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DALLAS TWP. — A common thread has run throughout the Dallas baseball team’s eight-game winning streak.

Tunkhannock on May 8. And again on May 17. And finally Wednesday where the reward trumped the other two victories over the Tigers.

Will McCrum and Charles Giacometti each hit two-run doubles in Dallas’ four-run third inning as the Mountaineers defeated Tunkhannock once again, this time 7-2 to gain a spot in the District 2 Class 4A baseball championship game.

Second-seeded Dallas (10-6) will play top-seeded Valley View (9-5) at 4 p.m. Sunday at PNC Field in Moosic for the district title. Valley View defeated fifth-seeded Berwick 6-0 in its semifinal game.

The Mountaineers last played for a district championship in 2003 when they lost 2-1 for the D2-2A crown to Bishop Hoban, which was part of the Catholic school merger in 2007 to form Holy Redeemer. Their last district title came in 2001 at the Class 2A level.

Third-seeded Tunkhannock ended its year at 8-7. Coach Gary Custer declined comment after the loss except for congratulating Dallas.

“It’s tough to beat a team four times in one year, especially when they’re a Gary Custer coached Tunkhannock team,” said Dallas coach Ken Kashatus, whose Mountaineers also topped Tunkhannock on April 18. “Four times. We have kids whose brothers are on college teams. They’re at Monmouth and they play Marist four times, even if one team is way better than the other that’s unbelievable to get four games.”

Pitcher Nick Kocher has been a big part of the success against the Tigers. He was the winning pitcher in three of those victories and had his best effort Wednesday.

While not overpowering, the junior right-hander limited Tunkhannock to three hits and a pair of unearned runs through six innings. Josh Lydon worked a 1-2-3 seventh to send Dallas to the championship game.

“(Kocher) came from basketball season. He had some rocky starts early probably because he has less of a preseason than other guys,” Kashatus said. “He got better as last season went on, he gets better as this season goes on. To guys in the middle of the lineup, he pitches them pretty tough.”

Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the first after Darren Kerdesky doubled and scored on J.D. Barrett’s sacrifice fly. Tunkhannock tied the score 1-1 in the second on Connor Munley’s RBI single, but Kerdesky came back with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to put Dallas ahead for good.

The Mountaineers took control in the third with four runs to build their advantage to 7-1. They loaded the bases with no outs when Kocher reached on an error, Matt Mathers was plunked with a pitch and Mike Collins bunted his way aboard.

McCrum then hit a ground-rule double to left that hopped over the fence for two runs. Giacometti followed with a two-run double off the left-field fence.

Tunkhannock got a run back in the fourth on Jack Fenwick’s bad-hop, RBI single over shortstop McCrum. A base-running mistake, though, killed the threat with an inning-ending double play. Kocher and Lydon combined to retire the final eight Tigers.

District 2 4A Semifinal

Dallas 7, Tunkhannock 2

Tunkhannock`AB`R`H`BI

Reposa 2b`3`0`0`0

TFaux ss`3`0`0`0

Goodwin p`2`0`0`0

Hulslander dh`3`1`1`0

Hopkins rf`0`0`0`0

Muckin cf`2`1`0`0

Fenwick c`3`0`1`1

Munley lf`3`0`1`1

Mislevy 3b`1`0`0`0

Baltrusaitis 1b`1`0`0`0

DFaux p`1`0`0`0

Totals`22`2`3`2

Dallas`AB`R`H`BI

Kerdesky cf`3`1`2`2

Barrett 3b`3`0`1`1

Luksic 3b`4`0`0`0

Kocher p`4`0`2`0

Kovalick cr`0`1`0`0

Lydon p`0`0`0`0

Mathers c`3`1`0`0

Collins rf`4`2`3`0

McCrum ss`3`2`2`2

Giacometti dh`3`0`1`2

Lewis lf`0`0`0`0

Huntington 1b`1`0`0`0

Totals`28`7`11`7

2B: Kerdesky, Collins, McCrum, Giacometti.

Tunkhannock`010`100`0`—`2

Dallas`124`000`x`—`7

Tunkhannock`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Goodwin (L)`2+`7`7`5`1`3

DFaux`4.0`4`0`0`0`2

Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Kocher (W)`6.0`3`2`0`3`2

Lydon`1.0`0`0`0`0`1

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_sport-baseball-3.jpg.optimal.jpg

By John Erzar

[email protected]

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar