriders. Mason Williams hit a leadoff single to center. After a strikeout and a groundout, Williams moved to third. Wilkin Castillo singled him home to make it 2-0 Railriders. A popout would end the inning. Erik Kratz led off the top of the third with a double to left but Adams would retire the next three batters to keep the Clippers off the board. Highly touted prospect Gleyber Torres would draw a walk then get to second on a balk. Ji-Man Choi would bring home Torres on a double to center for the 3-0 Railriders lead. Clint Frazier would draw a walk but a double play would end the inning. Richie Shaffer drew a two out walk for the Clippers but a groundout would end the top of the fourth. Wilkin Castillo hit a ground rule double to right with two outs. Wade would bring home Castillo on a single to center for the 4-0 advantage. Then Dustin Fowler would homer to right to make it 6-0 Railriders. A flyout would end the inning. Tunkhannock grad Mike Papi would draw a leadoff walk for the Clippers, but a double play and a strikeout would end the top of the fifth. People would throw a 1-2-3 inning for the Indians. Adams continued his great performance with a 1-2-3 sixth for the Railriders. Cito Culver would hit a one out single to left. Wilkin Castillo would follow with a single to left as well, but a forceout and a groundout would end the inning. Ben Heller would come in to pitch the seventh for the Railriders. Chris Colabello kept the game alive with a two out walk but a groundout would end the game as the Railriders took Game 1 6-0.

Columbus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Railriders 1 1 1 3 0 0 x 6

Columbus
CF R Rodriguez 3 0 0 0
DH Diaz 3 0 0 0
SS Urshela 3 0 0 0
3B Shaffer 2 0 0 0
LF Colabello 2 0 0 0
RF Papi 2 0 0 0
C Kratz 2 0 1 0
1B N Rodriguez 2 0 0 0
2B Hankins 2 0 0 0

2B: Kratz

Railriders
SS Wade 4 2 2 2
RF Fowler 4 1 2 2
2B Torres 2 1 0 0
DH Choi 2 0 1 1
LF Frazier 2 0 0 0
CF Williams 3 1 1 0
3B Solano 3 0 0 0
1B Culver 3 0 1 0
C Castillo 3 1 3 1

2B: Choi, Castillo
HR: Wade, Fowler

Pitching
Columbus
Peoples (L) 6 IP 10 H 6 R 6 ER 3 BB 1 K

Railriders
Adams (W) 6 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 12 K
Heller 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 1 K

Game 2
In the second game of the doubleheader, Chris Narveson got the start for the Clippers. The Railriders went to Joe Mantiply. The Clippers would be the home team in this one. Mason Williams would lead off the top of the first with a bunt single. On the next batter, the Clippers' catcher Adam Moore threw out Williams at second trying to steal. Narveson would then get the next two batters as the Clippers headed to bat. Giovanny Urshela hit a two out single to right then Richie Shaffer reaches on a error but a lineout would end the inning. Clint Frazier drew a one out walk, then Donovan Solano would get hit by a pitch. Ruben Tejada would hit a single to right to load the bases. Cito Culver would bring in the game's first run with a single to left that score Frazier for the Railriders' 1-0 lead. Eddy Rodriguez then followed by bringing home two on a double to right for a 3-0 lead. After a strikeout, Gleyber Torres would walk and the Clippers would go to Jeff Johnson in relief and would get a strikeout to end the top of the second. Mike Papi would hit a leadoff single to center in the bottom of the second but a double play and a strikeout would end the inning. Johnson would throw a 1-2-3 third for the Clippers. Mantiply would answer with a 1-2-3 inning of his own for the Railriders. Ruben Tejada would reach on an error to start the top of the fourth. Tyler Olson would come in relief for the Clippers and would get a strikeout to end the top half of the fourth. Giovanny Urshela would hit a leadoff single to left. After a strikeout, the Railriders went to Tyler Jones out of the bullpen. Urshela would move to second on a wild pitch. Chris Colabello would draw a walk then Adam Moore brought home Urshela to cut the lead to 3-1 but they would get Moore out at second for the third out. Choi would single to left with two outs and Clint Frazier would follow with a single but a groundout would end the threat. Jones would throw a 1-2-3 inning for the Railriders. Joe Colon would come in to pitch the sixth for the Clippers. Ruben Tejada would draw a walk, but a lineout, a caught stealing and a strikeout would end the top of the sixth. Jones would throw a second consecutive 1-2-3 inning for the Railriders. Mason Williams would draw a leadoff walk then Torres would hit a single to center to move Williams to third. After back to back strikeouts, the Clippers went to Louis Head in relief. Frazier would be intentionally walked to load the bases. Donovan Solano would draw a bases loaded walk to bring in Williams for the 4-1 lead. A flyout would prevent any more runs for the Railriders. Ernesto Frieri came in to get the save for the Railriders. Mike Papi hit a one out single to center then Adam Moore hit a two run homer to center to cut the Railriders lead to 4-3. After a strikeout, Columbus manager Chris Tremie would be ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Todd Hankins would keep the game alive with a two out walk but a forceout to second would give the Railriders a sweep of the doubleheader with a 4-3 victory over Columbus.

Railriders 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 4
Columbus 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3

Railriders
CF Williams 3 1 1 0
3B Torres 3 0 1 0
DH Austin 4 0 0 0
1B Choi 4 0 1 0
RF Frazier 2 1 1 0
2B Solano 2 1 0 1
SS Tejada 3 1 1 0
LF Culver 3 0 1 1
C Rodriguez 3 0 1 2

2B: Rodriguez

Columbus
CF R Rodriguez 2 0 0 0
3B Lucas 2 0 0 0
3B/2B Diaz 3 0 0 0
SS Urshela 3 1 2 0
LF Shaffer 3 0 0 0
DH Colabello 2 0 0 0
RF Papi 3 1 2 0
C Moore 3 1 2 3
1B Rodriguez 3 0 0 0
2B/CF Hankins 2 0 0 0

HR: Moore

Pitching
Railriders
Mantiply 3.1 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 4 K
Jones (W) 2.2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K
Frieri (S) 1 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 1 K

Columbus
Narveson (L) 1.2 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 2 K
Johnson 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K
Olson 1.1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Colon 1.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 3 K
Head 0.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 0 K

Thoughts on the Doubleheader: Chance Adams pitched a fantastic game in the first game, throwing a one-hitter and striking out 12. The Railriders looked great in both games of the doubleheader. Tunkhannock grad Mike Papi played great in the second game, going 2 for 3 with a run scored. The Railriders salvaged at least a split from the Clippers at PNC Field.

Merryweather dominant as Clippers shutout Railriders

The Railriders came back home as they started a four game series with Tunkhannock alum Mike Papi and the Columbus Clippers. Domingo German got the start for the Railriders. The Clippers went to Julian Merryweather. German started off with a 1-2-3 top of the first for the Railriders. Tyler Austin hit a two out double to left but Merryweather would get a groundout to end the first inning. Richie Shaffer would hit a leadoff home run to left for a 1-0 Columbus lead. German would retire the next three batters to keep it a one run deficit. Clint Frazier would hit a single to lead off the bottom of the second but Merryweather would get the next three outs to keep it 1-0 Clippers. Nellie Rodriguez would hit a leadoff double to left then move to third on a Todd Hankins sacrifice bunt. Ronny Rodriguez would drive home Nellie Rodriguez on a single to right to increase the Clippers lead to 2-0. Yandy Diaz would hit a single to make it first and second. A forceout would get Diaz out at second but Ronny Rodriguez would score on a throwing error trying to get the out at first. Giovanny Urshela moved to second on the play. It would be 3-0 Clippers. Shaffer would bring home Urshela on a single to center for a 4-0 Clippers lead. Chris Colabello brought home Shaffer on a double for the 5-0 advantage. A groundout would end the inning. Eddy Rodriguez would lead off the bottom of the third with a single to center but a flyout and a double play would end the inning. German threw a 1-2-3 fourth for the Railriders. Merryweather would answer with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. German threw his second consecutive 1-2-3 in the fifth inning. Cito Culver would hit a two out single but a flyout would end the fifth. German threw his third straight 1-2-3 inning for the Railriders. Merryweather threw another 1-2-3 sixth inning for the Clippers. Adam Moore would reach on an error to lead off the top of the seventh. After a flyout, Hankins would hit a single to left but a popout and a lineout would keep it 5-0 Columbus. Merryweather would throw his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning for the Clippers. Tyler Webb came in for the Railriders in the eighth and he would strike out the side. Merryweather threw his third straight 1-2-3 inning for the Clippers. Moore would reach on catcher's interference with one out. After a forceout at second, Hankins would single to center but a strikeout would end the Top of the ninth. Kyle Crockett would come into the game to pitch the ninth for the Clippers. Tyler Austin would keep the game alive with a single to right with two outs but a popout to give the Clippers a 5-0 victory over the Railriders at PNC Field
Thoughts on the game: Julian Merryweather pitched a great game for the Clippers. He gave up four hits and struck out eight without walking a batter. The Clippers were propelled by a big four run third inning. Tyler Austin had a great game at the plate for the Railriders, going 2 for 4. Most interesting thing is that neither team walked a batter. Tunkhannock grad Mike Papi was 0 for 4 for the Clippers tonight.

Columbus 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Railriders 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Columbus
CF R Rodriguez 5 1 1 1
3B Diaz 4 0 1 0
SS Urshela 4 1 0 0
DH Shaffer 4 2 2 2
LF Colabello 4 0 1 1
RF Papi 4 0 0 0
C Moore 3 0 0 0
1B N Rodriguez 4 1 1 0
2B Hankins 3 0 2 0

2B: N Rodriguez, Colabello
HR: Shaffer

Railriders
LF Wade 4 0 0 0
CF Fowler 4 0 0 0
DH Austin 4 0 2 0
1B Choi 4 0 0 0
RF Frazier 3 0 1 0
2B Torres 3 0 0 0
3B Tejada 3 0 0 0
SS Culver 3 0 1 0
C Rodriguez 3 0 1 0

2B: Austin

Pitching
Columbus
Merryweather (W) 8 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 8 K
Crockett 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K

Railriders
German (L) 7 IP 7 H 5 R 5 ER 0 BB 4 K
Webb 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 4 K

Williamsport takes the Subregional, advances to States

The Williamsport Millionaires took the long trip to PNC Field for the District 2/4 Subregional Final to take on the Scranton Knights. Scranton coming off a big victory over rival West Scranton hoped to take the Subregional Title after being a five seed. The Millionaires went to Tanner Esposito. The Knights started Ross Zanghi. Esposito started the Top of the first with a 1-2-3 inning. Zanghi answered with a 1-2-3 inning of his own to keep the game scoreless after one. Esposito threw his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning in the second. Jalen Jackson would reach on an error to lead off the bottom of the second. Joe Fagano would move Jackson to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ethen Stryker would bring home Jackson on a single to make it 1-0 Millionaires. A lineout to short would cause a 6-3 double play to end the second. Tim Stankowski would reach on an error but Mike Weber would throw him out to end the inning. Weber would start the bottom of the third by getting hit by a pitch. Cody Shimp would move Weber to second on a sacrifice bunt. Jesse Cornell would hit a triple to left center to score Weber for the 2-0 lead. Elliott Walker would use a squeeze play and would be successful as the throw home was misfired for a 3-0 lead. Quincy Brown would single to move Walker to third, Brown would go to second on the throwing error. Jackson would walk to load the bases.  Fagnano would bring home Walker on a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-0 Williamsport. Stryker would strike again with a single that scored Brown and Jackson to increase the lead to 6-0. A popout would end the inning. Esposito would throw another 1-2-3 inning, highlighted by a diving catch by right fielder Cody Shimp for the third out. Weber hit a leadoff single then the Knights would go to Aiden Santorsa in relief. Shimp would move Weber to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a flyout, Walker would hit a single but a flyout would end the inning. Zanghi would get hit by a pitch with one out but a flyout and a strikeout would keep the Knights off the board. Santorso would throw a 1-2-3 fifth inning for the Knights. The Knights would get their first hit of the game with a Nick Montoro single that hit the third base bag but Esposito would retire the next three batters. Pinch hitter Cam Pardoe would lead off by getting on by an error. Weber moved Pardoe to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a popout. Cornell would bring home Pardoe for a 7-0 Millionaire lead. Walker would score Cornell for the 8-0 advantage. Pinch hitter Ryan Jolin would hit a single then Jackson hit a double that scored Walker and Brown to give the Millionaires the District 2/4 Subregional Crown with the 10-0 victory in six innings over Scranton.

