Pittston Area’s Elijah Barr steals second ahead of the throw to Wilkes-Barre Area’s Alex Hufford in the first inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Devon Cerasaro dives back to first base in the first inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Dom Innamorati slides into third as Wilkes-Barre Area’s Ben Thomas tries to field the throw in the third inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area catcher Dalton Flowers can’t haul in a popup.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Koleton Davis tagged out by Pittston Area catcher Jake Aftewicz in the third inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area starter James Bottger struck out 10 in 4.2 innings.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area starter TJ Johnson pitched six shutout innings to pick up the win.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — Pittston Area had a tough assignment facing Wilkes-Barre Area ace James Bottger on a dreary Monday afternoon.
It ended up Wilkes-Barre Area had even a tougher assignment trying to solve Pittston Area lefty TJ Johnson.
Johnson pitched six shutout innings and an opportunistic offense struck early as Pittston Area defeated the Wolfpack 5-0 in an early-season Division 1 showdown in Wyoming Valley Conference baseball.
Pittston Area (3-0 Div. 1, 7-0 overall) took over sole possession of first place. WBA fell to 2-1 in the division and 5-4 overall.
Johnson played a big part in the Patriots remaining one of two unbeaten teams in District 2. The other, Holy Redeemer, didn’t play Monday. He opened the game by retiring eight in a row. He allowed just three hits and struck out four. Reliever Logan Laskowski worked an uneventful seventh inning.
After a solid sophomore season, Johnson struggled as a junior. But this season he’s now 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA.
“I just want to go out there, I just want to pound the zone,” Johnson said. “Last year, I wasn’t really thinking that in my head. But now, I gained the confidence and trust my defense. I just get it over the plate and my defense has my back.”
Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto credited Johnson’s offseason work, including refining his mechanics, for the turnaround.
“He’s not trying to throw a knuckball, a curveball, a change-up,” Zaffuto said. “Just here it is, come right at you. If he can throw that fastball, we have a good defense behind us. That’s the game plan for us and today he executed.”
Bottger finished with 10 strikeouts and gave up two hits in 4.2 innings before reaching his pitch limit. He fell to 1-2, but in the two losses the Wolfpack offense produced just one run.
“Dallas was the only game where we actually gave him some run support,” WBA coach Matt Skrepenak said. “When he’s on the mound, we feel like we have a good shot to win. But, of course, you have to score runs to win.
“We ended up with three hits. We couldn’t string any hits together. We had a couple extra-base hits and try to score on the one early on to just try to get something started.”
Pittston Area took a 1-0 lead in the first as Elijah Barr walked and stole second on a second-out strikeout. He scored when Jake Aftewicz dropped a single into short right field.
The Patriots went up 2-0 in the third when a popup, which would have been the third out, allowed Dom Innamorati to score from third. Innamorati had walked, stole second and moved to third on Silvio Giardina’s flyout to deep left.
Innamorati scored again in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Giardina. Barr later scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.
Courtsey runner Ryan Noone scored the fifth run in the seventh on a wild pitch.
SCHEDULE NOTE: The Holy Redeemer at Pittston Area game which was rained out Saturday has been rescheduled for April 16.
Pittston Area 5, Wilkes-Barre Area 0
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
D.Innamorati cf`3`2`1`0
Barr 1b`2`2`0`0
Giardina ss`3`0`0`1
Aftewicz c`3`0`1`1
Cerasaro cr`0`0`0`0
Noone cr`0`1`0`0
Widdick 2b`3`0`0`0
Montigney dh`4`0`0`0
Johnson p`0`0`0`0
Laskowski p`0`0`0`0
Tonte 3b`3`0`0`0
Mead rf`1`0`0`0
Harnen ph`0`0`0`0
Kroski ph`1`0`0`0
Bradley rf`0`0`0`0
N.Innamorati lf`3`0`1`0
Totals`26`5`3`2
W-B Area`AB`R`H`BI
Hufford 2b`3`0`1`0
Flowers c`3`0`0`0
Gregor cr`0`0`0`0
Bottger p`2`0`1`0
Cour cr`0`0`0`0
Howe ss`3`0`1`0
Jerez rf`3`0`0`0
Thomas 3b`3`0`0`0
Daugherty 1b`2`0`0`0
Davies cf`1`0`0`0
Totals`23`0`3`0
Pittston Area`101`020`1 — 5
W-B Area`000`000`0 — 0
2B — N.Innamorati, Bottger, Hufford.
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Johnson (W)`6`3`0`0`2`4
Laskowski`1`0`0`0`0`1
W-B Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Bottger (L)`4.2`2`4`3`4`10
Hufford`2.1`1`1`0`3`1
