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PLAINS TWP. — Last week ended with a four-way tie atop the WVC Division 1 standings. By Monday, only Crestwood remained.
It was anything but orthodox.
Two of the four teams — Pittston Area and Wyoming Valley West — elected to forfeit their games against Crestwood and Wyoming Area, respectively, on Monday. The decisions came on the heels of a bench-clearing fight between the Patriots and Spartans in their game on Thursday.
Coupled with Hazleton Area’s 4-1 win over Coughlin on Monday at Hilldale Park, the Comets finished as the only Division 1 team at 8-5 to win the division title. The other four teams were all tied behind them at 7-6.
The fallout from last week’s Pittston Area-Valley West fracas had left things uncertain before both schools got out in front of the situation and sat their teams for their regular season finales, taking them out of the race for the division crown.
“I commend them for taking a proactive approach,” District 2 baseball chairman Frank Majikes said. “We’ll see what the facts are that come from it. We’re hoping for both schools to present the facts from their coaches and players, along with the umpires.”
Majikes said there was no deadline for the schools to submit their reports and that a district hearing was not imminent. All players from both teams will be eligible to play in the District 2 Class 5A tournament opener on Friday.
Crestwood is in line to be the No. 2 seed in that seven-team bracket. The Comets got some help Monday from Hazleton Area, which won its third straight game to close the regular season.
“I said early on (in the season), I thought we were going to be good late,” Cougars coach Gino Cara said. “We had to find ourselves. Optimally, are we where we want to be? No. But we’ve found the right guys at the right positions.”
Had Coughlin won, the Crusaders would have forced a one-game playoff with Crestwood for the Division 1 title. The forfeits had provided an opportunity for them as well.
“Once that (Valley West-Pittston Area situation) was over, I said, ‘Look, focus on the game,’” Coughlin coach Moe Rodzinak said. “‘All that stuff is over with. Get yourself focused on the game.’”
It was the Cougars who broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth when Dayan Reinoso singled home Chris Heim, who started the rally with a one-out walk.
Heim and Livan Reinso added RBI singles of their own in the seventh for some insurance, delivering the win to sophomore Brady Antolick, who scattered four hits and struck out six over six innings. Staff ace Colin Stauffer pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning for the save.
“The kid’s got it,” Cara said of Antolick, who has become the team’s No. 2 pitcher because of an injury to junior Scott Shamany. “He’s still young, and you can see that at times, but he’s as poised as any senior. He’s a mature pitcher.”
That showed in the bottom of the third when Coughlin loaded the bases and tied the game when Antolick hit Leroy Fettig with a pitch to bring home a run. He struck out the next batter to keep the score at 1-1.
“He pitched a great game,” Rodzinak said. “We were swinging at too many bad pitches. The bottom line all year is that we’re just not hitting. All year. Doesn’t matter if we face a No. 1 or we face a seventh-grade pitcher. That’s just how we are.”
Tunkhannock 2,
Berwick 1
Nick Reposa and Matt Goodwin each drove in a run in the third inning, then Connor Hulslander and Goodwin made it stand up on the mound in a battle for first place in Division 2.
Mark Prebola doubled and drove in a run for the Bulldogs (6-7) in the sixth.
The Tigers (7-6) will now face Dallas for the division crown on Wednesday at a site to be determined. The winner will be in line for the No. 2 seed in the District 2 Class 4A tournament, earning home-field advantage in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Dallas 3,
Nanticoke 1
The Mountaineers (7-6) won their fifth straight league game to finish the regular season tied atop Division 2 with Tunkhannock. Nick Kocher struck out nine for the win and Josh Lydon shut the door in the seventh, getting a strikeout with the bases loaded to earn the save, finishing off a three-hitter.
Colby Butczynski went the distance for the Trojans (3-10), allowing just four hits and one earned run.
Lake-Lehman 13,
Northwest 5
Down 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Black Knights (9-5) exploded for 10 runs to take over the game. Garrett Weston finished 3 for 5 with a double and two RBI while Mike Sikora drove in three runs.
Henry Selingo pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the win. Forrest Callahan had three hits to lead the Rangers (3-11).