Thoughts on the game: I was really impressed by Williamsport. They looked very good, especially Ethen Stryker who drove in three runs. The Knights had a tough time getting anything going with Esposito on the mound. He had a great game, giving up one hit and throwing a shutout.

Scranton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Williamsport 0 1 5 0 0 4 10

Scranton

SS McAndrew 3 0 0 0

RF Cobley 3 0 0 0

LF Karp 2 0 0 0

3B Mullen 2 0 0 0

P/2B Zanghi 1 0 0 0

2B Chiarelli 0 0 0 0

DH/P Santorsa 2 0 0 0

1B McDonald 2 0 0 0

C Montoro 2 0 1 0

CF Stankowski 2 0 0 0

Williamsport

2B Cornell 4 2 2 2

CF Walker 3 2 2 1

LF Brown 3 2 1 0

PH Jolin 1 0 1 0

1B Jackson 3 2 1 2

3B Fagnano 1 0 0 1

SS Joy 0 0 0 0

DH Stryker 3 0 2 3

P Esposito 2 0 0 0

PH Pardoe 1 1 0 0

C Weber 1 1 1 0

RF C Shimp 1 0 0 0

2B Jackson

3B Cornell

Pitching

Scranton

Zanghi (L) 3+ IP 17 BF 6 R 1 ER 3 H 2 K 1 BB

Samtorsa 2.2 IP 14 BF 4 R 0 ER 5 H 0 K 0 BB

Williamsport

Esposito 6 IP 20 BF 0 R 0 ER 1 H 5 K 0 BB

Royals Rally For The Upset

The Lakeland Chiefs came into PNC Field undefeated and the top seed in the District 2 3A Tournament. Their opponent would be the Holy Redeemer Royals who came in as the three seed. The Chiefs went with Brad Richards. The Royals would send Jordan Choman. Both pitchers threw no-hitters in their last start. The no-hit bid for Richards ended with a Tim Cavanaugh one out single. After a strikeout, Adam Retzbach would throw out Cavanaugh trying to steal second for the third out. Choman would throw a 1-2-3 first inning to keep the game scoreless after one. Choman would draw a one out walk, but a fielder's choice and a popout would end the Royals half of the inning. Choman threw a second consecutive 1-2-3 inning for the Royals. Richards threw a 1-2-3 inning for the Chiefs, highlighted by a diving catch by Christian Cicio. Mike Romano led off by getting hit by a pitch to give Lakeland their first base runner of the game. Romano would move to second on a Billy Lavelle sacrifice bunt, but a strikeout and a groundout would keep the game scoreless after three. Cavanaugh would draw a one out walk but Richards would retire the next three batters to keep the Royals off the board. Retzbach would draw a one out walk but his courtesy runner would get thrown out trying to steal second on the next batter. A groundout would keep the game scoreless after four. Richards would throw another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth for the Chiefs. Shane Novitsky would draw a leadoff walk then Jordan Art would get hit by a pitch to make it first and second with no outs. Romano would reach on a single and Novitsky would score on a throwing error for a 1-0 Lakeland lead. After a strikeout, Cicio would hit an infield double to score Art for the 2-0 Chiefs lead. A lineout to short would cause a double play to end the fifth. Sean Wills would lead off with a double to left center. The Chiefs would go with Dom Verrastro in relief. Verrastro would get the three batters to keep the two run lead. Retzbach would hit a one out single but Choman would get a 4-3 double play to end the sixth. Cade Flanley would draw a leadoff walk, then Jordan Choman hit a single to get the tying run to first. Dean Ambosie came in to courtesy run for Choman. After a strikeout, Rob McClay would hit a double to deep left center to score Flanley and Ambosie to tie the game at 2. After a popout, Sean Wills would bring home McClay to make it a 3-2 Royals lead. Tucker Ell would get hit by a pitch but a flyout would end the Top half of the seventh. Novitsky would hit a leadoff single and would be lifted for Colin Walsh as a pinch runner but Choman would strike out the side to give the Royals the District 3A Crown with a 3-2 victory over previously undefeated Lakeland.

Thoughts on the game: This was the most impressive game of the weekend. Despite both teams qualifying for the State Tournament, both teams wanted to win this game. The Royals in the seventh were determined to take the lead and broke the Lakeland scoreless streak in the postseason. Despite the defeat, Lakeland was very impressive. I still believe they can go deep into the State Playoffs. For the Royals, Jordan Choman pitched a great game, despite giving up two runs, he struck out eight, including striking out the final three batters of the game to get the Royals first District Title since 2012. Sean Wills had a great game at the plate, he went 2 for 3 and almost went 3 for 3 if it weren't for a great defensive play by Christian Cicio.

Holy Redeemer 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3

Lakeland 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2

Holy Redeemer

SS Ell 3 0 0 0

2B Cavanaugh 3 0 0 0

C Borum 3 0 0 0

3B Flanley 2 1 0 0

P Choman 2 1 1 0

RF Molitoris 3 0 0 0

CF McClay 3 1 1 2

1B Bozentka 3 0 0 0

LF Wills 3 0 2 1

2B Wills, McClay

Lakeland

2B/SS Piraino 3 0 0 0

1B Hayes 3 0 0 0

C Retzbach 2 0 1 0

SS/P Verrastro 3 0 0 0

LF Novitsky 2 1 1 0

PR Walsh 0 0 0 0

3B Art 2 1 0 0

CF Romano 2 0 1 0

P Richards 0 0 0 0

DH Lavelle 1 0 0 0

DH Mizak 1 0 0 0

RF Cicio 2 0 1 1

2B Cicio

Pitching

Holy Redeemer

Choman (W) 7 IP 26 BF 2 R 2 ER 4 H 8 K 2 BB

Lakeland

Richards 5+ IP 18 BF 0 R 0 ER 2 H 4 K 2 BB

Verrastro (L) 2 IP 11 BF 3 R 3 ER 3 H 1 K 1 BB

Wallenpaupack upends Comets for 5A Title

The Buckhorns came in as the top seed in the District 2 5A Tournament and the Comets came in as the No 2 seed. They played each other at PNC Field on Sunday evening. Wallenpaupack went with Austin Gilpin on the mound. The Comets had Colin Macko on the mound. Brett Caladie led off with an infield single but Gilpin would strike out the next three to keep it scoreless. Macko would throw a 1-2-3 first inning for the Comets. Gilpin would throw a 1-2-3 inning to make six straight retired for the Buckhorns. Mitch Guerrieri would draw a two out walk, then Chris Brindle would single to move him to third. Guerrieri would score on a passed ball to make it 1-0 Wallenpaupack. A groundout would end the inning. Caladie would break the streak off retired batters at eight as he would hit a single but Gilpin got another strikeout to keep the one run lead. Izaiah Santiago led off with a single but Macko would retire the next three batters to keep it a one run game. Justin Darden led off with a single. After a popout and a flyout, Curtis Tokach would walk but a popout ended the top of the fourth. Max Alessi drew a leadoff walk. Alessi moved to second on a Gilpin sacrifice bunt. Alessi moved to third on a wild pitch. Guerrieri drew a walk, then Brindle brought home Alessi on an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 Wallenpaupack. Then Sands brought home Guerrieri on a single to make it 3-0. Santiago then hit a double to make it second and third. Morgan Theobald would walk to load the bases. Matt Trimmer would come in to pitch for the Comets. Sands would score on a passed ball to make it 4-0 Buckhorns. Tyler Kirsten brought home Santiago and Theobald to make it 6-0 Buckhorns. A strikeout would end the inning. Evan Knapp would lead off with a single, then got to second on a Matt Taleroski sacrifice bunt. Brett Caladie would reach on an error and Knapp would score on the throwing error to put the Comets on the board. Gilpin would get back to back strikeouts to keep the Comets to a run. Connor Kaminski came in to pitch for the Comets. Alessi would hit a single to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but his courtesy runner would get picked off at first for the first out. Back to back groundouts would end the fifth. Mitch Guerrieri came in to pitch for the Buckhorns. Curtis Tokach would hit a two out single then Mick Bafunno hit an infield single. Tokach would move to third on a passed ball. Guerrieri would get a strikeout to end the Comets threat. Santiago would hit a two out single then Morgan Theobald followed with a single but a popout ended the sixth. Guerrieri would throw a 1-2-3 seventh to give Wallenpaupack the District 2 5A Crown with a 6-1 victory over Crestwood.

Thoughts on the game: Wallenpaupack played a great game, their pitching is very good. Freshman Izaiah Santiago went 3 for 3 and looks to have a great future. Congrats to them on the District 2 Crown. For Crestwood, Brett Caladie had a great game, reaching base all 3 times. This team did something not many teams do and that's not get shutout all season.

Crestwood 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Wallenpaupack 0 1 0 5 0 0 x 6

Crestwood
SS Caladie 3 0 2 0
PH Kindler 1 0 0 0
P Macko 2 0 0 0
P Trimmer 0 0 0 0
PH Kovalchik 1 0 0 0
P Kaminski 0 0 0 0
PH Anthony 1 0 0 0
2B Darden 3 0 1 0
1B Chalk 0 0 0 0
DH Graves 3 0 0 0
C Wegener 3 0 0 0
3B Tokach 2 0 1 0
RF Brozena 2 0 0 0
RF Bafunno 1 0 1 0
LF Knapp 3 1 1 0
CF Taleroski 1 0 0 0
PH Morra 1 0 0 0

Wallenpaupack
CF Theobald 3 1 1 0
3B/SS Kirsten 4 0 1 2
RF Vosburg 3 0 0 0
C Alessi 2 1 1 0
P/3B Gilpin 2 0 0 0
SS/P Guerrieri 1 2 0 0
1B Brindle 3 0 1 1
2B Holbert 0 0 0 0
DH Sands 3 1 1 1
LF Santiago 3 1 3 0

2B: Santiago

Pitching
Crestwood
Macko (L) 3.2 IP 19 BF 6 R 2 ER 3 H 1 K 4 BB
Trimmer 0.1 IP 2 BF 0 R 0 ER 1 H 1 K 0 BB
Kaminski 2 IP 8 BF 0 R 0 ER 3 H 0 K 0 BB

Wallenpaupack
Gilpin (W) 5 IP 21 BF 1 R 1 ER 4 H 9 K 1 BB
Guerrieri (S) 2 IP 8 BF 0 R 0 ER 2 H 3 K 0 BB

