EDWARDSVILLE — Rained out on three other occasions, Wyoming Area and Holy Redeemer made the wait worth it Thursday.
Wyoming Area tied the score in the top of the seventh, only to have Redeemer’s Zach Schultz hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the inning for a 5-4 victory in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 baseball finale for both.
The game was shifted from Gibby Field’s grass surface to Wilkes University’s turf to ensure it was played before Saturday’s District 2 deadline.
Redeemer (11-1 Div. 2, 16-3) had already clinched the division title, but the game was important in the race for the District 2 Class 2A top seed. The Royals needed to clear at least one hurdle — either Wyoming Area or Williamsport on Friday — to all but lock up the top spot.
“That’s a nice win to get us ready,” Redeemer coach Ryan Knowles said. “Wyoming Area always plays us tough, they play us hard. A big game to just get us ready.”
As for Wyoming Area (8-4 Div. 2, 11-9), it was locked into the third seed in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs. The Warriors, though, had the chance to play a quality team, face quality pitching and battle some adversity entering the postseason.
“This is what we’re built for. This is what we practice for all year. This is what we build towards,” Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli said. “You take a good team like Holy Redeemer and they had to throw everything and the kitchen sink at us just to be able to take us to the wire.
“We didn’t play our best baseball yet. We made some self-inflicted mistakes, but we battled from start to finish. I’m very happy where we’re at. I think we’re going to be a force next week.”
Wyoming Area tied the score 4-4 in the seventh when Jacob Snyder scored from third on a fielder’s choice by David Fath. He had walked, moved to second on Mitchell Rusinchak’s bunt single and then pulled off a double steal to reach third.
The run only set up some heroics in the bottom of the seventh.
Redeemer’s Jack Hurst ripped a one-out double down the left-field line. Cody Quaglia, who had doubled and later scored in the fifth, was intentional walked. Drew Cisney walked to load the bases, and Schultz then hit an opposite-field single to right through a drawn-in infield to end the game.
Redeemer took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, using RBI singles by Cisney and Hurst along with a wild pitch to score the runs.
Wyoming Area tied the score 3-3 in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Chase Speicher, Jeremy Layland and Cody Meade.
Redeemer regained the lead, 4-3, in the fifth. Quaglia doubled into the right-center gap and a wild pitch on his steal of third allowed him to score.
Redeemer first baseman Alex Gordon came up with the defensive play of the game in the first. Wyoming Area had the bases loaded and two outs when he dived to his right to snag a grounder heading to right field. He flipped the ball to pitcher Cisney for the final out.
Both teams will be home for the first round of the District 2 playoffs. The schedule won’t be set until Sunday afternoon, with Tuesday likely the first day of games.
Holy Redeemer 5, Wyoming Area 4
Wyoming Area`AB`R`H`BI
Snyder p`2`1`0`0
Rusinchak lf`4`0`1`0
Vacula 3b`2`0`0`0
Rogish rf`3`1`2`0
Fath 2b`3`1`1`1
Speicher 1b`4`1`1`1
Layland c`3`0`2`1
Meade dh`2`0`1`1
DeLucca cf`0`0`0`0
Yatsko 2b`3`0`1`0
Totals`26`4`9`4
Redeemer`AB`R`H`BI
Quaglia ss`3`1`1`0
Cisney p`3`0`1`1
Schultz lf`3`0`1`1
Gordon 1b`3`0`0`0
Marranca rf`3`0`0`0
Binker dh`3`1`0`0
Dugan cf`0`0`0`0
Mazzarella 3b`3`0`1`0
Stevenson c`2`1`0`0
Hurst 2b`3`2`2`1
Totals`26`5`6`3
Wyoming Area`003`000`1 — 4
Holy Redeemer`030`010`1 — 5
2B — Quaglia, Hurst.
Wyoming Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Snyder`5.0`4`4`1`2`4
Vacula (L)`1.1`1`1`1`2`0
Holy Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Cisney`6.1`9`4`4`5`4
Schultz (W)`0.2`0`0`0`1`0
