HUGHESTOWN – While their Greater Pittston teammates were playing high school baseball this spring at Pittston Area and Wyoming Area, 2016 Wyoming Area graduates Cory Lescavage and Tyler Dougherty put their games on hold.
As postgraduates who met Legion baseball’s 13-19 age range, Lescavage and Dougherty returned to the diamond for the start of the Wyoming Valley League season.
The Greater Pittston double play combination – on most days – quickly got back into the groove, helping the team along the way, but most importantly, they were ready when the team faced its most important game of the season to date.
Lescavage turned his first pitching start of the season into a gem and Dougherty led an error-free defense as Greater Pittston shut out visiting Nanticoke, 3-0, Wednesday night in the deciding game of a four-team playoff to determine the league’s second representative in the Region 5 Tournament.
“We knew it was going to be a great game for both teams,” Lescavage said after a final that was a stark contrast from the previous night’s game in which Nanticoke emerged from the losers’ bracket to hand Greater Pittston its first loss of the tournament in a sloppy 9-7 game.
Lescavage and Dougherty helped give the game a different look, which included needing an hour less to complete.
“I was a little nervous at first, but then I just got it out of my head and threw strikes,” said Lescavage, who recently completed his freshman year at Temple University.
While at Temple, Lescavage went to the gym after class “four or five times a week,” plus found occasional opportunities to get into a batting cage or throw a baseball. That did not include pitching.
Lescavage, the shortstop and third hitter in the batting order, built his arm strength during the season and started spending time on the mound in brief appearances in the final two weeks of the regular season.
“We started getting him some innings for this reason,” Greater Pittston manager Jerry Ranieli said. “I knew if we got to Wednesday, I have Cory Lescavage.”
He could be needed again.
The Region 5 tournament was scheduled to open Saturday morning with Greater Pittston playing at home. The tournament is split between Greater Pittston and Mountain Post sites the first two days before Monday through Wednesday’s action settles in at Mountain Post.
With the first year of pitch count restrictions and the continued use of nine-inning games on the region level – the champion may play six in five days – more arms are needed.
Greater Pittston appears to have found a key one in an old reliable player in his fifth year on the team.
And Dougherty, who usually plays second base, made sure the transition was smooth. He slid over the shortstop for the day and showed range and the ability to field a variety of plays.
“Tyler Dougherty was flying around,” Ranieli said. “He was everywhere.”
Greater Pittston had all facets of the game clicking – efficient pitching, reliable defense, timely hitting and aggressive base running.
Tyler Jackson was the only player in the game with two hits as well as with two RBI. Mikey Bonita scored twice.
Anthony Nardell led off the third with a single up the middle, then hustled into second base to break up a potential double play on a groundball by speedster Bonita.
Bonita moved to second base on Steve Homza’s groundout and scored from there without the ball leaving the infield. He raced home on Lescavage’s infield single off the second baseman’s glove.
Nardell reached on an error to lead off the fifth. Bonita singled, sending Nardell to third and he advanced to second base on a throw there.
With one out, Lescavage hit a grounder to short. Nanticoke’s Cody Piestrak gunned down Nardell at the plate, but Lescavage never stopped, running straight second base, giving Greater Pittston two men in scoring position again.
Tyler Jackson then singled up the middle to score two runs.
“That was heads up by Cory,” Ranieli said. “That actually got us the third run.
“If he doesn’t take that, even with Jackson’s hit, we only get one and being that Cory was on first base, they may have played the defense different, more up the middle being that the forceout was at second base.”
Lescavage walked one and struck out five.
After giving up singles to start the game and with two out in the second, Lescavage retired nine straight and 13 out of 14.
Rynkiewicz led off the Nanticoke seventh with a double. He never went any farther.
Nanticoke 9
Greater Pittston 7
Nanticoke scored in each of the first five innings, building a pair of four-run leads Tuesday on the way to the win that extended the Wyoming Valley playoff into what at the time was a winner-take-all game.
When a West Branch League representative pulled out of the Region 5 Tournament later in the week, Nanticoke wound up getting the chance to join Swoyersville and Greater Pittston in the event.
While Nanticoke was scoring runs, it also left the bases loaded in the first, second and fifth innings. Greater Pittston starter Lucas Jurchak struggled with a biceps injury that may keep him out of the regional tournament and the defense also committed errors behind him in the first two innings.
“I don’t know what team that was,” Greater Pittston manager Jerry Ranieli said after his squad bounced back the next day. “We were throwing the ball around.
“We had no heart.”
Greater Pittston scored three times in the fourth to close within 6-5, but left a runner on third in that inning and had another thrown out at the plate in the fifth.
Mikey Bonita finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. He singled in the first run of the fourth and Steve Homza, who went 2-for-5, followed with a two-run single.
Cory Lescavage, Aaron Lee and Dylan Melberger also had two hits.
Bonita, Homza and Lescavage combined to make the top third of the order 6-for-13 with three runs and five RBI.
Cole Keating gave Greater Pittston a shot late, retiring all six batters he faced, including two by strikeouts.
Greater Pittston 4
Stripes & Strikes 2
Tyler Jackson allowed just one walk and one earned run while going the distance July 9 when Greater Pittston defeated the Hazleton-based opponent, 4-2, in the winners’ bracket final.
Jackson struck out five.
Mikey Bonita had two hits and drove in two runs for Greater Pittston.
Anthony Nardell doubled and drove in a run. Tyler Dougherty reached base three times and scored.
Nanticoke 10
Plains 4
Nanticoke rallied for eight runs in the sixth inning to overcome a two-run deficit July 9 and knock Plains out of the tournament.
Kyle Pokrinchak had a three-run triple to highlight the decisive inning.
Anthony Egidio drove in three runs for Plains. Tim Cavanaugh and Kyle O’Fier each scored two of the team’s runs.
Greater Pittston 5
Plains 2
Josh Kopcza struck out 15 without walking a batter while throwing a three-hitter in the July 8 tournament opener to lead Greater Pittston to the victory.
In his last three games, including his final two regular-season starts, Kopcza allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out 37.
Mikey Bonita had two hits, two runs and two RBI.
Steve Homza had two hits and drove in a run.
Kyle O’Fier had a double and RBI for Plains. Tim Cavanaugh had a hit and scored a run.