Dallas hangs on to take the 4A Crown

The Valley View Cougars came to PNC Field for the fourth time in five years as they took on the Dallas Mountaineers, who were making their first appearance since 2003. Nick Kocher got the start for the Mountaineers and the Cougars went with Joey Castellani. Dallas got a two out single from Mike Luksic but a flyout kept the game scoreless going into the bottom of the first. Dixon Black drew a one out walk then RJ Kilmer followed with another walk but Kocher got a 6-4-3 double play to end the first. Will McCrum would strikeout but would reach on a wild pitch. He would advanced on an errant pickoff throw. Charles Giacometti would bring him on a single to make it 1-0 Dallas. Matt Mathers would move Giacometti to second on a sacrifice bunt then Christo Huntington would bring home Giacometti on a single to make it 2-0 Mountaineers. A strikeout would end the top half of the second. Kocher would throw a 1-2-3 second for the Mountaineers. JD Barrett started off the top of the third with a walk, then Luksic hit a double to make it second and third. Kocher would draw a walk to load the bases, then Mike Collins would clear the bases with a triple to make it 5-0 Dallas. Valley View then went to Mason Black in relief.  McCrum would hit a single to score Collins to make it 6-0. McCrum would advance to second on a groundout, then to third on a wild pitch. McCrum would score on a passed ball for the 7-0 lead. Mathers would single, then Huntington drew a walk, but a strikeout and a flyout would end the top of the third with the damage done. Castellani would draw a leadoff, then Jeremy Boyle followed with a walk. The runners would advance on a groundout to first. Castellani would score on a passed ball to get the Cougars on the board 7-1. After a strikeout, Dixon Black drew a walk but a flyout would end the inning. Luksic would draw a leadoff walk but the Cougars would get a 4-3 double play and a strikeout to get to the bottom of the fourth. Nate Seprosky would draw a one out walk, then Kyle Cwalinski singled, and Castellani walked to load the bases with no outs. Darren Kerdesky came in to pitch for the Mountaineers. Boyle would bring home Seprosky with a bases loaded hit by pitch then Mark Regan brought home Cwalinski and Castellani to make it a 7-4 game. Boyle would score on a passed ball to make it 7-5. Dixon Black drew a walk and then the Mountaineers went to the bullpen again and put Josh Lydon into the game. After a groundout, Mason Black reached on an error that scored Regan to make it 7-6. A flyout would end the inning. Mason Black threw a 1-2-3 inning for the Cougars in the fifth. Seprosky would lead off with a single and would be lifted for a pinch runner in Chase Combs. After a strikeout, Castellani and Boyle would each draw walks. After a popout, Dixon Black brought home Combs on a bases loaded walk to make it a 7-7 tie. A flyout would keep the game tied. Kerdesky would draw a one out walk. After a flyout, Luksic would walk then Kocher would bring home Kerdesky on a single to give the Mountaineers the lead once again at 8-7. A fielder's choice would end the top of the sixth. Corey Pezak would draw a one out walk but Lydon would get back to back strikeouts to end the sixth. Giacometti would get hit by a pitch with one out. After a flyout, Huntington would single but a flyout would end the top half of the seventh with the Cougars facing a one run deficit. Lydon would throw a 1-2-3 seventh to give the Mountaineers the 4A District Title.

Thoughts on the game: It wasn't a pretty one for the Mountaineers but it was a win and it gave them a District Title. Usually you don't win a game with 10 or more walks but that is what the Mountaineers did. I give Valley View credit, they could have packed it in but they fought back and eventually tied the game. It was an interesting game to say the least.

Dallas 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 8
Valley View 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 7

Dallas
CF/P Kerdesky 4 1 0 0
2B Barrett 3 1 0 0
3B Luksic 2 1 2 0
P/LF Kocher 3 1 1 1
RF Collins 4 1 1 3
SS McCrum 4 2 1 1
LF/CF Lewis 0 0 0 0
P Lydon 0 0 0 0
DH Giacometti 3 1 1 1
C Mathers 3 0 1 0
1B Huntington 3 0 2 1

2B: Luksic
3B: Collins

Valley View
CF Regan 5 1 1 2
SS D Black 1 0 0 1
3B Kilmer 2 0 0 0
2B/P M Black 4 0 0 0
LF Pezak 3 0 0 0
RF Howanitz 0 0 0 0
DH Seprosky 3 1 1 0
DH Combs 0 1 0 0
1B Cwalinski 4 1 1 0
P/2B Castellani 1 2 0 0
C Boyle 1 1 0 1

Pitching
Dallas
Kocher 3.1 IP 17 BF 4 R 4 ER 1 H 1 K 7 BB
Kerdesky 0+ IP 3 BF 2 R 0 ER 1 H 0 K 1 BB
Lydon (W) 2 IP 17 BF 1 R 1 ER 1 H 3 K 4 BB

Valley View
Castellani 2+ IP 14 BF 6 R 4 ER 2 H 3 K 2 BB
M Black (L) 5 IP 23 BF 2 R 1 ER 3 H 4 K 4 BB

The Final Stage

Twelve teams remain and they will play at PNC Field on Sunday and Monday for six District Crowns. These teams have played their hearts out to get to this point and now they will be rewarded with a medal. The question here is will it be silver or will it be gold with a District 2 plaque and a trip to states? The only exception is 3A where both District Finalists will enter the state tournament. With that, here are the Championship Previews:

Sunday's Games

A Championship Game
Gametime: 1:30 PM
MMI vs Forest City

How they got here
MMI knocked off Lincoln Leadership 15-2
Forest City got a bye as the No 1 seed

Breakdown: Forest City is the defending District 2 Champions of Single-A. The only defending champion in the District Championships. MMI had a tough conference schedule playing teams with higher enrollements. MMI's best hitter is George Palermo, who is hitting .455 with two doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs. Kisan Patel is second on team with 7 RBIs. The pitching can be suspect for the Preppers, however. For the Foresters, Dakota Knehr-Cook has had a great junior season, hitting .500 with eight doubles and 13 RBIs. He's also 2-0 on the mound with a 2.10 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The ace is RJ Kuruts who is 7-0, a miniscule 0.33 ERA with 72 strikeouts. His offense is also impressive with a .435 average, two doubles and nine RBIs.

4A Championship Game
Gametime: 4 PM
Dallas vs Valley View

How they got here
Dallas knocked off Nanticoke 5-2 in the District Quarterfinals and then Tunkhannock 7-2 in the District Semifinal.
Valley View beat Honesdale 3-0 in the Quarterfinals and then Berwick 6-0 in Semifinal.

Breakdown: Valley View is here for the fourth time in five years. All of their appearances in the Title Game have ended in a loss. To be fair, Valley View ended up playing teams that eventually ended up making deep state runs. This year, despite who the Cougars lost, they look like the favorite in this game, however don't overlook the Mountaineers who have won 8 in a row. The Mountaineers in midseason didn't look like they would be at PNC Field after a 2-6 start but they persevered to get here. For the Cougars, freshman Dixon Black has been great at shortstop, hitting .351 with two doubles and six RBIs. Nathan Seprosky has also had a standout season on the mound, going 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA with 36 strikeouts. For the Mountaineers, they've had several young players come in and produce. Sophomore Darren Kerdesky as been great in the leadoff spot for the Mounts, hitting .400 with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs. Another sophomore, Mike Luksic has been great at third with a .347 average and seven RBIs. Junior Nick Kocher has been great for the Mounts on the mound, going 6-2 with a 2.98 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Valley View might be the favorite, but I wouldn't underestimate this young Mountaineer team.

5A Championship Game
Gametime: 6:30 PM
Crestwood vs Wallenpaupack

How they got here
Crestwood knocked off North Pocono 4-2 in the District Quarterfinals and Valley West 4-3 in eight innings in the District Semifinals
Wallenpaupack had a bye in the Quarters and beat Pittston Area 5-0 in the District Semifinals

Breakdown: Wallenpaupack comes in as the top seed and maybe has the better team. The Buckhorns have a great pitching staff and great top three hitters. However, Crestwood has proven they can hang with any team. Crestwood made believers of their doubters. They knocked off North Pocono, who won the District 2 3A Title last season. Then on Wednesday, they were down 2-0 and eventually won 4-3 in eight innings over Valley West who won the District 2 4A Title. The Buckhorns best hitter is leadoff man Morgan Theobald, who has a .421 average with two doubles and 19 runs scored. Derrick Vosburg is hitting .404 with 14 RBIs. Austin Gilpin has been great on the mound this season, going 2-1 with a 1.18 ERA with 48 strikeouts. For Crestwood, junior Colin Macko has had a great season. At the plate, he's hitting .372 with three doubles. a triple and eights RBIs. On the mound, he's 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Another junior, Justin Darden has been great at the plate with a .347 average with eight doubles and eight RBIs. Wallenpaupack is the prohibitive favorite but don't count the Comets out just yet. The Comets have proven how resilent they can be.

Monday's Games

2A Championship
Gametime: 12 PM
Holy Cross vs Old Forge

How they got here
Holy Cross beat Lackawanna Trail 13-3 in the Quarterfinals and then Blue Ridge 7-3 in the semifinals
Old Forge beat Northwest 5-4 in the quarterfinals and then Elk Lake 11-3 in the semifinals

Breakdown: Hey look now, it's no longer a No 1 vs No 2 taking on each other. Yep, we get a three seed and a five seed facing off for the District Crown. It shouldn't come off as much of a surprise that both these teams are here, as they did play in a division with the likes of Lakeland and Mid Valley. Holy Cross was more of the surprise here as they knocked off the top seed in Blue Ridge. The Crusaders' Josh Mies has had a great year. The shortstop is hitting .373 with five doubles and seven RBIs. Junior Joe DeGrazia leads the team in RBIs with 14 and also leads the pitching staff with a 2-4 record, a 3.82 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Old Forge senior Ben Grochowski has been great for the Blue Devils this season. At the plate, he's hitting .424 with four doubles and 18 RBIs. On the mound, he's 3-2 with a 1.70 ERA. Fellow senior Shane Smith has been great as well. The Blue Devils' catcher has a .345 average with 4 doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and 17 runs scored. The Blue Devils and the Crusaders have faced each other twice this season and have been big victories for Old Forge. It's going to be tough to beat a team three times but we shall see.

3A Championship
Gametime: 2:30 PM
Holy Redeemer vs Lakeland

How they got here
Holy Redeemer beat Lake-Lehman 10-0 in the quarters and then beat Meyers 7-1 in the semis.
Lakeland beat Riverside 3-0 in the quarters and then Mid Valley 5-0 in the semis

Breakdown: The Lakeland Chiefs have not lost this season and look like a huge favorite in this game. The Royals have been on a roll since losing to Lake-Lehman 3-2 at PNC Field on May 1st, winning five in a row. Where does it start for Lakeland you might ask? Look no further than their pitching staff, who hasn't given up a run this postseason. In fact, they've thrown seven shutouts this season, including the two in the postseason. Senior Brad Richards has been great, he threw a no-hitter against Riverside and he's 6-0 with a 1.02 ERA and 57 strikeouts. Junior Matt Hayes has been great at the plate with a .424 average with 3 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Adam Retzbach leads the team in RBIs with 17. For the Royals, junior catcher Tom Borum is having a great season with a .426 average with five doubles, a home run and 19 RBIs. Five other players have 10+ RBIs for the Royals. A reminder that both these teams will advance to the state tournament. The District Title would mean you would stay close to home in the first round. The runner-up would go on the road. Lakeland looks like the favorite, but the Chiefs have had to escape several times upset bids this season and the Royals are looking for exactly that.

6A Championship
Gametime: 5 PM
Scranton vs Williamsport

How they got here
Scranton beat Hazleton Area 4-1 in the quarters and beat West Scranton 1-0 in the semis
Williamsport beat Delaware Valley 5-0 in the semis

Breakdown: Scranton used their ace Jack Kelly to get to the championship game, however he cannot pitch in the Subregional final due to pitch count. The Knights will need their No 2 pitcher to keep up and take on a very unknown Williamsport Millionaire team. Ross Zanghi will in all likelihood get the start for the Knights, he went 2-1 on the season with a 2.91 ERA with 14 strikeouts. Junior Robbie McAndrew is having a great season for Scranton. He's hitting .308 with two triples and two RBIs. The Millionaires' Jesse Cornell is having a great season with a .424 average with six doubles, five triples and 12 RBIs. Jalen Jackson leads the team with 16 RBIs. Williamsport looks like they will take the subregional and take the state bid, but Scranton can give them a game.   