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Hazleton Area 4, Coughlin 1
Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI
Antolick p`0`0`0`0
Stauffer p`0`0`0`0
Amentler dh`4`0`1`1
Heim lf`3`1`1`1
LReinoso rf`4`0`2`1
DReinoso c`4`0`1`1
Klein cf`3`0`1`0
DeGaetano 3b`3`0`1`0
Pietrzyk 1b`3`2`1`0
Harry 2b`1`0`0`0
Vozar ss`3`1`1`0
Totals`28`4`9`4
Coughlin`AB`R`H`BI
Christian cf`3`0`0`0
Wozniak ss`4`0`1`0
Nowak 3b-p`3`0`1`0
Fettig 1b`2`0`0`1
Dressler c`3`0`0`0
Lupas p-2b`3`0`1`0
Oko lf`2`0`0`0
Chronowski rf`3`1`1`0
Marek 2b-3b`1`0`0`0
Totals`24`1`4`1
Hazleton`001`001`2`—`4
Coughlin`001`000`0`—`1
Hazleton`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Antolick (W)`6.0`4`1`1`2`6
Stauffer (S)`1.0`0`0`0`0`0
Coughlin`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Lupas (L)`6.0`5`2`1`1`3
Nowak`1.0`4`2`2`0`1
Tunkhannock 2, Berwick 1
Berwick`AB`R`H`BI
Champ cf`2`0`0`0
Marshman p`4`0`1`0
Kemp p`0`0`0`0
Horsefield 1b`3`0`0`0
Novicki 2b`4`0`0`0
Knorr c`0`0`0`0
Tanribilir dh`4`1`2`0
Kishbaugh 3b`3`0`1`0
Prebola ss`3`0`1`1
Klinger rf`2`0`0`0
Gearinger lf`3`0`1`0
Totals`28`1`6`1
Tunkhannock`AB`R`H`BI
Reposa 2b`3`1`1`1
TFaux ss`3`0`2`0
Goodwin 3b-p`3`0`1`1
Hulslander p`3`0`0`0
Mislevy 3b`0`0`0`0
Muckin cf`3`0`1`0
Baltrusaitis 1b`3`0`0`0
Munley lf`3`0`1`0
Hopkins rf`0`0`0`0
Gregory dh`3`1`1`0
Fenwick c`2`0`1`0
Totals`26`2`7`2
Berwick`000`001`0`—`1
Tunkhannock`002`000`x`—`2
2B — Gregory, Prebola
Berwick`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Marshman (L)`5.0`6`2`2`0`7
Kemp`1.0`1`0`0`0`2
Tunkhannock`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Hulslander (W)`5.0`4`0`0`3`3
Goodwin (S)`2.0`2`1`1`1`0
Dallas 3, Nanticoke 1
Nanticoke`AB`R`H`BI
KPorkinchak cf`4`0`0`0
Szychowski lf`3`1`0`0
Rynkiewicz c`3`0`0`0
Krupinski rf`3`0`1`1
Butczynski p`0`0`0`0
TPokrinchak dh`3`0`1`0
Kurkowski 3b`3`0`1`0
Piestrak ss`2`0`0`0
Shatley 1b`1`0`0`0
Heffron ph`1`0`0`0
Bukofski 2b`2`0`0`0
Totals`25`1`3`1
Dallas`AB`R`H`BI
Kerdesky cf`3`0`1`0
Barrett 2b`3`1`0`0
Luksic 3b`3`0`1`1
Kocher p`3`0`0`0
Collins rf`3`0`0`0
Patton lf`1`1`0`0
Lewis pr`0`0`0`0
Mathers c`2`0`1`0
McCrum ss`1`1`1`0
Huntington 1b`1`0`0`1
Totals`20`3`4`2
Nanticoke`100`000`0`—`1
Dallas`110`010`x`—`3
Nanticoke`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Butczynski (L)`6.0`4`3`1`2`2
Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Kocher (W)`6.2`3`1`1`4`9
Lydon (S)`0.1`0`0`0`0`1
Lake-Lehman 13, Northwest 5
Northwest`AB`R`H`BI
Callahan c`4`1`3`0
BriHardiman`2`0`0`0
BraHardiman`4`0`0`1
Piestrak p`4`0`1`0
Gleco 3b`2`1`0`0
Hazlet 2b`4`0`0`0
Gregory rf`0`0`0`0
Capece dh`3`1`0`1
Ridgely ss`3`1`0`0
Bukavich lf`3`1`1`1
Totals`29`5`5`3
Lake-Lehman`AB`R`H`BI
Sincavage 2b`2`2`0`1
Weston ss`5`1`3`2
Hadsall p-3b`4`1`1`1
Sikora c`3`3`1`3
Abate ph`1`0`1`0
Kurtz lf`3`1`1`1
Zubris ph`1`0`0`0
Sokolowski 3b`0`0`0`0
JJames dh`1`2`1`1
Wesley 1b`3`1`1`2
Cercone rf`3`1`1`2
Totals`26`13`10`13
Northwest`003`200`0`—`5
Lake-Lehman`210`0(10)0`x`—`13
2B — Bukavich, Weston
Northwest`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Piestrak (L)`4.0`3`3`3`6`3
BraHardmn`0.2`5`10`10`4`1
Ridgely`1.1`3`0`0`0`0
Lake-Lehman`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Hadsall`4.0`3`5`2`2`4
Selingo (W)`3.0`2`0`0`2`3
