Wyoming Area third baseman David Favata saves an extra-base hit by stopping a grounder down the line by Mid Valley’s Nick Mills in the third inning. Mills got a single on the play.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Errors prove costly as Wyoming Area loses to Mid Valley
Mid Valley’s Jake Bondy scores on a wild throw to the plate in the second inning as his teammates cheering him on.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area second baseman Bruno Pizzano attempts to turn a double play after getting out Mid Valley’s Jeremy Cali at second base in the fourth inning.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area center fielder Matteo Argenio runs down a flyball in the fifth inning.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Jacob Synder singles to score David Favata in the fifth inning.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
EDWARDSVILLE — First the good.
Two Wyoming Area pitchers held Mid Valley to one hit in Friday’s District 2 Class 4A baseball championship game.
Now the bad … the really bad.
Wyoming Area committed six errors.
Those errors allowed Mid Valley to score six unearned runs as the Spartans defeated Wyoming Area 6-2 at Wilkes University.
The six miscues were an anomaly for Wyoming Area (19-4), which has been solid defensively all season. Nor did they end the season as the Warriors will face District 4 champion Montoursville (17-4) at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Lycoming Valley Intermediate Center in the first round of the PIAA 4A playoffs.
“What did they have, one hit,” Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli said. “Six errors, five walks. It’s really tough to win a ball game like that regardless of who your are playing let alone the defending champion.
“They deserved to win, but we definitely let them in the game today.”
The one hit was also an anomaly for Mid Valley (18-5), which had four players hitting .350 or better. The Spartans, who won their third consecutive D2-4A title, will host District 3 runner-up East Pennsboro (19-4) on Monday at a time to be announced.
“I would have told them they were crazy, absolutely crazy,” Mid Valley coach Ryan Kropa said of winning under the unusual circumstances. “It was something we kind of focused on during the week knowing they have a really, really good pitching staff.”
The final out of the game epitomized Wyoming Area’s afternoon. Mitchell Rusinchak singled to left with two out. Jacob Snyder then smoked a low liner heading to right field, only for the ball to strike Rusinchak for the final out.
Wyoming Area took a 1-0 lead after one inning. David Favata led off with a single, moved to second on a sac bunt by Rusinchak and to third on a groundout. He scored on a wild pitch.
Then came the start of a mistake-filled game for the Warriors.
Mid Valley’s Nick Hricenak led off the second by reaching on an error and Jake Bondy walked. Both scored on two throwing errors on a bunt by Spencer Kalinoski. Kalinoski made it all the way to third on the play and scored on a sac fly by Aaron Merrifield for a 3-1 lead.
Two more Wyoming Area errors came in the fourth. Zach Buza walked with one out. An error on a bunt by Merrifield allowed Buza to score from first and Merrifield to end up at third. A throwing error on a grounder by Jeremy Cali produced the Spartans’ fifth run.
The final error in the fifth made it 6-1 Mid Valley. Hricenak walked with one out, stole second and made a dash for home on an error on his steal of third.
Wyoming Area got a run back in the bottom of the fifth. Favata singled, moved to second on a groundout and stole third. He scored on a single by Snyder.
Wyoming Area ended up outhitting Mid Valley 7-1. The Warriors stranded seven runners, including three at second base and another at third.
Wyoming Area starter Ryan Nemschick went 3.1 innings and allowed the only hit, a harmless single in the third inning. Snyder finished up and retired the last eight batters he faced. They combined for nine strikeouts.
“Both of my pitchers did exactly what they were supposed to do on the mound,” Lemoncelli said. “We didn’t field the bunt well and that’s something that we usually bury teams on and we practice that over and over and over.
“Today we just made physical mistakes. I told the kids those are going to happen at times and today unfortunately it happen at a bad time for us.”
Mid Valley received six relief innings from Hricenak, who entered the game after starter Cooper Lukasavage felt some arm discomfort.
District 2 Class 4A Championship
Mid Valley 6, Wyoming Area 2
Mid Valley`AB`R`H`BI
Cali c`3`0`0`0
Yankoski lf`4`0`0`0
Romanosky ss`3`0`0`0
Mills 3b`4`0`1`0
Hricenak 2b`2`2`0`0
Bondy 1b`2`1`0`0
Kalinoski dh`2`1`0`1
Pinto rf`0`0`0`0
Lukasavage p`0`0`0`0
Buza 2b`2`1`0`0
Merrifield cf`2`1`0`0
Totals`24`6`1`1
Wyoming Area`AB`R`H`BI
Favata 3b`3`2`2`0
Rusinchak lf`3`0`1`0
Snyder cf`4`0`2`1
Rogish rf`2`0`1`0
Vacula 1b`3`0`1`0
Z.Smith dh`3`0`0`0
Nemschick p`0`0`0`0
Argenio cf`0`0`0`0
Yatsko ss`2`0`0`0
Landgon c`3`0`0`0
Pizzano 2b`3`0`0`0
Totals`26`2`7`1
Mid Valley`030`210`0 — 6
Wyoming Area`100`010`0 — 2
E — Wyoming Area 6. LOB — Mid Valley 4, Wyoming Area 7. SB — Hricenak 3, Rogish, Favata, Snyder. SAC — Kalinoski, Merrifield, Rusinchak. SF — Merrifield.
Mid Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Luksavage`1`1`1`1`1`1
Hricenak (W)`6`6`1`1`0`1
Wyoming Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Nemschick (L)`3.1`1`5`0`4`4
Snyder`3.2`0`1`0`1`5
