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.
The District 16 championship game was scheduled to be played Saturday, after deadline for this edition.
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 1-2-3 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 each got 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 its crosstown rivals.
National took a 3-0 lead in the first inning with four hits and a walk. Yonki drove 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.
2The bottom half of National’s 14-man order showed no signs of slowing things down in the next two innings and the lead increased 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. Dominic Macario and Mason Waters each singled and scored from the final two slots in the order in the third.
“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 repeated 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 was scheduled to face Mountain Top for the title Saturday afternoon at West Side Little League.
Major
Greater Pittston Township will play Mountain Top for the district title Monday at Jenkins Township.
GPT reached the final when Mason Slusser tossed a three-hit shutout Tuesday in a 3-0 semifinal win over Hanover.
Armando Oliveri, Jordan Tonte, David Klansek Nicholas Sanguedolce and Jaden Vazquez each had a hit in the win. Tonte scored two runs while Slusser and Oliveri each had an RBI.
9-11-year-olds
Greater Pittston Township scored seven times with two out in the second inning Monday night on the way to an 8-7 victory over Mountain Top for the district title.
The big inning created an 8-0 lead and GPT held on from there.
GPT forced the deciding game by beating Mountain Top 14-4 June 29.
