A fired up Rob Lemoncelli cliches his fist in victory after being awarded the District 2 - 4A Championship plaque.
MOOSIC – With much of the front-line pitching and about half its offensive production lost to 2022 graduation, the Wyoming Area baseball team will face some tests in trying to maintain its recent run of success.
The Warriors got hot in the 2021 postseason and advanced all the way to their first appearance in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship game. They followed that up with a 20-win season and a repeat of their District 2 Class 4A title.
Jack Mathis, Casey Noone and Nathan Novakowski joined coach Rob Lemoncelli Feb. 26 as representatives of the program at the Bill Howerton Baseball/Softball Media Day at PNC Field.
“We definitely lost a lot to graduation in terms of on-field production,” Lemoncelli said, “but we still have a lot of veterans and we’re excited for spring.”
Lemoncelli pointed to the players he brought to Media Day as a part of that excitement.
“They’re going to have an increased leadership role this year, especially with the younger guys coming into the program,” the coach said. “These guys are going to be relied upon to show them the way.”
Novakowski, who batted .283 with six doubles last season, looks forward to that responsibility.
“Being a team leader,” he said of his role this season. “Telling the first-year guys, ‘this is how we do it’; basically being a role model.”
Noone said the team can remain a contender.
“We can definitely keep it going,” he said. “We lost some key guys last year, but have a good group of senior leaders here.”
Mathis, a senior shortstop, stands out in that group. He batted .440 last season with 30 runs, 30 stolen bases and 41 RBI, leading to his recent commitment to play for defending National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Mid-Atlantic Region champion East Stroudsburg University.
“The campus is great; the coaches are great; everything is great,” Mathis said. “I just knew I went there that it was the right place for me.”
Wallenpaupack 8, Wyoming Area 2
Wyoming Area dropped its non-league season opener to Wallenpaupack Wednesday.
Joey Colarusso, who was a significant contributor last season as a freshman, had a hit and RBI. Jack Mathis has a hit and scored a run.
Billy Noone and Cameron Moser had the other hits.