Wegener's Walkoff Sends Crestwood to PNC Field

The Crestwood Comets and the Valley West Spartans played for the right to play at PNC Field on Sunday. The Spartans are looking to get their third straight District Title and the Comets were looking to get to their first District Title Game since 2009. The Comets sent James Graves to the mound. The Spartans went to Nate Baranski. Richard Sott led off with a walk. He was picked off and ended up in a rundown but the ball was dropped and he stayed at first. Sott would later steal and score on Justin Vought's double to left for a 1-0 Valley West lead. Vought would get picked off for the first out of the inning. Dominic Bayo then singled but Graves got a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Colin Macko would draw a one out walk but Vought would throw him out trying to steal second. A flyout would end the inning. Graves threw a 1-2-3 second for the Comets. Baranski would answer with a 1-2-3 of his own to keep it 1-0 Valley West. Josh Montalvo hit a one out double, then Sott would single to make it first and third. Justin Vought would load the bases with one out but an infield fly and a groundout ended the threat. Baranski threw his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning. Jake Packer would strikeout but would reach on a passed ball, then got to second on an errant pickoff and got to third on a Austin Sienkiewicz sacrifice bunt. Nate Baranski would get a bloop single on the infield. Zach Kobusky would get hit by a pitch to load the bases. Montalvo would hit a grounder to Brett Caladie who threw to catcher Steve Wegener to get Packer at home. Sott would bring home Baranski for a 2-0 Spartan lead. Matt Trimmer came in to pitch for the Comets and would get a popout would prevent anymore damage. Macko would once again draw a one out, after a strikeout, Trimmer would reach on an error but Baranski would get his 8th strikeout to end the inning. Dominic Bayo would hit a single then Stephen Banas moved him over to second on a sacrifice bunt. A strikeout and a flyout would end the inning. Brandon Brozena would enter to pinch hit and would give the Comets their first hit of the game with a one out single. After a strikeout, Matt Taleroski would hit an infield single and Brozena would hustle to third. Caladie would get the Comets on the board with a single that scored Brozena to cut the lead to 2-1. Macko would tie the game at 2 with a single scoring Taleroski. Justin Darden would then single to score Caladie but they would get Macko at the plate trying to score but the Comets would take a 3-2 lead after five. Trimmer would throw a 1-2-3 sixth to keep the Comets lead. Baranski would throw a 1-2-3 sixth to keep it a one run game. Sott would lead off with a walk, Sott would steal second base after a flyout. A popout would give the Spartans their last hope. Banas would deliver with a single to right to score Sott to tie the game at 3. They would get Banas at second trying to advance after they threw home. Damian Davies came in to pitch for the Spartans in the seventh. Evan Knapp would draw a walk but Davies would retire the next three batters to force extra innings. Packer would lead off by reaching on an error then move to second on a Sienkiewicz sacrifice bunt. They would get Packer on a rundown for the second out on a grounder then Trimmer would get a flyout to keep the game tied. Macko started the bottom of the eighth with a double to left center. After a flyout, James Graves was re-entered and drew a walk. Steve Wegener would come to the plate, both runners would steal to make it second and third. Wegener would hit a ball to center and Macko would tag up and try and score and the throw was offline and Macko would score to give the Comets a 4-3 victory and a trip to PNC Field for the District Championship.

Thoughts on the game: The Comets persevered in this matchup. Didn't have a hit until the fifth inning, then scored three runs. I don't think I say enough how big Matt Taleroski's infield single was. It set up the three Crestwood runs that inning. Steve Wegener came up big with a fly ball to center that would score Macko for the game-winner. For Valley West, Nate Baranski had a great game on the mound, striking out 11 and think he's going to have a great career at Valley West.

Valley West 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3

Crestwood 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 4

Valley West

RF Sott 1 2 1 1

C Vought 3 0 1 1

LF Bayo 4 0 2 0

3B Banas 3 0 1 1

1B Packer 4 0 0 0

SS Sienkiewicz 2 0 0 0

P Baranski 3 1 1 0

P Davies 0 0 0 0

PH Pollick 1 0 0 0

PR Norton 0 0 0 0

2B Kobusky 3 0 0 0

CF Montalvo 3 0 1 0

2B: Vought, Montalvo

Crestwood

SS Caladie 4 1 1 1

1B Chalk 0 0 0 0

DH Macko 2 1 2 1

2B Darden 4 0 1 1

2B Toronzi 0 0 0 0

P Graves 1 0 0 0

P Trimmer 2 0 0 0

C Wegener 3 0 0 1

3B Tokach 3 0 0 0

LF Knapp 1 0 0 0 

LF Brozena 1 1 1 0

RF Kindler 3 0 0 0

CF Taleroski 3 1 1 0

2B: Macko

Pitching

Valley West

Baranski 6 IP 24 BF 3 R 3 ER 5 H 11 K 2 BB

Davies 1 IP 4 BF 0 R 0 ER 0 H 2 K 1 BB

Adamski (L) 0.2 IP 4 BF 0 R 0 ER 1 H 0 K 1 BB

Crestwood

Graves 3.2 IP 19 BF 2 R 0 ER 5 H 2 K 3 BB

Trimmer (W) 4.1 IP 16 BF 1 R 1 ER 2 H 2 K 1 BB

The Semifinal Frontier

The Baseball District 2 Semifinals are almost upon us and a trip to PNC Field is at stake. All of the teams will be ready and give it their all. With that being said, here are the capsules and predictions for the District 2 Semifinal matchups. 

Please Note: The Single-A Subregional semifinal between MMI and Forest City will not be on here as that is designated as the District 2 Championship game

2A

Holy Cross at Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge Players to Watch:

Jake Decker .531 16 R 6 2Bs 1 HR 14 RBIs

Derek Stento .297 12 R 2 2Bs 1 HR 10 RBIs Pitching: 5-2 1.09 ERA 49 Ks

Holy Cross Players to Watch:

Josh Mies .364 9 R 4 2Bs 1 HR 7 RBIs

Joe DeGrazia .313 7 R 2 2Bs 1 HR 11 RBIs Pitching: 2-4 3.94 ERA 40 Ks

Breakdown: Blue Ridge comes in as the top seed in the 2A District Tournament and finished as the runner-up in Division 5. Holy Cross advanced by beating Lackawanna Trail 13-3. This could be interesting as Holy Cross played up during the regular season and could give Blue Ridge a game.

Prediction: I'll take Blue Ridge in a tight matchup.

Old Forge at Elk Lake

Old Forge players to watch:

Ben Grochowski .418 12 R 3 2Bs 17 RBIs

Shane Smith .352 17 R 4 2Bs 1 3B 6 RBIs

Brendan Mozeleski 6-0 1.89 ERA 41 Ks

Elk Lake Players to Watch:

Zach Groover .405 4 2Bs 1 3B 1 HR 14 RBIs Pitching: 4-1 1.22 ERA 33 K

Jack Waldenberger .410 13 R 2 2Bs 7 RBIs

Breakdown: Another matchup that has it as a Lackawanna League Division 4 vs 5. Old Forge got here by beating Northwest 5-4 and Elk Lake beat Mountain View 11-7. Old Forge has the firepower to answer for Elk Lake's pitching with Ben Grochowski and Shane Smith. Brendan Mozeleski is unbeaten this season at 6-0 and is in all likelihood getting the start on Thursday. For Elk Lake, Zach Groover will be available for Thursday as he only required two days of rest after throwing 57 pitches. He's also a big contributor at the plate, hitting .405 and leads the team in RBIs with 14.

Prediction: I'm taking Old Forge, I like their offense at this point as well as them having their ace on the mound.

3A

Mid Valley at Lakeland

Mid Valley Players to Watch:

RJ Gouldsbury .327 14 R 5 2Bs 2 HRs 18 RBIs Pitching: 4-0 2.51 ERA 25 Ks

Brandon Wallo .277 9 R 4 2Bs 18 RBIs

JJ Glinsky .408 20 R 2 2Bs 1 3B 8 RBIs

Lakeland

Jake Hodorovich 5-0 1.43 ERA 44 K

Matt Hayes .406 16 R 3 2Bs 1 3B 1 HR 17 RBIs

Adam Retzback .311 13 R 3 2Bs 1 3B 1 HR 16 RBIs

Breakdown: This will the third time Lakeland and Mid Valley will face off this season. Lakeland has been dominant all season with help of their pitching staff. Jake Hodorovich should get the start for the Chiefs, after Brad Richards threw a no-hitter on Monday against Riverside. The Spartans of Mid Valley got here by beating Carbondale 10-3. The hitting of Lakeland has been great as well. Matt Hayes leads the team in average and Adam Retzbach leads the team in RBIs. For Mid Valley, there hope to keep those Lakeland hitters in check and get to the Chiefs' starter. RJ Gouldsbury is unbeaten on the mound and should get the start as he only threw 74 pitches. He also has two home runs on the season.

Prediction: Lakeland, I believe the Chiefs will be too much for Mid Valley.

Holy Redeemer at Meyers

Holy Redeemer Players to Watch:

Tom Borum .419 13 R 5 2Bs 1 HR 18 RBIs

Tim Cavanaugh .356 18 R 5 2Bs 12 RBIs

Tony Molitoris 4-1 0.90 ERA 32 Ks

Meyers

Ryan Gilgallon .442 15 R 6 2Bs 2 HRa 13 RBIs

Luke Bottger .318 7 R 12 RBIs Pitching: 4-1 1.99 ERA 30 Ks

Colin Pasone .373 15 R 3 2Bs 3 3Bs 9 RBIs

Breakdown: The only hiccup Meyers has had this season was a three game skid where they were blown out by the Royals but overall, they've been great. The Royals will in all likelihood go to ace Tony Molitoris and Meyers will go to Luke Bottger or Kenny Macko as Meyers ace Ryan Gilgallon is ineligible due to pitch count. The Royals have a very balanced lineup with six players driving in ten runs or more.

Prediction: I'm going with the Royals, I believe their hitting as well as Molitoris will be the difference.

4A

Berwick at Valley View

Berwick Players to Watch

Jared Marshman 5-2 1.44 ERA 55 K Batting: 8 RBIs

Matt Champ .303 7 R 1 2B 3 RBIs

Austin Horsefield .389 5 R 2 2Bs 6 RBIs 

Valley View Players to Watch

Nate Seprosky .250 3 R 1 RBI Pitching: 4-2 2.03 ERA 36 K

Dixon Black .333 7 R 4 RBIs

Mason Black .200 6 R 3 2Bs 1 HR 4 RBIs

Breakdown: Berwick comes into Valley View as one of the younger teams in the District Semifinals. The Bulldogs only have three seniors. Valley View had to replace a bunch from last season's District runner up team but the cupboard was not empty as they had Nate Seprosky who is committed to Rhode Island and junior Mason Black who is committed to Lehigh. Onto the game, Jared Marshman will in all likelihood get the start for the Bulldogs and is their ace. The Cougars will in all likelihood go with Nate Seprosky. Looks the game could be a pitcher's duel in Archbald.

Prediction: Valley View, believe the experiences of the last few years will benefit the Cougars.

Tunkhannock at Dallas

Tunkhannock Players to Watch

Connor Hulslander .375 7 R 2 2Bs 6 RBIs Pitching: 5-3 3.03 ERA 34 K

Matt Goodwin .419 9 R 1 2B 1 3B 7 RBIs Pitching: 2-2 2.77 ERA 22 K

Brian Muckin: .293 4 R 1 2B 11 RBIs

Dallas Players to Watch

Nick Kocher .250 5 R 3 2Bs 5 RBIs Pitching: 5-2 3.41 ERA 39 K

Darren Kerdesky .383 10 R 2 2B 1 3B 8 RBIs

JD Barrett .327 7 R 1 2B 1 3B 17 RBIs

Breakdown: Dallas comes into this game as one of the hottest teams in the District. After a four game losing streak in the middle of the season, the Mountaineers went on a roll and took the WVC Division 2 Championship over this same Tunkhannock team. The Tigers had a similar slump where they failed to score a run but that slump has faded. The Mountaineers and the Tigers should have their aces on the mound and it should be one of the better games in the semifinals.

5A

Pittston Area at Wallenpaupack

Pittston Area Players to Watch:

Tyler Jackson .387 3 R 2 2B 1 3B 7 RBIs Pitching: 3-3 2.37 ERA 26 K

Joe DeLucca .297 7 R 2 2B 3 RBIs

Kyle O'Fier .265 7 R 2 2B 1 3B 1 HR 9 RBIs

Wallenpaupack Players to Watch:

Morgan Theobald .417 17 R 2 2B 3 RBIs

Derrick Vosburg .386 8 R 12 RBIs

Mitch Guerrieri 4-0 1.94 ERA 15 K

Austin Gilpin 2-1 1.25 ERA 46 K

Aaron Husson 3-0 2.77 ERA 46 K

Breakdown: Pittston Area got here by avenging two earlier losses to Coughlin and Wallenpaupack got a first round bye. Wallenpaupack looks by far the favorite to take the inaugural District 2 5A title with three pitchers who could be a No 1 on any other team. Pittston Area has had a tough time hitting most of the season. 

