Fans watch an afternoon doubleheader at the Pittston Area Primary Center in Hughestown June 28. In reaction to the latest coronavirus-related updates from Gov. Tom Wolf, the Baseball U Pennsylvania College Summer League announced Wednesday that all spectators attending future games will be required to wear face masks.
Tom Robinson | Sunday Dispatch
HUGHESTOWN – The Baseball U Pennsylvania Collegiate Summer League is moving along 10 days after its debut, but it has added a requirement for attendees of games following an update from Gov. Tom Wolf this week.
The league was among the first team sporting activities in the entire state since all levels of competition were shut down because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in March.
Gov. Wolf added new face covering requirements this week while trying to keep Pennsylvania from following other states in having a surge of cases.
The league, through its Twitter account, made it clear that it was responding to those orders.
In a Tweet prior to its most recent game Wednesday, the league announced: “Effective immediately, from the governor’s desk of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, all fans, media, parents, relatives, and spectators must all wear masks to attend our games. Those not in compliance will be asked to return to their cars to watch the game.”
The Pittston Area Primary Center in Hughestown has been the site of the most games to date, hosting four of the league’s first 10 games. Along with Keystone College, which has hosted three games, it is scheduled to be the site of a Sunday 1 p.m. doubleheader.
A look at the results of games between June 27 and July 1:
Steel 4, Gray 1
Pittston Area graduates Hunter Ralston and Tyler Jackson combined for 3 1/3 innings of relief without allowing an earned run Wednesday at Keystone College, but it was not enough for Gray as it fell to 1-1 while Steel was moving back into a share of the league lead by remaining unbeaten through four games.
Ralston, who now pitches for the University of Scranton, allowed an unearned run along with two walks and a hit in 2 1/3 innings. Penn State Harrisburg’s Jackson worked one inning without allowing a walk or hit.
Orange 7, White 1
White led 1-0 through three innings Tuesday at Pittston Area, but Orange finished strong for its fourth straight victory to begin the season.
The same teams meet in Sunday’s doubleheader in Hughestown.
Joe Stella from Pittston Area and the University of Maine started at catcher for White. He went 0-for-1 with a walk.
Vegas 6, Black 4
Vegas defeated Black Tuesday at Keystone College in a game between teams that had started the season with three straight losses.
Cole Coolbaugh, a Wyoming Area graduate who is headed to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Fairleigh Dickinson, pitched two innings for Vegas. Coolbaugh gave up two runs on a hit and four walks while striking out three.
Joe Cencetti, Steve Homza and Lorenzo Febbo played for Black in the game.
Cencetti, a Pittston Area player headed to Thomas Jefferson University, was the third baseman. He went 1-for-2 with a walk.
Homza, from Wyoming Area and Central Connecticut State, was 0-for-1 with a walk.
Febbo, from Old Forge and Mansfield University, was the last Black pitcher. He gave up a hit, two walks and a run while getting one out.
Orange 9-9, Black 5-5
Orange swept the June 28 doubleheader at Pittston Area.
Homza and Cencetti played the entire doubleheader for Black and Febbo pitched in the opener.
Homza played left field and hits in each game while getting on base in six of seven plate appearances. He was 1-for-1 with two walks in the first game, then 1-for-2 with two walks in the second.
Cencetti played third base and went 0-for-2 with a walk and run scored in each game.
Febbo worked two innings in relief. He gave up four hits, five runs (two earned) and a walk.
Steel 12-9, Vegas 9-6
Dixon Black drove in eight runs in three innings to finish off the first game and start the second, leading Steel to its sweep at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore June 28.
The Monmouth University player from Valley View blasted his second homer, a go-ahead, three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the doubleheader opener.
Steel did not need to bat in the seventh inning of the first game. Black then singled in a run in the first inning of the second game and hit a grand slam in the second for a 7-1 lead.
Toby Hallman and Gino Mariggi were the first two Vegas pitchers in the second game.
Hallman, from Wyoming Area and Widener, started and took the loss. He struck out three in 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.
Mariggi, from Pittston Area and Ursinus. He gave up only one hit in two innings, but hit three batters and walked two while giving up four runs. Mariggi struck out two.
