Fast start propels DeSales to road victory at Wilkes

DeSales traveled to Artillery Park on Friday afternoon to take on the Wilkes Colonels. The Bulldogs enter the game at 4-2 and second in the MAC Freedom Standings and 7-10 overall. The Colonels come in 3-3 and tied for fourth in the MAC Freedom Standings with King's. DeSales would send Junior John Poccia to the mound and Wilkes would start sophomore Matt Konikow.
Evan Plummer would lead off by getting hit by a pitch and then Preston Amato would draw a walk then Charlie Barebo would bring home Plummer with a single for a 1-0 Bulldogs lead. Barebo would get caught stealing second for the first out. Johnny Medina would get hit by a pitch then Wilkes would go to the bullpen with Zach Adamshick coming in relief. DH Sean Hanczaryk would bring home Amato for a 2-0 lead. After a strikeout, Nick White would hit a double to score Medina for the 3-0 lead. A flyout would end the top of the first. Jonah Harder would lead off the Wilkes half of the inning with a hard hit ball for an infield single. Jack Fischer would then follow with a double to move Harder to third but Poccia would settle down and retire the next three batters to keep the Colonels off the board. Cody Mish would hit a leadoff double then Plummer would single to move Mish to third. Amato would bring home Mish with a single for a 4-0 lead. Barebo would hit a double to score Plummer for a 5-0 lead. Keaton Allison would come in to pitch for Wilkes. Medina would hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Amato for the 6-0 advantage. Hanczaryk would reach on an error that would score Barebo for a 7-0 lead. A strikeout and a pickoff would end the top of the second. On the first pitch of the second inning, Nick Pronti would hit a home run to left to get the Colonels on the board at 7-1, but two strikeouts and a groundout would end the inning.  Sergio Diaz would lead off with a walk but Allison would retire the next three batters for the first DeSales scoreless inning of the day. Harder would lead off with a single. After a strikeout and a groundout that moved Harder to second, Brandon Reno would hit a single to score Harder to make it 7-2. Charles Giacometti would reach on an error that would score Reno for a 7-3 score. A popout to first would end the inning. Hanczaryk would draw a two out walk then Mike White would hit a double to score Hanczaryk for a 8-3 Bulldogs lead. Nick White would follow with a single to score Mike White for the 9-3 advantage. Diaz would hit a single to move White to second. Mish would then bring home Nick White for a 10-3 lead and Diaz would try to score after the ball was overthrown but Vinny Bobbin would throw to Allison for the out at the plate. Bobbin would draw a one out walk but a strikeout and a caught stealing would end the fourth. Travis Woolfenden would come in to pitch for the Colonels in the fifth. Plummer would lead off with a double. A flyout to right would move Plummer to third then an RBI groundout by Barebo would make it 11-3 then a groundout to short would end the inning. Poccia would throw a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth. Nick White would hit a two out single but a flyout would end the threat. Poccia would a second straight 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Plummer would hit a one out single but a groundout and a flyout would end the top of the seventh. For a third consecutive inning, Poccia would go 1-2-3. Woolfenden would throw a 1-2-3 eighth inning for Wilkes. Austin Barry would lead off with getting hit by a pitch then Jared Angerman would hit a single. After a strikeout and a flyout, Alex Halladay would hit a single to score Barry for an 11-4 score. A strikeout would end the inning. Anthony Esposito would come in to pitch for the Colonels in the ninth inning. Dillon Drew would lead off with a walk. After a strikeout, Mish would draw a walk but an infield fly and a flyout to center would end the top of the ninth. Zac Vittorelli would come in to pitch the ninth for DeSales. Michael Patrizio would lead off with a double to right and would move to third on a groundout to second. Patrizio would try to score on a passed ball but the catcher would get to him in time for the second out. Vincent Uzzi would hit a single but a strikeout would end the game as DeSales would take the road victory over Wilkes 11-4.

Thoughts on the game: DeSales Bulldogs right fielder Charlie Barebo had a great game at the plate, hitting a double and driving in three. Evan Plummer went 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Overall, DeSales hit well early, hitting five doubles. DeSales starting pitcher John Poccia pitched very well, striking out 9 while only walking one. For Wilkes, Nick Pronti had a nice home run in the second inning and Jonah Harder had a good game at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a run scored.