Prediction: Wallenpaupack, I think the pitching of the Buckhorns proves big.

Valley West at Crestwood

Valley West Players to Watch

Nate Baranski 6-1 1.05 ERA 48 Ks

Justin Vought .500 9 R 4 2Bs 8 RBIs

Richard Sott .306 15 R 1 2B 2 3B 6 RBIs

Crestwood Players to Watch

Justin Darden .356 8 R 8 2Bs 7 RBIs

Colin Macko .341 9 R 2 2Bs 1 3B 7 RBIs Pitching: 3-1 1.54 ERA 26 Ks

Brett Caladie .317 6 R 2 2Bs 5 RBIs

Breakdown: Possibly one of the more interesting matchups in the District Tournament. Both split the season series. Valley West got here by beating Abington Heights 7-4 and Crestwood got here by beating North Pocono 4-2. Crestwood beat Valley West at home on April 18th and Valley West beat Crestwood at Spartan Stadium on May 8th. It could be interesting as one would think they both would throw their ace. Valley West is going for a third straight District Title, whereas Crestwood is trying to get into the District Final for the first time since 2009. 

Prediction: I'm expecting a pitcher's duel in Mountain Top but it's unclear right now who will come out on top so for now, I am undecided.

6A

Scranton at West Scranton

Scranton Players to Watch

Chris Cobley .313 4 R 1 2B 6 RBIs

Robbie McAndrew .286 7 R 2 3Bs 3 RBIs

Brandon Karl .262 5 R 2 2Bs 1 3B 4 RBIs

West Scranton Players to Watch

Cole Stetzar .425 5 R 3 2Bs 1 HR 13 RBIs Pitching: 4-0 2.10 ERA 37 K

Griffin Loureiro .472 15 R 1 2B 10 RBIs

Thomas Ivanoff .444 4 R 5 RBIs

Breakdown: Scranton beat West Scranton two out of three times this season but Scranton will not have ace Jack Kelly due to pitch count. West Scranton will be able to call upon Cole Stetzar, who is possibly the Invaders' MVP this season. In order for Scranton to win, they need to have their No 2 pitcher step up and shut down the Invaders and get to the Invaders' pitching.

Prediction: West Scranton, think they have one of the best teams in 6A .

Delaware Valley at Williamsport

Delaware Valley Players to Watch: 

Christian Jorgensen .361 5 R 4 2Bs 9 RBIs Pitching: 1-1 5.25 ERA 25 K

Zach Klapak .225 6 R 1 2B 3 HR 8 RBIs Pitching: 3-1 1.31 ERA 23 K

Matt Cavallaro .250 4 R 4 RBIs Pitching: 1-3 2.84 ERA 19 K

Williamsport Players to Watch:

Jesse Cornell .435 6 2Bs 5 3Bs 12 RBIs

Quentin Brown .420 4 2Bs 13 RBIs

Jalen Jackson 3-1 1.69 ERA 15 Ks

Breakdown: It's going to be a tough test for Delaware Valley as they travel to Williamsport. Williamsport plays almost an independent schedule. With neither team familiar with each other, it's very difficult to determine who a winner could be.

This One Is For The Girls

Usually I don't have an article that is devoted to High School Softball. This time, no baseball involved, just Softball. This article will get into the tournaments in each classification and I will predict the District Champion. I'm not going to include Single-A as Forest City is the only team in the bracket.

6A

Hazleton Area looks like the favorite to take the first ever 6A Tournament. Erika Book is possibly the best pitcher in the tournament. I wouldn't leave out Williamsport or Delaware Valley who can give the Cougars a run. The Cougars have ace Erika Book and a group of freshman in Marissa Trivelpiece and Tiana Treon who have been excellent for the Cougars. 

Prediction: Hazleton Area wins 6A

5A

This tournament is a subregional with District 11. Abington Heights and Wallenpaupack are the top two seeds in the tournament. The Comets' only losses were to Valley View and avenged that on Saturday afternoon by taking the Lackawanna League Division 1 crown. I wouldn't say that the other teams in District 2 can't win the tournament. Pittston Area made the District Finals last year and Valley West can make some noise as well. Wallenpaupack as the two seed could make it interesting.

Prediction: Abington Heights takes the District Title and the Subregional

4A

This bracket is basically Nanticoke's to lose but I'll admit they can be challenged. If you look at the possible District Finals, Nanticoke could face off against Tunkhannock who gave the Trojanettes fits this season and Valley View, who knocked off Abington Heights twice this season. Wouldn't leave out Wyoming Area or West Scranton to give them a run for their money.

Prediction: Nanticoke

3A

Last season, the Lady Royals were tested in the District Semis and Finals on their way to their second consecutive State Championship. In league play, they only gave up a run in the regular season finale to Meyers but that was all. This might be the most dominant team I've seen in softball. Can't say the road will be a cakewalk however. Mid Valley as the two seed, did almost beat the Royals in the District Final a season ago, only losing in extra innings. 

Prediction: Holy Redeemer

2A

Holy Cross is the top seed. Followed by Elk Lake, Lackawanna Trail, Northwest, Wyoming Seminary, Riverside, Old Forge and Blue Ridge. Could be the most interesting bracket, with Northwest and Wyoming Seminary possibly giving them a contest in the semifinal. Elk Lake and Lackawanna Trail could be interesting as well. 

Prediction: I'm going to go out on a limb and say Northwest.

A New Class is in Session

With the PIAA moving into 6 classifications, a lot of teams moved around and some can't defend their District Classification Title cause they were too big. The only exception is Northwest who technically can repeat as District 2 2A Champions. With this one, it'll probably the one of the shorter posts but with that being said, here is the 6A Classification.

Scranton at Hazleton Area: The Cougars ace is Colin Stauffer, who has been excellent for Hazleton Area. The Cougars went on a three game winning to end the regular season and looked primed to take this game. However the Knights could give them a game. Jack Kelly is the ace of the Knights. He went 1-4 with a 2.12 ERA and recorded 21 strikeouts. For Hazleton Area, Livan Reinoso has been on a tear all season, hitting .622 with four doubles, a home run and nine RBIs.

Favorite to take the 6A title: West Scranton

Projected matchup in the District Final: West Scranton vs Delaware Valley

Comets advances past North Pocono

The Crestwood Comets and the North Pocono Trojans played at the Mountain Top American Legion on Saturday afternoon. The winner would take on Valley West in the District Semifinals. Colin Macko got the start for the Comets and the Trojans went with Ryan Deom. Pat Kravitz reached on an error with two outs, but Macko got a strikeout to end the top of the first. Brett Caladie led off with a single to right but Deom got the next three outs to keep it scoreless after one. Jake Mastillo drew a two out walk but Macko got another strikeout to keep the Trojans off the board. Steve Wegener led off with an infield single. After a popout, a flyout caused a double play to keep the game scoreless after two. Macko threw his first 1-2-3 inning in the third. Evan Knapp led off with a single then advanced to second on a Matt Taleroski sacrifice bunt. Knapp moved to third on a wild pitch. After a flyout, Macko brought home Knapp on a hard hit single. James Graves then reached on an error, but a groundout ended the third. Cory Wall hit a one out single, then Gary Woloszyn drew a walk. Ryan Deom would single home Wall to tie the game at one but a strikeout and a fielder's choice would keep the game tied at one. Deom threw a 1-2-3 fourth to keep the game tied. Macko threw a 1-2-3 fifth to keep the Comets in it. Matt Taleroski would hit a one out single. After a groundout, Taleroski would move to third. Macko then drew a walk. Macko's courtesy runner, Mick Bafunno would end getting caught in a pickle and Taleroski would score before Bafunno was tagged out to give the Comets a 2-1 lead after five. Pat Kravitz would hit a leadoff single, then would steal second. Kravitz would move to third on a groundout. Woloszyn would try a safety squeeze but Kravitz would be tagged out at home by catcher Steve Wegener for the second out. Deom would then single to move Woloszyn to third. The Trojans, like the Comets, tried the same play to get the runner home and almost got him at home but the throw was off and the game was tied at 2 but they would get the runner out at third for the third out. James Graves would lead off with a single, then Justin Darden would double and Graves would go to third.  Tony Donato would then come in to pitch for the Trojans. After a strikeout, Curtis Tokach would then bring home Graves on an infield single to make it 3-2 Crestwood. After another strikeout, Evan Knapp would walk to load the bases. Matt Taleroski would then bring home Darden on a bases loaded walk to increase the lead to 4-2. A groundout would end the inning. Macko would get the first two batters of the inning to strikeout, but would have to come out due to the pitch count rule. Matt Trimmer would come in to get the final out for the Comets. Trimmer would only need one pitch to close it out, a ground ball to Darden to Chalk to end the inning and the Comets would advance to the District 2 Semifinals with a 4-2 victory over North Pocono.

Thoughts on the game: Well, I picked this as my upset of the 5A Bracket and I struck out. Speaking of strikeouts, Colin Macko had a great game. Striking out 9 batters and also driving in the game's first run. It was also an unusual game, with two rundown plays that resulted in runs for the Comets and the Trojans. Ryan Deom did impress me for North Pocono, he did pitch well in defeat and had two hits for the Trojans.

North Pocono 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2
Crestwood 0 0 1 0 1 2 x 4

North Pocono
CF Noon 3 0 0 0
LF Walsh 3 0 0 0
SS Kravitz 3 0 1 0
3B Wall 3 1 1 0
1B Woloszyn 2 1 0 0
P/2B Deom 3 0 2 1
C Mastillo 2 0 0 0
2B Sapienza 0 0 0 0
P Donato 0 0 0 0
DH McLain 3 0 0 0
LF Kowalski 2 0 0 0
PH Cruciani 1 0 0 0

Crestwood
SS Caladie 4 0 1 0
P Macko 2 0 1 1
P Trimmer 0 0 0 0
1B Chalk 0 0 0 0
DH Graves 3 1 1 0
2B Darden 3 1 1 0
C Wegener 3 0 1 0
3B Tokach 3 0 1 1
PR Bafunno 0 0 0 0
RF Kindler 2 0 0 0
PH Brozena 1 0 0 0
LF Knapp 2 1 1 0
CF Taleroski 1 1 1 1

2B: Darden

Pitching
North Pocono
Deom (L) 5+ IP 22 BF 4 R 4 ER 7 H 1 K 1 BB
Donato 1 IP 6 BF 0 R 1 H 2 K 2 BB

Crestwood
Macko (W) 6.2 IP 26 BF 2 R 1 ER 4 H 9 K 2 BB
Trimmer (S) 0.1 IP 1 BF 0 R 0 ER 0 K 0 BB

The Baseball Bracket Breakdown

Well here we are, the District 2 Baseball Playoffs are here. Now in this one, I'll be dissecting the brackets in every classification with the exception of the A bracket because that's a subregional and it's not out yet and I will hold off on 6A as that doesn't start until Monday. Well with that being said, here is the breakdown of the brackets.

2A Bracket: Blue Ridge is the top seed in this classification and they won a Single-A title in 2015. Don't sleep on Northwest, who won the 2A title last season. Can't say it's one of the strongest fields but it will be interesting.

Upset Pick: Northwest over Old Forge. Northwest got a bit of experience from last season. They also had to play tough teams in Meyers, Hanover Area and Holy Redeemer.

Other Quarterfinal Predictions:

Holy Cross over Lackawanna Trail

Elk Lake over Mt View

3A Bracket: Lakeland this year looks like the cream of the crop in 3A. Going undefeated and looking for another District Title. The most interesting thing is that unlike the other classifications is that the District Runner-Up's season won't be over as they will advance to the State Tournament as well. Meyers is on the other side of the bracket but will be testing the waters as they could possibly end up with a rematch with Hanover Area. 

