Pittston Area contained the high-scoring offense that produced a Lackawanna League Division 2 baseball title for North Pocono, but could not come up with any runs Monday when it opened the postseason with a rematch of the 2019 district championship game.
The visiting Patriots were unable to repeat the title that sent them on the way to the state quarterfinals two years ago, instead falling to the top-seeded Trojans, 3-0, in a District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional semifinal.
North Pocono, which later in the week advanced to the finals with a 9-2 win over Wyoming Valley West, entered the playoffs averaging 9.7 runs per game.
The Trojans, however, were only able to manage three runs on six hits, four of them singles, against Adam Felinski.
North Pocono scored once each in the first, third and fourth innings while Jake Millan was shutting out Pittston Area on four hits. Millan struck out 12 and did not walk a batter.
The Trojans, who will host Abington Heights in Tuesday’s subregional championship game, got a home run from Zach Walsh. Zach Walsh and Chris Walsh each had two hits.
Devon Markert had two hits for the Patriots, who lost their last eight games to finish 5-12. The last five losses and a total of nine on the season came by three runs or less.
Offensive woes contributed to the losing streak.
When Pittston Area completed a four-game winning streak to move above .500 at 5-4 on the season, it was averaging 7.1 runs per game to that point. In the less than three weeks since, the Patriots managed just 2.8 per game.
