EDWARDSVILLE — Rained out on three other occasions, Wyoming Area and Holy Redeemer made the wait worth it Thursday.
Wyoming Area tied the score in the top of the seventh inning, only to have Holy Redeemer’s Zach Schultz hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the inning for a 5-4 victory in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 baseball finale for both.
The game was shifted from Gibby Field’s grass surface to Wilkes University’s turf to ensure it was played before Saturday’s District 2 deadline.
Holy Redeemer (11-1 Div. 2, 16-3) had already clinched the division title, but the game was important in the race for the District 2 Class 2A top seed. The Royals needed to clear at least one hurdle — either Wyoming Area or Williamsport on Friday — to all but lock up the top spot.
“That’s a nice win to get us ready,” Redeemer coach Ryan Knowles said. “Wyoming Area always plays us tough. They play us hard.”
As for Wyoming Area (8-4 Div. 2, 11-9), it was locked into the third seed in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs. The Warriors, though, had the chance to play a quality team, face quality pitching and battle some adversity entering the postseason.
“This is what we’re built for,” Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli said. “This is what we practice for all year. This is what we build toward. You take a good team like Holy Redeemer and they had to throw everything and the kitchen sink at us just to be able to take us to the wire.
“We didn’t play our best baseball yet. We made some self-inflicted mistakes, but we battled from start to finish. I’m very happy where we’re at. I think we’re going to be a force next week.”
The Warriors finished tied for second in Division 2 with Wyoming Seminary with 8-4 records, placing ahead of Lake-Lehman at 7-5, MMI Prep at 4-8, Hanover Area 2-10 and Tunkhannock 2-10.
In Thursday’s finale, Wyoming Area tied the score 4-4 in the seventh when Jacob Snyder scored from third on a fielder’s choice by David Fath. He had walked, moved to second on Mitchell Rusinchak’s bunt single and then pulled off a double steal to reach third.
The run only set up some heroics in the bottom of the seventh.
Holy Redeemer’s Jack Hurst ripped a one-out double down the left-field line. Cody Quaglia, who had doubled and later scored in the fifth, was intentional walked. Drew Cisney walked to load the bases, and Schultz then hit an opposite-field single to right through a drawn-in infield to end the game.
Holy Redeemer took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, using RBI singles by Cisney and Hurst along with a wild pitch to score the runs.
Wyoming Area tied the score 3-3 in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Chase Speicher, Jeremy Layland and Cody Meade.
Holy Redeemer regained the lead, 4-3, in the fifth. Quaglia doubled into the right-center gap and a wild pitch on his steal of third allowed him to score.
Holy Redeemer first baseman Alex Gordon came up with the defensive play of the game in the first. Wyoming Area had the bases loaded and two outs when he dived to his right to snag a grounder heading to right field. He flipped the ball to pitcher Cisney for the final out.
Layland and Ben Rogish each had two hits for the Warriors.
Snyder pitched the first five innings, striking out four and giving up four runs, only one of which was earned.
Both teams will be home for the first round of the District 2 playoffs. The schedule won’t be set until Sunday afternoon, with Tuesday likely the first day of games.
Wyoming Area appears headed for a game against sixth-seeded Valley View (7-13).
Wyoming Area 14, MMI Prep 1
Mitchell Rusinchak had three hits and scored three runs Monday when Wyoming Area won at MMI Prep in a WVC Division 2 game.
Cody Meade threw a three-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks.
Meade received support from a 13-hit attack.
Alex Vacula and David Fath had two hits, three RBI and two runs each. One of Fath’s hits was a double.
For Vacula, it was the fourth multi-hit game in his last five outings.
Chase Specher also drove in three runs.
Jacob Snyder doubled, singled and scored twice.
Rogish scored three runs.
Wyoming Area 11, Wallenpaupack 9
Winning pitcher Alex Vacula tripled in two runs in the third inning and two more in the sixth May 10 to help Wyoming Area to the non-league, road win.
Vacula tied the game as part of a five sixth inning by the Warriors.
Cody Meade worked two scoreless innings to save the game for Vacula, the second of three Wyoming Area pitchers.
Chase Speicher had three hits and two runs while Mitchell Rusinchak had three runs and two hits. Speicher also stole two bases.
David Fath had a double, single and two RBI.
Jacob Snyder scored twice, giving him a season-high 23 runs.
