Josh Lentowski scored on an error in the top of the ninth as Greater Pittston Area defeated Holland Council Rock 5-4 Sunday afternoon in the Little League Major Baseball state tournament at Camp Hill Little League.
Section 5 champion GPA will play Section 8 champ Newtown-Edgemont at 4 p.m. Monday in a winners bracket game at Camp Hill. Newtown-Edgemont defeated Section 7 champion Exeter Township 8-7 after Exeter Township tied the score 7-7 with five runs in the top of the sixth.
Section 6 champion Holland plays Exeter Township at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.
The ninth inning started with Lentowski being placed on second base per the tiebreaker rule. Once a major game gets past the seventh inning, the runner who made the last out in the previous inning gets placed on second base to begin the next inning.
Lentowski moved to third on a flyout and scored on a throwing error. Reliever Dom Innamorati then retired Holland in order in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts and a groundout. Innamorati pitched 5.1 innings to get the victory.
GPA struck first with two runs in the top of the first. A pair of walks and an error loaded the bases with no outs. Chase Montigney then brought in a run with a single to center. Paul Rusincovitch followed with a groundout to score Innamorati.
GPA made it 3-0 in the second when Silvio Giardina scored on an error on Montigney’s grounder. Holland cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs.
GPA bumped the advantage to 4-2 in the fifth as Montigney led off the inning with a home run to center. Holland battled back with a run in the fifth and tied the score 4-4 in the sixth on a one-out home run by Jack Albright.
Major Baseball State Tournament
Greater Pittston Area 5, Holland Council Rock 4 (9 inn.)
GPA`AB `R `H `BI
Giardina`4 `2 `2 `0
Innamorati`4 `1 `1 `0
Walter`5 `0 `0 `0
Montigney`4 `1 `3 `2
Rusincovitch`4 `0 `0 `1
Mead`3 `0 `0 `0
Wardecki`3 `0 `0 `0
O’Malley`1 `0 `0 `0
Johnson`4 `0 `0 `0
Lentowski`2 `1 `0 `0
Cielo`1 `0 `0 `0
Cerasaro`1 `0 `0 `0
Tonte`0`0`0`0
Totals`36 `5 `6 `3
Holland`AB `R `H `BI
Guerrera`5 `0 `1 `1
Maurer`4 `1 `1 `0
O’Neill`3 `0 `1 `0
Riendeau`4 `0 `0 `0
Mendola`4 `0 `0 `0
Wilkinson`1 `0 `0 `0
Wiener`2 `0 `0 `0
Abt `3 `0 `0 `0
Small`0 `0 `0 `0
Albright `3 `1 `2 `1
Sajeski `1 `1 `1 `0
Levin`1 `1 `1 `1
Alcoff `3 `0 `0 `0
Totals`34 `4 `7 `3
Greater Pittston`210`010`001 – 5
Holland`002`011`000 – 4
2B – Giardina, Albright, Maurer. HR – Montigney, Albright.
GPA`IP `H `R `ER `BB `SO
Giardina`2.1 `4 `2 `2 `1 `6
Montigney`1.1 `1 `0 `0 `1 `3
Innamorati (W)`5.1 `2 `2 `2 `1 `3
Holland`IP `H `R `ER `BB `SO
O’Neill`4.1 `5 `4 `2 `3 `7
Riendeau (L)`3.2 `1 `0 `0 `0 `8
Wilkinson`1.0 `0 `0 `0 `0 `2