DeSales at Wilkes

DeSales 3 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 11
Wilkes 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 4

DeSales
RF Plummer 4 3 3 0
RF Beaky 1 0 0 0
2B Amato 4 2 1 1
CF Barebo 5 1 2 3
3B Medina 3 1 0 0
DH Hanczaryk 4 1 1 2
C M White 4 1 1 1
LF N White 4 1 3 2
LF Drew 0 0 0 0
1B Diaz 3 0 1 0
1B Condello 1 0 0 0
SS Mish 4 1 2 1

2B: Plummer, Barebo, M White, N White, Mish

Wilkes
RF/CF Harder 3 1 2 0
CF Barry 1 1 0 0
2B Fischer 3 0 1 0
2B Angerman 1 0 1 0
1B Caposi 3 0 0 0
1B Tisa 1 0 0 0
DH Reno 3 1 1 1
DH Nifenecker 1 0 0 0
3B Giacometti 3 0 0 0
3B Halladay 1 0 1 1
SS Pronti 3 1 1 1
SS Gonzales 1 0 0 0
LF Wing 2 0 0 0
RF Patrizio 2 0 1 0
C Bobbin 1 0 0 0
C Malatesta 2 0 0 0
CF Reinart 2 0 0 0
LF Uzzi 2 0 1 0

2B: Fischer, Patrizio
HR: Pronti

Pitching
DeSales
Poccia (W) 8 IP 33 BF 4 R 3 ER 6 H 9 K 1 BB
Vittorelli 1 IP 4 BF 0 R 0 ER 2 H 1 K 0 BB

Wilkes
Konikow (L) 0.1 IP 4 BF 3 R 3 ER 1 H 0 K 1 BB
Adamshick 0.2 IP 8 BF 4 R 4 ER 6 H 1 K 0 BB
Allison 3 IP 15 BF 3 R 3 ER 4 H 3 K 2 BB
Woolfenden 4 IP 15 BF 1 R 1 ER 0 K 0 BB
Esposito 1 IP 5 BF 0 R 0 ER 0 H 1 K 2 BB

Crestwood and Nanticoke advance in State Playoffs

Crestwood 65 Frankford 35
Sean Murphy scored a game high 25 points and Ryan Petrosky added 17 as Crestwood defeated Frankford 65-35 in the first round of the 5A State Playoffs. Jeremiah Wilborn scored 13 points and Seydou Ndiaye added 11 for the Pioneers. The Comets will take on Pottsville in the second round of the PIAA 5A Playoffs

Crestwood 65 Frankford 35
Frankford 35
Yaseem Cruz-Davis 3
Jeremiah Wilborn 13
Seydou Ndiaye 11
Jayquan Williams 3
Akeem Rapheal 2
Kyrie Hines 3

Crestwood 65
Sean Murphy 25
Jake Zaleski 8
Camden Boris 10
Marcus Vieney 2
Ryan Petrosky 17
Mike Palmiero 2

Nanticoke 57 Montoursville 35
Trahjan Krupinski dominated inside and outside as he had a game high 22 points and Nate Kreitzer added 20 as the Trojans would take down Montoursville 57-35. Josh Burger had 10 points and Dylan Bower had six points for Montoursville. The Trojans will take on Bonner-Pendergast in the second round of the PIAA 4A Playoffs.

Nanticoke 57 Montoursville 35
Montoursville 35
Dillon Young 3
Josh Burger 10
Hunter Shearer 3
Dylan Bower 6
Austin Loe 4
Brandon Good 3
Jake Simms 3
Isaac Barrett 2

Nanticoke 57
JJ Bielecki 3
Nate Kreitzer 20
Colby Butczynski 8
Trahjan Krupinski 22
Sincere Shiloh 4

PIAA District 2 Basketball Scores
2A Girls Old Forge 55 GAMP 20
3A Girls Loyalsock 57 Holy Redeemer 41
2A Girls Holy Cross 53 Marian Catholic 39
3A Girls Dunmore 62 Constitution 14
6A Girls Hazleton Area 40 Central Bucks West 38
4A Boys Danville 54 Western Wayne 33
5A Boys Abington Heights 72 Pottsgrove 48
5A Boys Penncrest 53 Wallenpaupack 42
4A Boys Scranton Prep 71 Susquehanna Township 50

Thoughts on the District Championships

The past three days have been a fun ride. It all started on Thursday afternoon where the Susquehanna played Forest City for the District 2 Single-A Girls Championship. It ended on Saturday with Hazleton Area taking the District 2 6A Championship with a victory over Scranton. 

