BASEBALL ROUNDUP

The Pittston Area and Wyoming Area baseball teams entered the weekend in nearly identical positions.

Both teams took 8-2 overall records into Saturday games with one of the losses coming in Wyoming Valley Conference play, leaving them in second place, chasing only the team that inflicted that loss in their respective divisional races.

The Patriots and Warriors, however, arrived at that point differently.

Pittston Area won three straight divisional games during the week to improve to 6-1 in Division 1, behind only Hazleton Area (8-0). The Patriots had won four straight going into Saturday’s game against Wilkes-Barre Area, but were still just fourth in the seeding race for a loaded District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional playoff bracket.

Wyoming Area lost twice during the week, both times in nine innings against fellow defending District 2 champions and teams that, like the Warriors, are leading the race to be top seeds during their attempted title defenses. The challenges were scheduled to continue Saturday with the Warriors facing Scranton Prep, going against an opponent that won at least one 2021 PIAA state tournament game for the third time in six days.

Lake-Lehman 4, Wyoming Area 2

WEST PITTSTON — It took nearly three weeks for Wyoming Area and Lake-Lehman to find the time to play a key WVC Division 2 baseball game.

That time came Monday and plenty was packed into Lake-Lehman’s nine-inning win at Atlas Field.

The starting pitchers — Wyoming Area’s Hunter Lawall and Lake-Lehman’s Nick Finarelli — locked in a pitchers’ duel for six innings before being replaced. The Black Knights scored two runs in the top of the ninth without the benefit of a hit.

And, when Lehman snapped the 2-2 tie on a close play at the plate, the home plate umpire had enough of the fans by the backstop. They were cleared out before play resumed.

Worth the wait? For Lake-Lehman it was. The Black Knights, who have since added two more wins to improve to 6-0 in the division, took over sole possession of first place. Wyoming Area, which lost for the first time since last year’s PIAA Class 4A state championship game, ended the week a game back at 5-1.

Fans won’t have such a long wait for a rematch. The teams will play again Wednesday at Misericordia University. Monday’s game was originally scheduled for April 6 and rescheduled for April 18, but both times inclement weather forced postponements.

Deadlocked 2-2 entering the ninth, Lake-Lehman’s Chris Sholtis and Gavin Wallace drew two-out walks. Jake Naugle was inserted as a pinch runner for Sholtis. Wyoming Area then committed an error on a grounder by pinch hitter Evan Kaiser.

Naugle just kept on running and a throw to the plate forced Wyoming Area catcher Jake Kelleher to try to apply a tag to Naugle’s shoulder. Naugle barely got under the attempt to give the Black Knights a 3-2 lead. Another error on the play resulted in Wallace heading to third and Kaiser to second.

“Jake was running on contact,” Lake-Lehman coach Mike Sholtis said. “In a game like this, you got to go for the win. And then after that, all the crazy stuff happened.”

Wallace later scored on a wild pitch, but no fans were by the backstop to witness it.

After Naugle scored, Wyoming Area fans camped between the backstop and the Warriors’ dugout gave the home plate umpire an earful about the call. He ordered them removed. The Lake-Lehman fans on the other side of the backstop were also cleared.

Cole Kaiser then completed a strong three-inning relief performance to end the game. He hit Casey Noone with a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but came back with his sixth strikeout.

Kaiser wouldn’t have normally been used in a high-leverage situation like Monday, but there was no choice. Nick Finarelli reached his pitch limit after six innings and nine strikeouts. Ty Federici, Lake-Lehman’s other ace, was unavailable because he pitched two days earlier against Wallenpaupack.

So that left Kaiser, who got help from catcher Graedon Finarelli who threw out a Warrior trying to steal second to end the seventh. He gave up a single to Wyoming Area’s Jack Mathis to start the eighth. Mathis then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch, but Kaiser ended the frame with a strikeout.

“There was a lot on the line,” Kaiser said, “but I kept my cool. … It all played out. Just kept throwing strikes and it seemed like they couldn’t hit the ball. I was not nervous at all.”

Kaiser, a short lefty, was quite a contrast to starter Nick Finarelli, a tall righty heading to Virginia Tech who fanned nine. He certainly didn’t throw with the same zip as Finarelli, but mixed in a slider to keep the Warriors off balance.

“That guy threw strikes,” Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli said. “He threw his off-speed for strikes.

“He’s a left-handed pitcher and he’s the first lefty we’ve seen all year, at least for an extended period of time.”

Lawall was arguably a bit better than Nick Finarelli. He also had nine strikeouts and retired 12 straight before Graedon Finarelli’s double to deep center in the sixth. Nick Finarelli, Graedon’s cousin, singled to score him for a 2-1 lead.

John Morgan’s two-out RBI double in the bottom of the inning tied it for Wyoming Area.

Morgan finished with three hits while Kelleher, Mathis and Casey Noone had two each for the Warriors.

Pittston Area 6, Tunkhannock 2

Pittston Area did all its scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for Monday’s victory.

Drew DeLucca, who scored, and Sean Connors, who drove in a run, each had two hits for the Patriots.

Anthony Cencetti picked up the win in relief, holding Tunkhannock scoreless while getting the last five outs of a combined five-hitter in relief of T.J. Johnson.

Wyoming Area 12, Wyoming Seminary 5

Wyoming Area bounced back from suffering its first loss the day before, scoring eight times in the top of the third inning of the WVC Division 2 game that ended after six innings because of rain.

Jack Mathis had a double, four RBI and three runs scored for Wyoming Area. Nate Novakowski and Jake Kelleher each went 3-for-3.

Pittston Area 8, Dallas 7

Pittston Area rallied with five runs in the bottom of the seventh Wednesday to pull out the victory.

Dallas had taken a 7-3 lead with four runs in the top of the sixth.

Jeremy Cawley had a triple and three RBI while Drew DeLucca had three hits, including a double, and drove in two runs for the Patriots.

Anthony Ranieli doubled and drove in two runs.

Eric Pisack was the winner with a scoreless inning in relief.

Riverside 9, Wyoming Area 6

Wyoming Area rallied to force extra innings in Thursday’s non-league game, but once there, another comeback by the Warriors fell short.

Defending District 2 Class 2A champion and current Lackawanna League Division 3 leader Riverside ran its winning streak to 11 with the nine-inning victory.

Wyoming Area closed to within 3-2 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and forced extras at 4-4 with more runs in the seventh.

After Riverside scored five times in the top of the ninth, Wyoming Area got the first three runners on base, but the Warriors were only able to score twice before the Vikings locked up the win.

Hunter Lawall had a double and single for Wyoming Area.

J.J. Hood also doubled and reached base twice on walks. Hood struck out 10 in five innings as the starting pitcher.

Pittston Area 19, Wyoming Valley West 1

Anthony Cencetti went 3-for-4 with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored during Friday’s five-inning rout at Wyoming Valley West.

Drew DeLucca and Silvio Giardina also had big games offensively for the Patriots.

DeLucca doubled, singled and drove in four runs. Giardina went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored.

Jeremy Cawley and Nick Cerasaro each had two hits, two runs and an RBI. One of Cawley’s hits was a double.

Eli Mead struck out five and allowed just one hit in 4 2/3 innings to get the win.