WEST PITTSTON — The Greater Wyoming Area all-stars didn’t let a small deficit become a big issue Sunday afternoon.
Instead, GWA responded with six first-inning runs on the way to a 12-6 victory over Greater Pittston Area in a District 31 Little League Minor Baseball semifinals.
The win puts defending champion GWA into the title game against Back Mountain at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at GWA’s West Pittston field.
GPA got off to a strong start, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Santino Rynkiewicz singled with two outs and Colston Talerico followed with a double. Both came home on a single by Anthony Cortese.
GWA starter Logan Wolfe surrendered just two more hits over his next four innings, including a solo homer to Rynkiewicz — his first out two — to start the fourth.
“Logan has been kind of our workhorse for most of the district play,” GWA manager Eric Speicher said, “so he’s usually the one to get us through, especially in tough situations. He bounces back when he get a little bit behind.”
A fan beyond the left-field fence made a one-handed catch on Rynkiewicz’s homer, but that wasn’t the web gem of the game. That came in the third inning.
GPA had a runner on first with no outs when Connor Yonki ripped a sinking fly ball into the left-center gap. GWA center fielder Aiden Felker sprinted over to make a diving catch, which very likely prevented a run from scoring.
“I tell all the kids we have to make the routine plays,” Speicher said. “We don’t rely on the spectacular, but we’ll take it when it comes. Him laying out for that play was huge. A huge boost obviously for the out, but a huge boost for the guys. It really got them hyped up.”
An inning-ending double play where GWA shortstop Tim Carroll snagged a hard-hit grounder up the middle, tagged second and threw to first ended the threat.
GWA used singles by Carroll and Wolfe, aggressive baserunning, five walks and a hit batter to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 6-2 lead after one inning. Greyson Speicher and Jonah Miller walked and Mark Knodraski was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded to score three of the runs.
GWA bumped its lead to 10-2 in the second. James Joyce walked, Felker singled and Gavin Shandra walked to load the bases with no outs. GPA brought the infield in, but Carroll poked a two-run single to right. He and Shandra later scored on wild pitches.
After Rynkiewicz’s solo homer in the fourth, GWA finished off its scoring in the bottom of the frame. Miller and Hudson Tierney walked to start the inning. Miller later scored on a wild pitch and Tierney crossed the plate on a groundout by Joyce.
Rynkiewicz added a second homer, a three-run blast to center, in the sixth inning.
District 31 Minor Baseball Semifinal
Greater Wyo. Area 12, Greater Pittston Area 6
Greater Pitt. Area`AB`R`H`BI
Yonki cf`3`1`1`0
Pickett 3b`3`0`0`0
Rynkiewicz p`3`3`3`4
Talerico 1b`3`1`2`0
Cortese ss`2`0`1`2
Ziobro rf`1`0`0`0
Ferranti lf`2`0`0`0
Martinelli 2b`1`0`0`0
Bartush eh`2`0`0`0
Macario c`2`0`0`0
Lambert eh`2`0`0`0
Galvin eh`1`1`0`0
Totals`25`6`7`6
Greater Wyo. Area`AB`R`H`BI
Felker cf`2`2`2`0
Shandra 1b`2`1`0`0
Carroll ss`3`2`2`2
Cavalieri c`2`1`1`0
Wolfe p`3`1`1`0
Houston 3b`3`0`0`0
Pellegrini lf`1`1`0`0
Speicher rf`1`1`0`0
Kondraski 2b`1`0`0`1
Miller eh`0`1`0`1
Tierney eh`1`1`0`0
Joyce eh`1`1`0`1
Totals`20`12`6`6
Greater Pitt. Area`200`103 — 6
Greater Wyo. Area`640`20x — 12
2B — Talerico. HR — Rynkiewicz 2.
Greater Pitt. Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Rynkiewicz (L)`0.2`2`6`6`4`1
Yonki`2.1`2`6`6`5`5
Talerico`2`2`0`0`0`2
Greater Wyo. Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Wolfe (W)`5`5`3`3`2`5
Carroll`1`2`3`0`0`1
Back Mountain 6, KFF 3
Andrew Hetro had a strong day at the plate for Back Mountain as it won its D31 Minor Baseball semifinal game.
Hetro had a two-run inside-the-park homer in the second inning. He added an RBI triple in the fifth.
Back Mountain’s Grayson Grega drove in two with a single and Cael Sweigart grounded out, driving in another run in the fifth.
Sawyer Benavage also had two hits for Back Mountain.
Jackson Ferkel started the game pitching for Back Mountain, giving up no hits and one run. Ben Borkowski stepped on the mound next with four strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Grady came in to close out the game with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
DISTRICT 16 MINOR BASEBALL
Valley East 10, Mountain Top 0
Nico Zambotti and Bryce Bradley combined for a no-hitter as Valley East advanced to the championship game Wednesday at Valley West with a four-inning win.
Valley East got off to a good start in its first at-bat. Nico Zambotti doubled in Bo Shafer, who had singled. Luke Demsko had a two-run single. Marco Fendrick, Julian Grenkevich, Conor O’Donnell and Owen Krouse all had RBI singles. Brody Isaacson also contributed with a single.
Demsko lead the way going 2 for 2.
Grayson Lauri and Gavin Blasavage pitched well for Mountain Top.
SECTION 5 SENIOR BASEBALL
Hanover 6, Mid Valley 4
Hanover opened the best-of-three series with a nine-inning win at Hanover Area High School. Game two is 5:30 p.m. Monday also at Hanover Area.
Hanover pitcher Trey Mishanski scattered six hits over 6.1 innings and struck out six. Joey Korus picked up the win in relief, going 2.2 innings and allowing no earned runs.
Logan Richardson had two hits and two RBI to lead Hanover. Brody Richardson had two hits, a triple and an RBI. Braeden Mullery had a hit and an RBI. Ryan Bennett and Conor Richardson had two hits each. Ben Kolbicka Owyn Maslar also had hits.
Tyler Cali had three hits and Aiden Siegfried had two for Mid Valley. Christian Ellis pitched for Mid Valley, scattering six hits and two runs.
The Section 5 champ qualifies for the state tournament, which begins July 12.
DISTRICT 31 9-11 BASEBALL
GPA 9, GWA 2
Madesto Matalonis was 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI as Greater Pittston Area advanced to the championship game.
GPA will take on Back Mountain for the championship at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday at Greater Wyoming Area’s West Pittston field.
Anthony Creasaro was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored for GPA. Johnny Lavelle had a double.
Winning pitcher Joey Basile went four scoreless innings and struck out eight while giving up two hits. Reliever Kaysen Simmons struck out two in two innings of work.
Kannon Mooers had two hits for GWA. Tommy Mazar and Tristan Nayavich each had a hit.