Upset Pick: Hanover Area over Meyers. The Hawkeyes have been great during the postseason. The saying can be true here, it's tough to beat a team three times, especially in baseball

3A Quarterfinal Picks

Riverside over Montrose

Dunmore over Carbondale

Lake-Lehman over Wyoming Seminary

Hanover Area over GAR

4A Bracket: Probably one of two brackets that are kinda hard to crack. I wouldn't be surprised (with the exception of Honesdale/Valley View) with whoever won any of the matchups.

Upset Pick: Nanticoke over Dallas. Don't let Nanticoke's record deceive you, they can be a dangerous team. Of their three wins, they beat Valley West, Division 1 Champion Crestwood and Dallas. 

Other Quarterfinal Predictions:

Valley View over Honesdale

Berwick over Scranton Prep

Wyoming Area over Tunkhannock

5A Bracket: This is possibly one of the toughest brackets in all the classifications. All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised who wins the title. A rare treat that can only happen this year is that two District Champions from last season are in the bracket and can possibly play each other in the semifinals. Wallenpaupack gets the only bye in the 5A bracket and they will play the winner of the Pittston Area/Coughlin game. In other games, North Pocono takes on Crestwood and Abington Heights travels to Valley West. 

Upset Pick: North Pocono over Crestwood. North Pocono won a 3A title last season and will have their best pitcher on the mound who helped them get to the State semifinals last season. Crestwood lost four in a row after winning seven in a row, but received a forfeit win and beat Lake-Lehman in a non-league game.

Other Quarterfinal Picks:

Pittston Area over Coughlin

Valley West over Abington Heights.

Rodriguez Slam propels Railriders in 12

The Railriders came back home for a seven game homestand as they started a four game series with the Pawtucket Red Sox. Caleb Smith starts for the Railriders and the Red Sox had Brian Johnson get the start. Steve Selsky hit a two out single to right but a forceout would end the top half of the first. Tyler Wade led off with a deep home run to right center field for a 1-0 Railriders lead. Dustin Fowler would hit a single to right and would steal second on the next batter. Clint Frazier would draw a walk. After a forceout and a strikeout, Mason Williams would bring home Fowler on an RBI single for a 2-0 Railriders lead. A flyout would end the inning. Smith would throw a 1-2-3 frame in the second for the Railriders. Johnson would answer with a 1-2-3 inning of his own for the Red Sox. Dan Butler would reach on an error to lead off the third. After a strikeout, Rusney Castillo brought home Butler on an RBI double to cut the lead to 2-1. After a lineout, Pawtucket would take the lead on a two run home run by Steve Selsky for a 3-2 Pawtucket lead. Sam Travis would single to center and Ryan Court drew a walk but a lineout would end the Top of the third. Johnson would throw a 1-2-3 third to keep the one run lead. Smith would throw a 1-2-3 fourth for the Railriders. Cito Culver would reach on an error to lead off the inning. Culver would move to second on a sacrifice bunt. Mark Payton would draw a walk but a strikeout and a lineout would end the inning. Smith threw a 1-2-3 fifth for the Railriders. Wade drew a leadoff walk, then stole second on the next batter. Dustin Fowler brought home Wade on an RBI single to tie the game at 3. After a flyout, Mike Ford would single to right but a forceout and a flyout would end the inning. JR Graham would come in to pitch for the Railriders. Travis led off with a single to center. Ryan Court would then double to right, moving Travis to third. Travis would score on an RBI groundout by Jantzen Witte to give the Red Sox the lead once again 4-3. On the next batter, Allen Craig would hit a grounder to short and threw home to Eddy Rodriguez to get Court out at home. Butler would single to right but a popout would end the inning. Eddy Rodriguez would hit a single to left but Johnson got a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Tyler Jones came in to pitch the seventh for the Railriders and threw a 1-2-3 inning. Dustin Fowler would hit a one out triple to right. Pawtucket went to bullpen, bringing in Kyle Martin to replace Brian Johnson. Clint Frazier would fly out to left and Fowler would try to score but was tagged out at the plate for the final out of the seventh. Jones threw a 1-2-3 eighth for the Railriders. Mason Williams hit a two out single to left, but a strikeout would end the eighth. Tyler Jones would throw his third straight 1-2-3 inning as the Railriders still trailed 4-3 going to the bottom of the ninth. Blaine Boyer came in for the save for Pawtucket. Tyler Wade drew a two out walk. Dustin Fowler tied the game up 4-4 with a RBI single to score Wade. Boyer would get a strikeout to get the Red Sox into free baseball tied up at 4. Ernesto Frieri came in to pitch for the Railriders and threw a 1-2-3 inning. Chandler Shepherd came in to pitch the tenth for the Red Sox. Culver drew a one out walk. On the next batter, Culver would get thrown out trying to steal second and a groundout would end the inning as we went to the eleventh. Frieri threw a 1-2-3 eleventh for the Railriders. Payton hit a leadoff single, then advanced to second on a Eddy Rodriguez sacrifice bunt. After a popout, Wade would single and Fowler would be intentionally walked to load the bases but a groundout to get the game to the 12th inning. Dan Butler hit a single to left. After a strikeout, Castillo drew a walk. A groundout would end the inning. Culver draw a one out walk. Mason Williams followed with a single, then Mark Payton would single to load the bases. Brandon Workman came in to pitch for the Red Sox. Eddy Rodriguez would hit a walkoff grand slam as the Railriders took down the Red Sox 8-4 in 12 innings

Pawtucket 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

Railriders 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 8

Red Sox

CF Castillo 5 1 1 1

3B Holt 3 0 0 0

3B Dominguez 3 0 0 0

1B Selsky 5 1 2 2

DH Travis 5 1 2 0

LF Court 4 0 1 0

2B Witte 5 0 0 1

RF Craig 3 0 0 0

RF Bogusevic 2 0 0 0

C Butler 5 1 2 0

SS Miller 5 0 0 0

2B Castillo, Court

HR Selsky

Railriders

2B Wade 4 3 2 1

CF Fowler 5 1 4 2

LF Frazier 5 0 0 0

1B Ford 6 0 1 0

SS Culver 4 1 0 0

RF Williams 5 1 3 1

DH Payton 5 1 2 0

C Rodriguez 5 1 2 4

3B Abelino 5 0 0 0

2B Fowler

3B Fowler

HR Wade, Rodriguez

Pitching

Pawtucket

Johnson 6.1 IP 7 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB 6 K

Martin 1.2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K

Boyer 1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 2 K

Shepherd (L) 2.1 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB 0 K

Workman 0+ IP 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 0 K

Railriders

Smith 5 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 3 K

Graham 1 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 0 K

Jones 3 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K

Frieri (W) 3 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 3 K

Cougars take down Coughlin

Coughlin still alive for the WVC Division 1 Championship faced off against the Cougars of Hazleton Area on Senior Day at Hilldale Park. Jacob Lupas got the start for the Crusaders and the Cougars went to Brady Antolick. Lupas started off with a 1-2-3 top of the first as the Crusaders came up to bat. Chase Nowak hit a two out infield single but a strikeout ended the inning keeping the game scoreless. Frank DeGaetano hit a two out single but he would be picked off trying to go to second for the third out. Antolick would throw a 1-2-3 second to keep the game scoreless after two. Ryan Pietrzyk would lead off by reaching on an error. He would reach second on a Brian Harry sacrifice bunt, then Alex Amentler would bring him home on an RBI single to make it 1-0 Hazleton Area. A groundout would end the inning. Taylor Chronowski led off with an infield single, then Darryn Marek used a sacrifice bunt to move Chronowski to second. Eric Christian followed with a walk, then TJ Wozniak singled to load the bases. After an infield fly, Leroy Fettig would get hit by a pitch to tie the game at 1. A strikeout would get the Cougars out of the inning tied. Alex Klein would hit a two out single but a grounder back to Lupas would end the Cougars half of inning. George Oko got hit by a pitch with one out. After a flyout, Marek drew a walk but a popout to first ended the fourth still tied. Lupas would throw a 1-2-3 fifth for the Crusaders. Antolick would throw a 1-2-3 frame of his own to keep the game tied. Chris Heim would draw a walk with one out, then Livan Reinoso hit a single up the middle to move Heim to second. Dayan Reinoso then brought home Heim on an RBI single for a 2-1 Cougars lead. A flyout and a popout would end the Top of the sixth inning. Jacob Lupas would hit a one out single, but back-to-back flyouts would end the inning. Chase Nowak came in to pitch the seventh for the Crusaders. Ryan Pietrzyk hit a leadoff single and would be lifted for a pinch runner in Christian Shoemaker. Brian Harry used another sacrifice bunt to move Shoemaker to second, then James Vozar hit a single that moved Shoemaker to third. After a strikeout, Heim brought home Shoemaker on an RBI single for a 3-1 Cougar lead. Lavan Reinoso then drove home Vozar on another RBI single for a 4-1 lead. A flyout would end the inning. Colin Stauffer would come in for the save for the Cougars. Marek would hit a fly ball to right but Livan Reinoso made a running catch for the first out. A groundout to second and a groundout to third to give the Cougars a 4-1 victory over Coughlin. 

Thoughts on the game: It was a very close game for six innings til the Cougars broke the game open with two runs in the seventh. Brady Antolick pitched a great game for the Cougars, striking out 6 and giving up 3 hits. With the Coughlin loss, Crestwood takes the WVC Division 1 Championship. 

Hazleton Area 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 4

Coughlin 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Hazleton Area

P Antolick 0 0 0 0

P Stauffer 0 0 0 0

DH Amentler 4 0 1 0

LF Heim 3 1 1 1

RF L Reinoso 4 0 2 1

C D Reinoso 4 0 1 1

CF Klein 3 0 1 0

3B DeGaetano 3 0 1 0

1B Pietrzyk 3 1 1 0

PR Shoemaker 0 1 0 0

2B Harry 2 0 0 0

SS Vozar 3 1 1 0

Coughlin

CF Christian 3 0 0 0

SS Wozniak 4 0 1 0

3B/P Nowak 3 0 1 0

1B Fettig 2 0 0 1

C Dressler 3 0 0 0

P/2B Lupas 3 0 1 0

LF Oko 2 0 0 0

RF Chronowski 3 1 1 0

2B/3B Marek 1 0 0 0

Pitching

Hazleton Area

Antolick (W) 6 IP 26 BF 1 R 1 ER 3 H 6 K 2 BB

Stauffer (S) 1 IP 3 BF 0 R 0 ER 0 K 0 BB

Coughlin

Lupas (L) 6 IP 24 BF 2 R 1 ER 5 H 3 K 1 BB

Nowak 1 IP 7 BF 2 R 2 ER 4 H 1 K 0 BB

Railriders salvage split of Syracuse

The Syracuse Chiefs and SWB Railriders concluded their four game series in Syracuse. The Railriders looked to split their series with the Chiefs. Touted Yankees prospect Chance Adams got the start for the Railriders. The Chiefs went with Austin Voth. Tyler Wade drew a walk, then advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw. After a pop out, on the next batter, Wade would get thrown out trying to steal third. A flyout would end the inning. Matt Skole hit a lead off single to center, then Brandon Snyder and Clint Robinson each drew walks to load the bases. A popout would end the inning. Called up from Double-A Trenton to replace Ji-Man Choi who got injured in yesterday's game, Mike Ford led off with a single to right but Voth would retire the next three batters to keep it scoreless. Adrian Sanchez hit a one out single to left but a strikeout and a popout ended the second scoreless. Voth threw a 1-2-3 third for the Chiefs. Adams answered with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. Mike Ford hit a double to center with two outs but a popout would end the top of the fourth. Pedro Severino would draw a walk but a strikeout and a flyout would end the inning. Ruben Tejada would hit a single to left with one out. Mark Payton followed with a single to right. Payton would be force out on a grounder by Cito Culver. Tyler Wade bring home Tejada on a double to left for a 1-0 lead. Culver would be out at home trying to score to end the inning. Adams would throw a 1-2-3 fifth for the Railriders. During the inning, Syracuse manager Billy Gardner was ejected. Clint Frazier hit a bunt single with one out. After a line out, Frazier would move to second on a passed ball. Kyle Higashioka would get to first on a wild pitch after a strikeout. The wild pitch moved Frazier to third. Mason Williams then brought home Frazier on a single to right to increase the lead to 2-0. Dustin Antolin came in relief for Syracuse. Tejada drew a walk but a strikeout would end the top of the sixth. Joe Mantiply would come in to pitch for the Railriders. Skole would hit a lead off double to right but Mantiply retired the next three batters to keep the Chiefs off the board. Dustin Fowler hit a two out infield single but a flyout would end the top half of the seventh. Corban Joseph hit a lead off infield single but he would get picked off first on the next batter. Adrian Sanchez and Caleb Ramsey would each single to right but a force out and a strikeout would end the seventh. Antolin would throw a 1-2-3 eighth for the Chiefs. Colten Brewer would come in to pitch the eighth for the Railriders. Skole hit a lead off home run to right to cut the Railriders lead to 2-1. After a strikeout, Robinson advanced to first on a strikeout wild pitch but Brewer got a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Tejada started the inning with a hit by pitch. After a flyout, Cito Culver reached on an error, Tejada moved to third on the play. Neal Cotts came in to pitch for the Chiefs. Wade walks to load the bases. Tejada would score on a wild pitch for a 3-1 lead. Frazier then brought home Culver and Wade for a 5-1 lead. Mike Ford drew a walk, then Higashioka hit a double to left to score Frazier and a 6-1 advantage. A popout would end the inning. Adrian Sanchez would single to right with one out. Caleb Ramsey would advance to first on a strikeout wild pitch. Sanchez moved to third on the wild pitch. Rafael Bautista would bring home Sanchez on an RBI ground out to make it 6-2 but a strikeout would end the game as the Railriders took the victory and salvaged the split 6-2 over Syracuse. 

