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WILKES-BARRE — Tony Molitoris took the mound Friday having to follow a no-hitter by teammate Jordan Choman the last time out.
The Holy Redeemer senior also got to take the mound with a three-run lead before he even threw his first pitch. Not a bad way to calm the nerves.
“I love coming out to a nice lead like that,” Molitoris said. “Makes me really more comfortable, makes me more relaxed.”
The Royals took control right from the start of the District 2 Class 3A semifinal, scoring three runs apiece in the first and second innings to cruise to a 7-1 win over Meyers at Gibby Field.
With the victory, the third-seeded Royals clinched a spot in the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2012, when they won their last district title.
They’ll try to add another gold medal to their case on Monday when they face No. 1 Lakeland at 2:30 p.m. at PNC Field in the middle game of a championship tripleheader. The Chiefs also punched their ticket to states when they blanked Mid Valley 5-0 in Friday’s other semifinal.
Redeemer (12-4) had little drama to deal with this time as Molitoris went the distance for the win, striking out five, walking just one and allowing one run on four hits.
“Great performance,” Royals coach Chris Ritsick said. “He brought it today. He really did. He’s a senior, an experienced senior, and it showed today.”
As it turned out, Cade Flanley’s two-run double in the game’s fourth at-bat would be all Redeemer would need on the afternoon. Molitoris then helped his cause with an RBI single to make it 3-0 after one.
Mykolas Bozentka led off the second with a home run, launching a 2-1 pitch over the fence in left. Choman, who didn’t allow a hit in Redeemer’s five-inning win in the quarterfinals, followed with a two-run single to force Meyers to go to the bullpen in the second inning, trailing 6-0.
Freshman left-hander Luke Bottger came on to stabilize things for the second-seeded Mohawks (12-4), allowing just one run on two hits over 5.1 innings. But the rough start was too much for Meyers to overcome.
“I want (to start a game with) a shutdown 1-2-3 inning, I want to come out in the bottom of the first and I want to get a lead — that’s setting the tempo,” Mohawks coach Matt Skrepenak said. “We let them set the tempo. They set the tempo with a three-run first inning. And we’re not a team that’s built to battle back from 3-0 deficits, let alone 6-0 deficits.
“But there was a lot of game to play, we told them to stay positive, stay focused, lot of positive energy. It’s high school baseball — anything can happen. Just didn’t get the job done today.”
The Mohawks pushed a run across with two outs in the seventh, as a David Nargoski single was followed by an RBI double by Kenny Macko.
Redeemer thwarted a few rallies before they could begin with some strong plays in the field — highlighted by a diving snag of a line drive by Tim Cavanaugh at second base — and also got a few fortunate bounces to move things along.
“They were making great plays behind me,” Molitoris said. “I have a great defense, and they got the job done.”
At the plate, Tom Borum led the Royals with two hits, including an RBI single in the fourth that made it 7-0. He also scored two runs along with Cavanaugh, who drew three of Redeemer’s six walks.
“We’ve been making contact, putting some pressure on the defense,” Ritsick said. “And we came up with some clutch hits today.”
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District 2 Class 3A semifinals
Holy Redeemer 7, Meyers 1
Holy Redeemer`AB`R`H`BI
Ell ss`4`1`1`0
Cavanaugh 2b`1`2`0`0
Borum c`4`2`2`1
Flanley 3b`2`1`1`2
Choman 1b`4`0`1`2
Molitoris p`4`0`1`1
McClay cf`4`0`0`0
Ambosie lf`0`0`0`0
Bozentka dh`2`1`1`1
Hayden pr`0`0`0`0
Wills rf`3`0`0`0
Totals`28`7`7`7
Meyers`AB`R`H`BI
Pasone cf`3`0`1`0
JNargoski c`3`0`1`0
Gilgallon 1b`2`0`0`0
Pugh 3b`0`0`0`0
Bottger dh-p`3`0`0`0
AMacko ss`3`0`0`0
Ostrowski rf`3`0`0`0
DNargoski 1b`2`0`1`0
Casey pr`0`1`0`0
KMacko p-3b`2`0`1`1
Strobel lf`3`0`0`0
Totals`24`1`4`1
Redeemer`330`100`0`—`7
Meyers`000`000`1`—`1
2B — Flanley, KMacko; HR — Bozentka
Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Molitoris (W)`7.0`4`1`1`1`5
Meyers`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
KMacko (L)`1.2`5`6`4`3`0
Bottger`5.1`2`1`1`3`0
