Noah Gruber led Pittston Area in Wednesday’s victory over Wyoming Area.
Submitted Photo
EXETER — Noah Gruber never hit his first green in regulation until the eighth hole of Wednesday morning’s match against rival Wyoming Area.
The Pittston Area senior did not let that stop him.
Gruber began his day with six straight, one-putt pars on the way to medalist honors in the 153-174 victory on the front nine at Fox Hill Country Club.
The scrambling effort, which resulted in a 1-over-par, 36, was fueled by a clutch par save on the second hole.
“The one at number 2 was big,” he said. “I was behind a bunker, short-sided and I hit it close and made a nice putt to get the par there.”
Gruber kept that up until he finally left himself a green-side situation too difficult to conquer on the par-3 seventh. From across the cart path on the right, Gruber still hit a good chip, but he could not get it to stop in time and had to settle for two putts and a bogey.
Two more routine pars finished the day, with Gruber giving himself a good birdie chance at 9 and just missing a chance to match his best finish in a high school match at even par.
Pittston Area was already in control of the match, with the help of a Patrick Ruane 37 in the opening foursome, when Gruber and Gianni Bartorillo finished up in the last group and widened the margin.
Bartorillo, a newcomer to the starting lineup, has been paired with returning starter Gruber. They often played together in the offseason to get ready.
“We were kind of just figuring each other so, so when we play together we know how to help each other,” Gruber said.
The win allowed the Patriots, the top Class 3A team in the WVC a year ago, to improve to 3-0 and a share of the conference’s early lead overall.
“We have a very promising team this year,” Gruber said. “We have a lot of young talent especially coming in.”
Ruane, who joins Gruber among the four seniors who are returning starters on the team, had a birdie at 2 and was under par going to 7. He finished with three straight bogeys, but still had the day’s second-best score.
Bartorillo had six pars and three bogeys for his 38.
Ryan Noone added a 42 to complete the four-player team score. Andrew Nocito shot 44 and Nick Cook 46.
Joey Onda’s 41 led the way for Wyoming Area.
The rest of the team score came from Mitchell Rusinchak (42), Hunter Hosier (45) and Aiden August (46).
