WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area baseball will think outside the box at times to produce runs.
Friday was one of those times.
Wyoming Area had three players reach base on bunts in the fourth inning, with two scoring on a three-run double by Max Langdon, as the Warriors defeated Hanover Area 6-2 in a District 2 Class 4A semifinal game.
Baseball analytics nerds would have issues with some of the strategy Wyoming Area employs. The Warriors will bunt, steal a base or take an extra base when calculations say they shouldn’t.
“The way that we play the game is we like to be aggressive,” Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli said. “Whether it’s bunting the ball and making the other team make a play, whether it’s stealing off of the pitcher or we think we picked something up off the fielders where we can get a little bit extra, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to take a chance and we’re going to make you beat us.
“We’re not going to sit around and wait for the game to come to us.”
It’s been working as top-seeded Wyoming Area (19-3) heads to the championship game for the first time since 2022. The Warriors will play second-seeded Mid Valley (17-5). The game is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 29, at a time and site to be announced. Mid Valley defeated Crestwood 12-4 in the other semifinal.
Fourth-seeded Hanover Area ended its season at 14-8, but made tremendous strides this year. The Hawkeyes more than quadrupled their win total from 2025.
“We went from 3-17 and I think tied for last place in the conference a year ago,” Hanover Area coach Todd Kolbicka said. “We had five freshmen in the lineup last year and those guys have matured and come a long way in a short period of time and competed their rear ends off in a lot of good ball games.”
Hanover Area took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Logan Richardson, one of three sophomore triplets in the lineup. Wyoming Area answered the run with an RBI double by Ben Rogish in the bottom of the frame.
Wyoming Area then to its unconventional attack to score four runs in the second to take a 5-1 advantage.
Alex Vacula walked to open the second and Tyler Smith replaced him as a courtesy runner. Zane Smith and Robbie Yatsko followed and both bunted their way aboard to load the bases. Langdon send everyone home with a double to deep left field.
Bruno Pizzano used a bunt single to move Langdon to third, where he scored on a sac fly by Mitchell Rusinchak.
Hanover Area got a run back in the third when Conor Richardson scored on a groundout. Wyoming Area also scored in the third. Zach Smith singled, stole second and scored on a double by Yatsko.
Ryan Nemshick took over on the mound in the fourth and shut down Hanover Area the rest of the way to pick up the win.
District 2 Class 4A Semifinals
Wyoming Area 6, Hanover Area 2
Hanover Area`AB`R`H`BI
Kolbicka ss`4`0`1`0
Bennett lf`4`0`0`0
C.Richardson rf`2`2`0`0
L.Richardson 3b`3`0`1`1
Peck 2b`2`0`0`1
Kratz p`3`0`0`0
Wright 1b`3`0`0`0
B.Richardson c`2`0`0`0
Martinez cf`2`0`0`0
Ross cr`0`0`0`0
Totals`25`2`2`2
Wyoming Area`AB`R`H`BI
Favata 3b`4`0`0`0
Rusinchak lf`1`1`1`1
Snyder cf`2`0`0`0
Rogish rf`3`0`1`1
Vacula p`2`0`0`0
Z.Smith 1b`2`2`1`0
Yatsko ss`3`1`2`1
Langdon c`3`1`1`3
Pizzano 2b`3`0`1`0
T.Smith cr`0`1`0`0
Totals`23`6`7`6
Hanover Area`101`000`0 — 2
Wyoming Area`141`000`0 — 6
2B — Rogish, Yatsko, Langdon.
Hanover Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Kratz (L)`3.2`7`6`4`2`1
Peck`2.1`0`0`0`1`1
Wyoming Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Vacula`3`1`2`1`1`2
Nemshick (W)`4`1`0`0`1`4