Every number one seed took the District Title and every team was the defending District champion. However, people would think it's not too surprising, but most of the District Finals were close with the exception of a few. I was surprised by a few games being close and those games were hard fought, coming down to the fourth quarter or even the last possession. Overall, it made for a very fun three days of basketball. Got to see some great performances and accomplishments. Now, we head on to States which start on Friday and several teams in District 2 will compete for a State Title.

District 2 Basketball Championships Day 3

Dunmore 33 Holy Redeemer 27
Victoria Toomey and freshman Moriah Murray each recorded nine points as Dunmore would take the District 2 2A Girls Championship 33-27 over Holy Redeemer. Samantha Yencha had nine points for the Royals and Julia Andrejko and Cameron Marcinkowski each added eight for Holy Redeemer.

Holy Cross 46 Northwest 25
Caleb Callejas scored a game high 13 points and Keiran Burrier added 11 as the Crusaders would take another District 2 2A Boys Championship with a 46-25 win over Northwest. The Rangers' Walker Yaple scored a team high 10 points and Jaxon Yaple and Matt Pierontoni added 5.

Scranton Prep 47 Nanticoke 41
Leo O'Boyle had a game high 18 points, including the 1,000th point of his career and Mario Rotell would add 12 as Scranton Prep would take a 47-41 victory over Nanticoke over another District 2 4A Boys Championship. Jake Krupinski had a team high 13 points for the Trojans and Nate Kreitzer added 10 points.

Abington Heights 33 Valley West 19
Maria Tully had nine points and the Comets' defense held Valley West to 19 points as Abington Heights would take the Girls 5A District 2 championship. Valley West's Toni Amato led the Spartans with seven points.

Hazleton Area 48 Scranton 35
Da'mir Faison had a game high 21 points and Kyle Franek added 11 as the Cougars would take another District 2 6A Boys Basketball Championship with a 48-35 win over Scranton. The Knights' Marcus Bauman had a team high 12 points.

District 2 Basketball Championships Day 2

Holy Cross 43 Old Forge 38
Crusaders freshman Kaci Kranson had a game high 18 points and Abby Lentowski added eight points as Holy Cross would unthrone Old Forge 43-38 to take the District 2 2A Girls crown. The Blue Devils' Olivia Ciullo had 15 points and Makayla Parker added 13.

Holy Cross 43 Old Forge 38
Holy Cross
Abby Lentowski 8
Haley Bestrycki 7
Kaci Kranson 18
Abby Sempa 7
Caroline Kranick 3

Old Forge
Lindsey Welsh 8
Olivia Ciullo 15
Makayla Parker 13
Angelina Rios 2

Hazleton Area 48 Williamsport 41
Marissa Trivelpiece and Kyra Antolick each added 13 points as the Lady Cougars raced to a 19-5 first quarter lead and would take their second straight District 2/4 Subregional Title with a 48-41 victory over Williamsport. The Millonaires' Jada Whaley would score a team high 10 points and Katelyn Wilson, Emily Pardee and Kailee Helmrich would each add seven points.

Hazleton Area 48 Williamsport 41
Williamsport
Fondrea McClain 3
Katelyn Wilson 7
Kailee Helmrich 7
Emily Pardee 7
Jada Whaley 10
Jessica Robinson 2
Whitney Felix 3
Samiyah Little 2

Hazleton Area
Brooke Boretski 8
Marissa Trivelpiece 13
Olivia Wolk 5
Kyra Antolick 13
Virginia Yurchak 8

Abington Heights 43 Crestwood 36
George Tinsley scored 15 of his game high 20 points in the second half and Trey Koehler added 15 points as Abington Heights would win their eighth straight District Title with a 43-36 victory over Crestwood. Crestwood's Ryan Petrosky would score 15 points and Mike Palmiero added eight.

Abington Heights 43 Crestwood 36
Crestwood
Camden Boris 4
Mike Palmiero 8
Ryan Petrosky 15
Brad Papura 2
Sean Murphy 5
Jake Zaleski 2

Abington Heights
Trey Koehler 15
George Tinsley 20
Jack Nealon 3
Mike Malone 2
Corey Perkins 3