DURYEA — Whether at the plate, in the field or on the mound, Greater Pittston Township National’s win in Wednesday night’s District 16 Minor Baseball semifinals was the textbook definition of a total team effort.
GPT National had 13 different players reach base with nine separate run-scorers, while a seven-man pitching committee combined to allow just one hit as National defeated Greater Pittston Township American 12-3 to advance to the District 16 championship game on Saturday.
A fast start from the lineup at the dish allowed GPT National the freedom to dip into its deep bag of arms early, with starter Connor Yonki tossing a perfect inning to open before giving way to Anthony Cerasaro, who replicated the feat.
Kaysen Simmons, Santino Rynkiewicz, Anthony Cortese, Colston Talerico and finally Crue Ziobro would each get the ball for a couple of outs, keeping pitch counts low and giving GPT National manager John Cerasaro plenty of options for the championship game.
“With the game being as close as it was the first few innings, we had to adjust the order a bit,” Cerasaro said. “We have eight, nine, 10 quality arms … it’s nice.”
Though it wasn’t quite the 30 runs GPT National put up in their pool play opener, the top seed from District 16’s Division 1 scored at a steady pace to pull away from their crosstown rivals.
National took a 3-0 lead in the first inning with four hits and a walk, Yonki driving in a run with a base hit before scoring himself on a wild pitch while Talerico drove in Rynkiewicz with a long triple into left field.
The bottom half of National’s 14-man order showed no signs of slowing things down in the next two innings, the lead increasing to 5-0 after two innings and 8-1 after three.
Lukas Verdekal and Eric Garubba each drove in runs from the 10th and 11th spots in the order in the second inning, while Dominic Macario and Mason Waters would each single and score from the final two slots in the order in the third.
Those two flipped it back to the top, and the conveyor belt of production just kept moving along for National.
“We’re pretty solid all the way through, these kids could do anything,” Cerasaro said. “They’re great contact hitters, and they’ve been showing it through the three games in districts so far.”
Yonki finished with two RBI, and Joey Basile added two more RBI on a base hit in the third inning.
GPT American was able to chip away a little with the help of some walks in the middle innings. A bases-loaded walk from Jaxon Klush scored a run in the third, and Eyian Stamm replicated the feat in the fourth.
Cameron Pickett drove in an additional run on what ultimately ended up a long fielder’s choice into center field with the bases loaded in the fourth.
The lone hit for American came off the bat of Gabriel Cartagena in the fifth inning, a hot smash that took a wicked hop at third base into the outfield.
GPT National will take on Mountain Top on Saturday in the District 16 championship. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at West Side Little League.
Mountain Top 11, Plains 1
Mountain Top scored double-digit runs for the third time in three district games, eliminating Plains and advancing themselves to the District 16 championship game.
DISTRICT 31 MINOR BASEBALL
Kingston/Forty-Fort 12, Back Mountain National 9
Kolton Kosloski and Colton Casey each had four hits and drove in three runs to lead Kingston/Forty-Fort to the District 31 championship game on Saturday.
Kingston/Forty-Fort had 12 total hits to slug their way to victory. Aaron Ringler found his own way on with three walks.
Matthew McCabe got the start and struck out two, while Kosloski came on in relief and picked up four strikeouts.
Kingston/Forty-Fort will play Greater Wyoming Area in the District 31 title game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at West Side Little League.
Greater Wyoming Area 12, Northwest 2
Christian Cavalieri and Francisco Ramiza each singles had two RBI to lead a powerful GWA offense to victory in the other District 31 semifinal game.
Gavin Johnson, Bryan Pikas and Dominic Giordano each doubled and drove in a run. Tommy Mazar, Logan Wolfe and Carter Pacchioni each had two hits for GWA.
District 16 Minor Baseball Semifinals
GP Township National 12, GP Township American 3
GPT American`AB`R`H`BI
Collins c`2`1`0`0
Chludzinski cf`1`1`0`0
Ferranti 3b`3`0`0`0
Sobeski p`1`0`0`0
Stamm lf-p`1`0`0`1
Pickett 2b`2`0`0`1
Ziobro ss`2`0`0`0
Bartush 1b`2`0`0`0
Klush rf`1`1`0`0
Cartagena eh`1`0`1`0
Ankenbrand eh`0`0`0`0
Lambert eh`1`0`0`1
Golembeski eh`2`0`0`0
Totals`19`3`1`3
GPT National`AB`R`H`BI
Simmons cf`3`0`2`0
Skula ss`1`2`0`0
Basile 3b`3`0`1`2
Yonki p`2`1`1`2
Rynkiewicz 1b`2`1`1`0
Talerico c`2`1`2`1
Cerasaro 2b`2`0`1`0
Cortese rf`0`2`0`0
Ziobro lf`2`0`0`0
Verdekal eh`1`2`1`1
Garubba eh`2`1`0`1
Martinelli eh`2`0`1`1
Macario eh`2`1`1`0
Waters eh`2`1`1`0
Totals`26`12`12`8
GPT American`001`200 — 3
GPT National`323`40x — 12
3B — Talerico.
GPT American`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Sobeski`3.0`10`10`10`4`4
Stamm`2.0`2`2`2`1`1
GPT National`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Yonki`1.0`0`0`0`0`1
Cerasaro`1.0`0`0`0`0`2
Simmons`0.2`0`1`1`4`1
Rynkiewicz`0.1`0`0`0`0`1
Cortese`0.1`0`2`2`3`0
Talerico`1.2`1`0`0`1`3
Ziobro`1.0`0`0`0`1`1
