Pittston Area pinch runner Vinny Bonomo beats the ball back to first base against Selinsgrove on Sunday evening at PNC Field.
                                 Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

Pittston Area pinch runner Vinny Bonomo beats the ball back to first base against Selinsgrove on Sunday evening at PNC Field.

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch</p>

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch</p>

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch</p>

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>PIttston Area Jeremy Cawley (4) is safe at second base before Selinsgrove’s Mason Richter makes the tag.</p>
                                 <p>Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch</p>

PIttston Area Jeremy Cawley (4) is safe at second base before Selinsgrove’s Mason Richter makes the tag.

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

<p>Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch</p>

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch

MOOSIC – Pittston Area had one runner come within inches of scoring in a split-second play.

The Patriots had another stand less than 90 feet away, never getting a chance to head home through two tense at-bats, either of which could have ended the game.

Credit Josh Domaracki’s left arm with creating both frustrations the Patriots dealt with after falling to Selinsgrove, 5-3, May 28 in the District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional baseball championship game.

The matchup was the first of six title games played over three days at the home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the top farm team of the New York Yankees.

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Domaracki’s throw from center field kept Pittston Area from breaking away when it already led, 3-1, in the fifth inning. His relief pitching kept the Patriots from breaking a 3-3 tie when they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

“We smelled blood in the water there,” Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto said. “We had it. We had our opportunity right there at the end. We had our chances.

“We were right there and we just couldn’t capitalize when we needed to.”

Domaracki forced an extra inning with two straight strikeouts with the bases loaded.

In the fifth, he kept Pittston Area from extending the lead to 4-1 and continuing to bat. He charged a single up the middle and came up throwing to nail the runner at the plate on the close play and end the inning.

“That was a great throw by Josh,” said Caleb Hicks, the catcher who had the game-winning hit with a two-out, two-run triple in the top of the eighth. “Once, it was hit out to him, I knew he could make a throw right on the money. He’s been our best outfielder arm all season.

“That was huge in getting the momentum back for us.”

That was the last play Domaracki made from the outfield. He moved to the mound in the sixth and kept Pittston Area scoreless over the final three innings.

Selinsgrove scoreless first when Tucker Teats stole home in the top of third.

Pittston Area was hitless until Troy Davis led off the bottom of the inning with a home run over the 396-foot mark in left field and into the back of the bullpen.

The Patriots added an unearned run for the lead before the inning ended and tacked on another in the fifth when Jeremy Cawley reached on a leadoff error and scored on an Elijah Barr double for the 3-1 lead.

The Seals got three straight hits with two out in the top of the sixth to score one run, then tied the game on the only Patriots error.

Pittston Area got two of its five hits in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with one out.

Domaracki responded by getting two straight strikeouts to send the game into an extra inning where he again struck out consecutive batters.

“He was ready to go; he’s a gamer,” Selinsgrove coach Brent Beiler said of Domaracki, who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings while throwing 103 pitches four days earlier in a 10-9, eight-inning win at North Pocono.

Davis finished 2-for-3 for the Patriots and reached another time when he was hit by a pitch.

Barr pitched seven-plus innings before reaching his pitch limit.

Selinsgrove is back in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 5A tournament where it advanced all the way to the state final a year ago.