A Fond Farewell

Well with this article, the 2016-2017 High School Sports season comes to a close. A lot of memories happened over the course of the year, at least to me and several teams this season and we'll look at those over the course of this article.

A MAGICAL RUN

Nanticoke's boys basketball team wasn't expected to do much this year. Especially after losing several seniors in Brent Piontkowski, Scott Stout and Ed Lukowski. The emergence of sophomore Nate Kreitzer helped them, as well as great senior leadership. They ended up losing a heartbreaker to Scranton Prep then beating Meyers for the third place spot for the 4A State Bid. People believed they would be one and done but they made a big comeback in the fourth quarter against Bethlehem Catholic to win. They then knocked off Conwell-Egan to advance to the State Quarterfinals. In the State Quarterfinals, their hot shooting got them past West Philadelphia. They would lose to eventual State Champion Imhotep Charter but the run they made will be remembered for years to come. 

WVC Baseball and Softball State Runs

Not too often do several teams go through a big state run but Tunkhannock and Hazleton Area softball made big runs into the State Tournament and made it to the State Finals at Penn State. They may have fallen but they proved how good they can be, especially with the young players they have. Not to be outdone, the Holy Redeemer baseball team made a run to Happy Valley, falling to Central Martinsburg.

The Streak

In something not many saw coming, the Dallas Mountaineers at the end of April were 2-6 with injuries to their ace Lee Eckert and to senior Charles Giacometti before the season began. They could have given in and said it was a lost season and just have it as a building year with the young players they have in their lineup. They would knock off Pittston Area to snap a four game losing streak and never looked back. They would end up going 7-6, tied for the Division and would knock off Tunkhannock to claim the Division 2 title. They would hold off an upset bid by the Trojans of Nanticoke, then knock off Tunkhannock for a fourth time this season. They survived to beat Valley View to claim the District Title. They blew away Athens, then shutout West York. They would advance to the State Finals with a victory over East Pennsboro. They then finished the season with a 13 game winning by beating South Park 5-0 to claim the 4A State Baseball Championship.

Upset Specials

In the softball playoffs, the semifinals and finals had some big upsets occur. The Nanticoke Trojanettes were thought to be a big time State Contender in 4A but would end being upset by Wyoming Area in the 4A Semifinals. The Holy Redeemer Lady Royals were believed to be on their way to a third straight State Championship but Mid Valley beat them in the District Final in extra innings. Not to take away anything from those teams, both of them had great seasons. 

Crestwood Baseball Surprises

The Crestwood baseball team had their best season yet. They would claim their first Division Title since 1986. They would defeat North Pocono 4-2 to advance into a semifinal matchup with rival Valley West. Coming in, it could've been believed that the Spartans would make the District Final, especially after the Spartans went up 2-0 and with ace Nate Baranski on the mound. A huge infield single by the 9 hitter changed the game, the next three batters had RBIs to give the Comets the lead. They would tie the game in the seventh but in the bottom of the eighth, Steve Wegener hit a fly ball to center to score Colin Macko to get the Comets to the District Final. They would fall to Wallenpaupack 6-1 but with several players returning next season, they could be in this situation again. 

That is going to do it for the final HS Weekly Article for the 2016-2017 season. I'll be following the Railriders this summer so stay tuned for that. The HS articles will return on August 20th. The first HS Football countdown should be August 6th, depending on how much I get done. I thank you all for reading all season long and hope you enjoyed it.