Thoughts on the game: Well, despite the disastrous start to the series, the Railriders rebounded great by taking the two on Saturday and Sunday. Several players that were called up from Trenton contributed greatly today. Mike Ford went 2 for 4 with a double and a single. Chance Adams pitched great for the Railriders. He threw five scoreless inning.

Railriders 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 6

Syracuse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2

Railriders

3B Wade 3 1 1 1

CF Fowler 5 0 1 0

RF Frazier 5 2 2 2

1B Ford 4 0 2 0

C Higashioka 5 0 1 1

DH Williams 5 0 1 1

SS Tejada 2 2 1 0

2B Avelino 0 0 0 0

LF Payton 4 0 1 0

2B/SS Culver 4 1 0 0

2B: Ford, Wade, Higashioka 

Syracuse

CF Bautista 5 0 0 1

LF Stevenson 5 0 0 0

3B/1B Skole 4 1 3 1

DH Snyder 3 0 0 0

1B Robinson 3 0 0 0

SS Falu 0 0 0 0

C Severino 3 0 0 0

2B Joseph 4 0 1 0

SS/3B Sanchez 4 1 3 0

RF Ramsey 4 0 1 0

2B: Skole

HR: Skole

Pitching

Railriders

Adams (W) 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 6 K

Mantiply (H) 2 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K

Brewer (S) 2 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 4 K

Syracuse

Voth (L) 5.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 4 K

Antolin 2.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K

Adams 0.1 IP 0 H 3 R 0 ER 1 BB 0 K

Cotts 0.2 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 0 K

MAY MADNESS!

Well, the playoffs are almost upon us and with that, my favorite time of the year is here. Now you could argue basketball playoffs are fun but it's something about the District Baseball Playoffs that makes it more interesting. First off, with the exception of 3A, no matter how far you get in the District Playoffs, only the District Champion moves on. The upsets are unlike any other in the playoffs. You can see an eight or nine seed winning it all, it all comes down to if a team gets hot in the postseason. There is something I don't like about the District playoff format this year. So with several divisions in the balance and teams having to still play on Monday, some teams could up with playing a one game playoff for the Division. So if you have your best pitcher on Monday, he can't go for the playoff but can pitch in the playoffs on three days rest which in my opinion is not the best idea. Another one is that you can get away with starting your best pitcher for all three games in 4A and 5A. They would play Friday, then Wednesday and the Championship is Sunday. With the pitch limit, yes you need to use another pitcher but it still doesn't make sense when it's a seven team playoff to just not play Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday. This format benefits the best pitcher and not exactly the best team. Well with that being said, here are the scenarios for the divisions that haven't been clinched yet.

Baseball

WVC Division 1
This one is probably the hardest one to write because we're still waiting on word on what Pittston Area will do and that's if they do anything. Okay, so Crestwood and Pittston Area play each other on Monday. Whoever wins the game has a chance for the division, however Coughlin is tied as well so if they win, there will be a one game playoff for the Division crown between the winner of Crestwood/Pittston Area. If Coughlin loses to Hazleton Area, the winner of Crestwood/Pittston Area takes the title straight up.

PS: To those wondering why I'm not discussing the brawl, We're still waiting on what Pittston Area does and see what happens with both programs moving forward as in District Playoffs and beyond.

WVC Division 2
This is destined for a possible one game playoff. Berwick and Tunkhannock face off against each other on Monday and Dallas takes on Nanticoke. If Dallas wins, they would take on the winner of the Tunkhannock/Berwick game.

LL Division 1
This one has a few ifs in here. Here's the big thing here, if Delaware Valley loses to Scranton on Monday, West Scranton wins the division. If West Scranton beats Abington Heights on Wednesday, regardless if Delaware Valley wins. The Invaders take the title. If Delaware Valley wins and West Scranton loses, they would play a one game playoff for the Division Crown.

LL Division 5
Blue Ridge and Forest City are tied for the Division lead and Elk Lake trails by a game. They all have two games left on their schedule. Forest City has Mt View and Lackawanna Trail remaining. Blue Ridge has Lackawanna Trail and Montrose remaining. Elk Lake has Montrose and Lackawanna Trail. It looks as though Blue Ridge and Forest City is slated for a one game playoff for the division.

Softball
Division 1
Valley View still has to makeup one game and that game could cause them and Abington Heights to be tied. Valley View has a makeup with West Scranton on Wednesday but before that, they have to play Scranton Prep on Monday. Abington Heights has West Scranton on Monday.

Division 2
Delaware Valley and Wallenpaupack are tied for the division lead and North Pocono trails by a game. Wallenpaupack plays Scranton. Delaware Valley takes on Western Wayne and North Pocono travels to Honesdale.

Division 3
With 2 games left, Holy Cross and Mid Valley are tied atop the division. Holy Cross has Dunmore and Riverside, meanwhile Mid Valley has Old Forge and Lakeland.

Division 4
Elk Lake currently leads the division, but Montrose has a game in hand on them. Elk Lake takes on Lackawanna Trail and Montrose which could determine the division. Montrose takes Susquehanna on Monday, Blue Ridge on Wednesday and Elk Lake on Thursday. The game on Thursday could be for the Division title.

Railriders Bounce Back, Take Down Syracuse

The Syracuse Chiefs and the SWB Railriders played their third game of the series on Saturday in Syracuse. Greg Ross got the start for Syracuse. The Railriders went to Daniel Camarena. With one out, Dustin Fowler hit a homer to right for a 1-0 early Railriders lead. After a popout, Ji-Man Choi hit a home run for a 2-0 lead. Rob Refsnyder would single to center but a groundout would end the top of the first. Camarena threw a 1-2-3 first for the Railriders. Eddy Rodriguez singled to right with one out, then Abiatal Avelino hit a single to center. Tyler Wade then doubled to left to score Rodriguez and Avelino for a 4-0 Railriders. After a flyout, Clint Frazier drew a walk, then Choi doubled to right that scored 5-0 Railriders lead. The double moved Frazier to third. Refsnyder then hit a double to right to score Frazier and Choi for the 7-0 lead. Cody Satterwhite came in to pitch for Syracuse and would get a groundout to end the inning for the Railriders. Brandon Snyder led off with a walk but a strikeout and a double play would end the inning. Satterwhite threw a 1-2-3 third for the Railriders. Camerena answered with a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the third. Dustin Fowler hit an infield single, then Clint Frazier followed with a ground-rule double to right. After a strikeout, Rob Refsnyder drew a walk to load the bases. Mason Williams drove home Fowler and Frazier on a single to center for the 9-0 lead. Cito Culver singled home Refsnyder for a 10-0 advantage. Mike Broadway came in to pitch for the Chiefs and got a strikeout to get the Chiefs out of the inning. Camarena threw a 1-2-3 fourth for the Railriders. Tyler Wade hit a solo homer to right with one out for an 11-0 lead. A strikeout and a flyout ended the fifth. Grant Green drew a one out walk, Jhonatan Solano followed with a single to left. After a strikeout, Caleb Ramsey hit an infield single to load the bases. Irving Falu got the Chiefs on the board to bring home Green and Solano to make it 11-2. A flyout would end the inning. Ji-Man Choi led off with a single to right, then was replaced for a pinch runner in Ruben Tejada. Rob Refsnyder then singled, and Mason Williams walked to load the bases. Refsnyder would score on a double play ball for a 12-2 lead. A strikeout would end the inning. Ben Heller came in to pitch for the Railriders and threw a 1-2-3 sixth. Neal Cotts came in to pitch for Syracuse. Avelino led off by getting hit by a pitch, then Tyler Wade singled to right. Cotts would get the next three outs to keep the Railriders off the board in the seventh. Grant Green drew a walk to lead off the inning but Heller got the next three outs to end the seventh. Rafael Martin came in to pitch for the Chiefs and threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Ben Heller would get the first two outs of the eighth inning and Tyler Webb came in to pitch for the Railriders and he would get a flyout to end the eighth. Brandon Snyder came in to pitch for Syracuse. Tyler Wade hit a two out single but a lineout would end the top half of the ninth. Brandon Snyder would hit a home run to left with one out to make it 12-3 in favor of the Railriders. Webb would get the next two outs to give the Railriders a 12-3 advantage over Syracuse.

Thoughts on the game: Another blowout in this series but this time, it was the Railriders who was the team with the blowout victory. Tyler Wade and Ji-Man Choi had great games today, as did Rob Refsnyder who each had two hits. Camarena pitched a very good five innings for the Railriders.

Railriders 2 5 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 12
Syracuse 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 3

Railriders
2B Wade 6 2 4 3
RF Fowler 6 2 2 1
LF Frazier 4 2 1 0
1B Choi 4 2 3 2
SS Tejada 1 1 0 0
DH Refsnyder 4 1 3 2
CF Williams 4 0 1 2
SS/1B Culver 5 0 1 1
C Rodriguez 5 1 1 0
3B Avelino 4 1 1 0

2B: Wade, Choi, Refsnyder, Frazier
HR: Fowler, Choi, Wade

Syracuse
LF Bautista 4 0 0 0
CF Stevenson 4 0 0 0
1B Skole 4 0 0 0
3B/P Snyder 3 1 1 1
DH/3B Green 2 1 0 0
C Solano 4 1 1 0
SS Sanchez 3 0 0 0
RF Ramsey 3 0 1 0
2B Falu 3 0 1 2

HR: Snyder

Pitching
Railriders
Camarena (W) 5 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 5 K
Heller 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K
Webb 1.1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 0 K

Syracuse
Ross (L) 1.2 IP 8 H 7 R 7 ER 1 BB 2 K
Satterwhite 2 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 2 K
Broadway 2.1 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 3 K
Cotts 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K
Martin 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Snyder 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K

Another Day, Same Result for Syracuse

The Railriders and the Chiefs continued their four game set in Syracuse as they played the second game. Joe Ross got the start for the Chiefs and the Railriders went with Luis Cessa. Ross started the first with a 1-2-3 inning. Rafael Bautista, Andrew Stevenson and Matt Skole would each single to load the bases the start the game. The Railriders would get the initial out at home from third but a throwing error by the catcher caused Stevenson to score and a 1-0 Syracuse lead. The error also moved Skole to third. Corban Joseph brought home Skole on an RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead. A strikeout would end the first. Ji-Man Choi would draw a leadoff walk but Ross would get the next three outs to keep the 2-0 Chiefs lead. Grant Green hit a leadoff single to left, then Adrian Sanchez followed with a single to right. Falu then loaded the bases with a single to right. The Railriders got the forceout at home then got a strikeout. However, Matt Skole would drive home three on a double to center to score Sanchez, Falu and Bautista for a 5-0 Syracuse lead. Brandon Snyder then brought Skole home on a single to left for a 6-0 Chiefs lead. Corban Joseph then doubled to left that moved Skole to third but a ground out would end the inning. Joe Ross threw a 1-2-3 third for the Chiefs. Grant Green led off with a walk but a popout and a double play ended the inning. Dustin Fowler then doubled to right to lead off the fourth. Fowler moved to third on a Frazier flyout to right. Fowler would score on a Ji-Man Choi sacrifice fly to right to get the Railriders on the board 6-1. Rob Refsnyder kept the inning going with a single to right but a groundout would end the Railriders turn to bat in the fourth inning. Rafael Bautista led off with a single, then Stevenson and Skole each drew walks to load the bases and the Railriders went to JR Graham in relief. Snyder would draw a bases loaded walk to make it 7-1 Syracuse. Corban Joseph brought home Stevenson on an RBI single to right for the 8-1 advantage. Pedro Severino would drive home Skole and Snyder on a 2 RBI single to right for a 10-1 lead. Graham would get back-to-back strikeouts and a popout to end the inning. Kyle Higashioka led off with a single to left but a double play and a groundout ended the inning. Rafael Bautista led off with a double to right but Graham retired the next three batters to end the fifth. Tyler Wade would lead off with a double to right. After a flyout, Clint Frazier would hit a home run to left to make it 10-3 Syracuse. After a groundout, Refsnyder would draw a walk but a flyout would end the inning. Tyler Jones came in to pitch the seventh for the Railriders and threw a 1-2-3 inning. Austin Adams came in to pitch for the Chiefs. Mark Payton drew a two out walk but a strikeout ended the threat. Jones threw another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh for the Railriders. Dustin Fowler reached on an error to lead off the eighth for the Railriders but would be left there as Syracuse retired the next three batters by strikeout. Ernesto Frieri came in to pitch the eighth for the Railriders and he would strike out the side. Joe Nathan came in to pitch the ninth for the Chiefs. Higashioka hit a one out double to left. After a flyout, Payton drew a walk but Nathan would get the strikeout as Syracuse took the second game of the series 10-3.

Thoughts on the game: Another outburst of runs by the Syracuse Chiefs tonight. Their top three in the lineup really sparked them tonight. Matt Skole had three RBIs and overshadowed by the Syracuse outburst, Joe Ross had a great game on the mound, going six innings, striking out three. 

Railriders 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3

Syracuse 2 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 X 10

Railriders

SS Wade 5 1 1 0

LF Fowler 4 1 1 0

DH Frazier 4 1 1 2

1B Choi 2 0 0 1

2B Refsnyder 3 0 1 0

CF Williams 4 0 0 0

C Higashioka 4 0 2 0

3B Tejada 4 0 0 0

RF Payton 2 0 0 0

2B: Fowler, Wade, Higashioka 

HR: Frazier

Syracuse

CF Bautista 5 2 3 0

LF Stevenson 4 2 1 0

1B Skole 4 3 2 3

RF Snyder 4 1 1 2

DH Joseph 4 0 2 2

C Severino 4 0 1 2

3B Green 3 0 1 0

SS Sanchez 4 1 1 0

2B Falu 4 1 1 0

Pitching

Railriders

Cessa (L) 3 IP 10 H 9 R 8 ER 3 BB 2 K

Graham 2 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 3 K

Jones 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K

Frieri 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K

Syracuse

Ross (W) 6 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 3 K

Adams 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K

Nathan 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K

Nanticoke gets by Crestwood

Crestwood looking to get ground as they played their fourth game of the week as they traveled to Nanticoke for a makeup. Kyle Pokrinchak got the start for Nanticoke and the Comets went to James Graves. Graves hit a two out single but a groundout kept the Comets off the board. Kyle Pokrinchak led off with a walk then scored on Dylan Szychowski's RBI single for a 1-0 Comets lead. After a flyout, Trahjan Krupinski and Tyler Pokrinchak drew walks to load the bases. After Graves got a strikeout, on the next batter, Szychowski would score on a passed ball for a 2-0 Trojan lead. A popout would end the inning. Brandon Brozena led off with a single, a groundout would move Brozena to second. Steve Wegener would reach on an error but Brozena was thrown out at third trying to get there for the second out but a groundout would end the inning. Austin Norton would lead off with a walk, but Graves would get the next three outs to keep it 2-0 Nanticoke. Brett Caladie would hit a one out single and advanced on a balk but a flyout and a popout would end the Top half of the third inning. Tyler Pokrinchak would hit a two out double but a flyout would end the inning. Justin Darden would hit a leadoff double. Darden would move to third on a groundout to second. After another groundout failed to score Darden, Wegener would single to score Darden to cut the lead to 2-1. Anthony Kovalchik would reach on an error but a flyout would end the fourth. Nick Bukofski drew a leadoff walk. Bukofski would steal second on the next batter. After a strikeout, Devland Heffron hit a single to right that moved Bukofski to third. Kyle Pokrinchak hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Bukofski for a 3-1 Nanticoke lead. Szychowski drew a walk, then Kris Rynkiewicz hit a single but Heffron would be out on a great relay from Knapp to Kovalchik to Wegener for the third out. Kyle Pokrinchak threw a 1-2-3 fifth for the Trojans. Curtis Tokach came in to pitch for the Comets. Tyler Pokrinchak hit a one out single, after a flyout. Bukofski would hit a single but a strikeout would end the inning. Kyle Pokrinchak would throw a 1-2-3 sixth for the Trojans. Tokach would throw a 1-2-3 inning sixth for the Comets. Evan Knapp kept the game alive with a two out single but a fielder's choice groundout would end the game as the Trojans took the victory 3-1 over Crestwood. Crestwood is now in a four way tie with Valley West, Coughlin and Pittston Area.

Thoughts on the game: Kyle Pokrinchak had a great game despite having one strikeout. He scattered six hits, allowing one run and didn't walk a batter. He kept the ball on the ground and when it wasn't on the ground, it was to someone. For Crestwood, they still have a chance at the division despite the four game losing streak. If they beat Pittston Area and hope that Valley West and Coughlin lose, they can win the division outright.

Crestwood 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Nanticoke 2 0 0 1 0 0 X 3

Crestwood 

SS Caladie 3 0 1 0

1B/RF Macko 3 0 0 0

P/1B Graves 3 0 1 0

2B Darden 3 1 1 0

2B Toronzi 0 0 0 0

RF/CF Brozena 3 0 1 0

CF Taleroski 0 0 0 0

DH/P Tokach 3 0 0 0

C Wegener 3 0 1 1

3B Kovalchik 2 0 0 0

PH Bafunno 1 0 0 0

LF Knapp 3 0 1 0

2B: Darden

Nanticoke

P K Pokrinchak 2 1 1 1

CF Szychowski 3 1 1 1

C Rynkiewicz 3 0 1 0

1B Krupinski 2 0 0 0

3B T Pokrinchak 2 0 2 0

SS Kurkoski 3 0 0 0

2B Bukofski 2 1 1 0

LF Norton 1 0 0 0

PH Brown 1 0 0 0

RF Butczynski 0 0 0 0

DH Heffner 3 0 1 0

2B: Szychowski

Pitching

Crestwood

Graves 4 IP 21 BF 3 R 2 ER 3 K 5 BB

Tokach 2 IP 8 BF 0 R 0 ER 1 K 0 BB

Nanticoke

K Pokrinchak 7 IP 28 BF 1 R 1 ER 6 H 1 K 0 BB

Syracuse blows away Railriders

The Syracuse Chiefs and the SWB Railriders started off a four game set in Syracuse on Thursday night. Bryan Mitchell got the start for the Railriders. Syracuse went with Kyle McGowin. McGowin threw a 1-2-3 first for the Chiefs. Rafael Bautista led off by reaching on an error. After a strikeout, Matt Skole singled to center. After another strikeout, Clint Robinson would reach on an error which scored Bautista for a 1-0 Chiefs lead. Pedro Severino would then single to bring home Skole and Robinson for a 3-0 lead. A groundout would end the inning. Ji-Man Choi led off with a double to right but McGowin retired the next three batters to keep the three run lead. Mitchell threw a 1-2-3 second for the Railriders. Tyler Wade hit a single to center with two outs, he would steal second on the next batter. Dustin Fowler then hit a triple to right to score Wade to cut the Chiefs lead to 3-1 but a groundout would end the top of the third. Matt Skole doubled to center with one out. Brandon Snyder then walked. The Railriders went to Jason Gurka in relief. Clint Robinson hit a single to left to load the bases. Pedro Severino would bring home three runs on a single to left and advanced to second on a throwing error and it was a 6-1 Syracuse lead. Caleb Ramsey then singled home Severino for a 7-1 lead. A froceout and a groundout ended the third. McGowin would throw a 1-2-3 fourth for Syracuse. Andrew Stevenson would single to right with one out, then Skole followed with a single, moving Stevenson to third. Stevenson came home on a sacrifice fly to right for an 8-1 lead for the Chiefs. Clint Robinson then doubled home Skole for a 9-1 lead. Joe Mantiply came in to pitch for the Railriders. A strikeout would end the fourth. Cito Culver hit a two out single to left, then Tyler Wade followed with a single to center but a groundout would end the inning. Adrian Sanchez would reach on an error with one out. Irving Falu would bring home Sanchez on an RBI double to right for a 10-1 Syracuse lead. Bautista hit a single to bring home Falu for the 11-1 lead for the Chiefs. A forceout and a flyout ended the fifth. Dustin Antolin came in to pitch the sixth for Syracuse. Ji-Man Choi drew a one out walk, then Rob Refsnyder hit a single to left but a groundout and a popout ended the Railriders threat. Brandon Snyder led off with a single to center but a forceout, a popout and a groundout would end the sixth. Antolin would throw a 1-2-3 seventh for Syracuse. Irving Falu would single, but a groundout and a strikeout would end the inning. Joe Nathan would pitch for the Chiefs and struck out the side in the eighth. Tyler Webb came in to pitch the eighth for the Railriders and threw a 1-2-3 inning. Rafael Martin would come in to pitch for the Chiefs. Refsnyder would single to right, then Mason Williams would double to right to move Refsnyder to third. Kyle Higashioka would bring home Refsnyder and Williams to make it 11-3 Syracuse. After a flyout and a strikeout, Wade would double to right, Dustin Fowler would follow wit a double to center to score Higashioka and Wade to make 11-5, but the game would end on a strikeout as Syracuse took the first game 11-5.

Thoughts on the game: A very messy game by the Railriders. The pitching gave up 5 unearned runs. Despite the loss, Tyler Wade had a good game, recording 3 hits.

Railriders 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 5
Syracuse 3 0 4 2 2 0 0 0 x 11

Railriders
SS Wade 5 2 3 0
CF Fowler 5 0 2 3
RF Frazier 5 0 0 0
DH Choi 3 0 1 0
2B Refsnyder 4 1 2 0
LF Williams 4 1 1 0
C Higashioka 4 1 1 2
3B Tejada 4 0 0 0
1B Culver 4 0 1 0

2B: Choi, Williams, Wade, Fowler
3B: Fowler

Syracuse
CF Bautista 5 1 1 1
LF Stevenson 5 1 1 0
3B Skole 5 3 3 0
DH Snyder 3 1 1 1
1B Robinson 5 2 2 1
C Severino 4 1 2 3
RF Ramsey 4 0 1 1
2B Sanchez 4 1 0 0
SS Falu 4 1 2 1

2B: Skole, Robinson, Falu

Pitching
Railriders
Mitchell (L) 2.1 IP 3 H 5 R 2 ER 1 BB 3 K
Gurka 1.1 IP 6 H 4 R 3 ER 0 BB 0 K
Mantiply 3.1 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 0 BB 3 K
Webb 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K

Syracuse
McGowin (W) 5 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 2 K
Antolin 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 0 K
Nathan 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K
Martin 1 IP 5 H 4 R 4 ER 0 BB 2 K