Greater Pittston Area pounded both its pool opponents in the District 31 Major Little League Baseball tournament to land a spot in the semifinals.
GPA opened with an 11-1, four-inning over visiting Kingston/Forty Fort Wednesday, then won at Wilkes-Barre 16-1 Friday. It will host the second-place finisher in the other pool on Thursday to try to advance to the July 12 championship game at the Valley Little League.
Greater Wyoming Area went into Saturday with a 1-1 record and in third place among the four teams in its pool.
Greater Pittston Area 16, Wilkes-Barre 1
Winning pitcher Jake Hulse drove in five runs to lead GPA to the victory.
GPA scored six runs in the third inning to open a 9-1 lead and added another six runs in the sixth inning.
Hulse hit a three-run homer in the sixth and finished with two hits and five RBI. He struck out 12 while allowing just one run on three hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings.
Rocco Skula finished up by striking out the final four Wilkes-Barre batters. He also drove in three runs.
Landy Hendries and Barrett Weinschenk each had two hits and three RBI.
Johan Marte scored three times.
Greater Pittston Area 11, Kingston/Forty Fort 1
Jaxon Bender tossed a four-inning, one-hitter with seven strikeouts and two walks to lead Wednesday’s victory.
Bender, the leadoff hitter, also tripled and scored twice.
Anthony Argento doubled, singled, and drove in two runs. Jake Hulse also had two hits.
Greater Wyoming Area 14, Swoyersville/West Side 3
Michael Fanti went 3-for-3 Wednesday to lead the four-inning, road victory.
The win came in the tournament opener for GWA, which lost to Back Mountain 7-1 on Friday.
Franco Ramiza delivered a three-run double to highlight a 10-run fourth inning.
David Hiller did not allow a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Hiller and Bryce Bauman each had two hits. Bauman doubled, scored twice, and drove in two runs.
DISTRICT 31 MINOR BASEBALL
Greater Pittston Area will be at Greater Wyoming Area on Sunday in a 2 p.m. semifinal after both posted winning records in the division’s pool play for 8-10-year-olds.
GWA went 2-0 to win its three-team pool. GPA went 2-1 to finish second of four teams in its pool.
Kingston/Forty Fort will play at Back Mountain in the other semifinal. The final is set for Wednesday at GWA at 5:45 p.m.
Greater Pittston Area 13, Plains 2
GPA defeated Plains Thursday in a game that decided the second semifinal spot from their pool.
Winning pitcher Colston Talerico drove in four runs. He struck out five in five innings.
Jonah Ferranti had three hits while Talerico, Connor Yonki, Cameron Pickett and Carmine Martinelli added two each.
Back Mountain 10, Greater Pittston Area 3
Grayson Grega doubled and drove in three runs to help power Back Mountain past GPA on Tuesday.
Greater Wyoming Area 15, Harveys Lake 0
Logan Wolfe and Timothy Carroll combined on a three-inning, no-hitter as GWA rolled in its June 28 opener.
Wolfe struck out five and walked two in two innings. Carroll struck out all three batters he faced, needing just 11 pitches.
Franco Cavalieri, who tripled, and Aiden Felker each had two hits and two RBI. Gavin Shandra doubled, singled, and scored twice. Greyson Speicher, Jonah Miller, and Wolfe also had two hits.
GWA won again Tuesday when it got past Kingston/Forty Fort 6-5 in eight innings.
Greater Pittston Area 22, Swoyersville 0
Cameron Pickett had two hits, three RBI, and three runs scored on June 28 in GPA’s three-inning rout.
Connor Yonki and Jonah Ferretti each had two hits, two runs, and two RBI.
Colston Talerico struck out six in two innings.
DISTRICT 31 9-11-YEAR-OLD BASEBALL
Greater Pittston Area will host Greater Wyoming Area in a Sunday semifinal after they finished second and third out of four teams in round-robin play.
The final is scheduled for Wednesday at GWA at 7:45 p.m.
Back Mountain 13, Greater Pittston Area 8
Back Mountain needed an extra inning to complete its perfect run through round-robin play, scoring six times in the seventh inning.
Anthony Cerasaro had three hits for GPA. Madesto Matalonis doubled and drove in two runs.
Greater Wyoming Area 14, Wilkes-Barre 11
William Coopey drove in three runs with an inside-the-park home run on Thursday to help GWA get past Wilkes-Barre.
Coopey’s fourth-inning homer put GWA ahead to stay.
Tommy Mazar, who also homered, and Bobby Fox added two hits each.
Greater Pittston Area 13, Wilkes-Barre 2
Kaysen Simmons was the winning pitcher and doubled for GPA in Tuesday’s five-inning victory.
Simmons struck out eight in three innings.
Joey Sobeski finished up with two scoreless innings in relief.
Back Mountain 16, Greater Wyoming Area 1
Back Mountain needed just three innings to get past GWA on Tuesday.
Greater Pittston Area 19, Greater Wyoming Area 2
Kaysen Simmons went 3-for-3 with three RBI as GPA won the first meeting between cross-river rivals in four innings in the June 28 tournament opener.
Max Collins had two hits. Crue Ziobro triple. Anthony Cerasaro, Madesto Matalonis, and Mason Waters doubled.
Joey Basile struck out seven while combining with Johnny Lavelle and Matalonis on a one-hitter.
Tommy Mazar had the hit for GWA.
SECTION 5 MAJOR SOFTBALL
Valley View defeated Greater Pittston Area 11-1 at the Carbino Club field in Jessup on Friday to win the title.
GPA needed two straight victories over Valley View, which went unbeaten in the tournament.
Natalie Paciotti’s bases-loaded triple opened the scoring for Valley View.
Andrea Colon tripled and scored on an error for the only GPA run in the fifth. It was the first run scored against Valley View in this district and section playoff season.
Kylie Kroski had two hits in the loss.
Greater Pittston Area 5, Mountain Top 2
Andrea Colon struck out nine in a three-hitter as GPA reached the final with Thursday’s victory in the elimination bracket final.
Sadie Bomber’s two-run single made it 4-0 in the fourth inning.
Greater Pittston Area 16, North Pocono 5
GPA opened elimination bracket play on Wednesday by using a five-run second inning and a 10-run third to advance.
Hannah Beekman drove in four runs, including two with a single in the third.
Valley View 10, Greater Pittston Area 0
Valley View opened its sectional title run with a Tuesday shutout in five innings.
