Pittston Area’s Joe Bradley singled and scored a run in the Patriots’ three-run fifth inning.
Amber Jones | For Times Leader
The Pittston Area players pose with the District 2 Class 5A championship plaque after defeating Dallas 7-4.
John Erzar | Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Elijah Barr pitched five innings to get the win.
Amber Jones | For Times Leader
Starter Nick Bednar threw four innings for Dallas.
Amber Jones | For Times Leader
Dallas’ Peyton VanValkenburgh reacts after hitting an RBI double in the first inning.
Amber Jones | For Times Leader
SCRANTON — The positive aspect of the four-run deficit was that it gave ample time to recover.
Pittston Area did just that Thursday on the way to its third consecutive District 2 Class 5A baseball championship.
The Patriots tied the score in the third and then took the lead in the fifth, erasing a four-run lead Dallas built in its first trip to the plate, to defeat the Mountaineers 7-4.
Pittston Area (20-3) will head to the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs where it will host District 3 third seed Lower Dauphin (20-3) on Monday.
Pittston Area ace Elijah Barr entered the game with a sub-2.00 ERA and a complete-game, two-hitter against Abington Heights in the semifinals.
Barr, though, didn’t have his best stuff early on. He hit and walked batters in the first inning, gave up an RBI single to Charlie Rischawy and a towering double to Peyton VanValkenburgh as Dallas (16-7) took a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the first.
“All we kept saying to each other was they have to get 21 outs,” Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto said. “And we have the toughest lineup I believe we’ve had in a long time. Four runs for us, we’re not afraid.”
Barr settled in over the next four innings, surrendering one hit and retiring Dallas in order in the second, third and fifth innings. He relied on a defense that committed one error in his five innings as he finished with no strikeouts.
The Pittston Area offense then went about wiping away Dallas’ 4-0 advantage.
Beau Widdick started Pittston Area’s third with a single up the middle. Barr then walked and Jacoby Harnen singled to left for the Patriots’ first run.
Courtesy runners Ryan Tonte and Jack Bernardi — running for Barr and Harnen — eventually scored on wild pitches, including one on a third strike where Joshua Barr reached base.
Joshua Barr moved to second on a single by Dom Salvo and then to third on another wild pitch. He scored on a groundout by Gavin Wardecki to knot the score 4-4.
“That first inning gave us a little adversity,” said Salvo, who finished 3-for-3 and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth. “I think our attitude was good. I don’t think we got down on ourselves. We picked each other up and do what we do.”
Salvo opened the fifth with a single to left and moved to second on a sac bunt by Wardecki. Joe Bradley then singled to left and Salvo made the turn around third base and then headed back to the bag. A throw to third went wide, allowing him to score.
After Zach Budzak was hit by a pitch, he and Bradley scored on a single by Nick Innamorati, the nine-hole hitter, to make it 7-4.
Bradley pitched the final two innings of relief. The junior lefty hadn’t pitched in some time and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by getting a popup and flyout to end the threat.
“We had two pop-ups there,” Dallas coach Mike Viglone said. “We needed a hit there, we needed some runs to close the gap a little bit and we didn’t get them.”
Dallas’ Dominick Zangardi led off the seventh by bouncing a double just past a diving attempt by Wardecki, Pittston Area’s first baseman. Bradley retired the next three batters to pick up the save.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Bradley said. “Six months prior to this I was nowhere near where I am now. All the work me and (pitching) coach (John) Richards do in that bullpen in the offseason really helped. I couldn’t be more thankful for him.”
Dallas had a mild scoring threat in the fourth as Max Scatton singled with two outs and Kevin Osipower reached on an error. A groundout ended the inning.
District 2 Class 5A Championship
Pittston Area 7, Dallas 4
Dallas`AB`R`H`BI
Healey ss`4`0`0`0
D.Zangardi cf`3`1`1`0
Youngblood c`3`1`0`0
Rischawy lf`4`1`1`1
VanValkenburgh 2b`3`1`1`1
Pietraccini 1b`3`0`1`0
Chapman dh`3`0`0`0
Bednar p`0`0`0`0
L.Zangardi ss`0`0`0`0
Scatton 3b`2`0`1`0
Osipower rf`3`0`0`0
Totals`28`4`5`2
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Widdick ss`4`1`2`0
E.Barr p`2`0`0`0
Tonte cr`0`1`0`0
Sarti rf`0`0`0`0
Harnen c`3`0`1`1
Bernardi cr`0`1`0`0
J.Barr dh`4`1`0`0
Rosencrance 3b`0`0`0`0
Salvo lf`3`1`3`0
Wardecki 1b`2`0`0`1
Bradley rf`3`1`1`0
Budzak 2b`1`1`0`0
Innamorati cf`3`0`1`1
Totals`25`7`8`3
Dallas`400`000`0 — 4
Pittston Area`004`030`x — 7
E — Dallas 1, Pittston Area 2. LOB — Dallas 7, Pittston Area 5. 2B — VanValkenburgh, D.Zangardi, Widdick. SB — D.Zangardi. SAC — Wardecki.
Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Bednar (L)`4`5`4`4`3`3
Healey`2`2`3`3`0`4
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
E.Barr (W)`5`3`4`3`1`0
Bradley (S)`2`2`0`0`1`2
HBP — Scatton (by Bradley), Budzak (by Healey).
