WEST PITTSTON — Three Wyoming Area batters stepped up to bat with the bases full in the seventh inning on Tuesday, all aiming for a hit.
All three were unable to achieve a hit, but the result was enough to secure a victory for the Warriors.
Noah Smith, Jeremy Layland, and Chase Speicher received bases-loaded walks, pushing Wyoming Area into the lead, and the Warriors managed to fend off Holy Redeemer 8-7 in a crucial Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 baseball match.
“That’s what we talked about every day, going up there with a plan and making sure what our job is at hand,” stated Wyoming Area coach Rob Lemoncelli. “And sometimes your job changes every pitch, let alone every at-bat.
“These guys have a pretty good idea of the strike zone. We don’t have guys that hit the ball over the fence, so we have to make sure we have guys who can handle the bat whether it’s a bunt, a fake bunt, slash. Whatever it might be.”
Redeemer completed its Division 2 season with a 9-3 record and dropped to 13-5 overall. Wyoming Area (8-3 Div. 2, 10-8) still needs to face Hanover Area in a divisional game on Thursday. A victory for Wyoming Area would lead to a divisional tie and a special playoff game to determine the champion. Wyoming Area defeated Hanover Area 12-2 on April 19.
Based on the emotion from both teams during the game and some fans from both teams afterward, a playoff game could be quite interesting.
Redeemer was ahead 6-5 going into the seventh and quickly recorded an out. Wyoming Area then had Jacob Snyder walk, Matt Rusinski single, and David Fath get hit by a pitch to fill the bases.
Smith, who had a hit to left field caught near the fence in the third inning, walked to even the score. One out later, Layland and Speicher walked to give Wyoming Area an 8-6 lead.
Redeemer didn’t go quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Neither did some fans after the game.
First the baseball aspect. Cody Quaglia led off with a walk and then scored from first on a groundout combined with a throwing error to bring the Royals within 8-7.
Snyder, however, managed to strike out two of the next three batters he faced — while Redeemer coach Ryan Knowles and an assistant were ejected — to conclude the game. Snyder struck out seven and allowed one hit in four innings of relief.
“He threw really well for them,” Knowles said. “Jake is a really good pitcher. Credit to him. He made all the right pitches and they played good defense behind him.”
Knowles was ejected after coming in from the third-base coaching box to get an explanation on his assistant’s ejections. Then after the game, fans from both teams exchanged some heated words — with a few vulgarities sprinkled in to spice things up — behind the backstop.
Redeemer appeared to be pulling away with a four-run third, taking a 5-1 lead. Alex Gordon’s groundout brought in two runs, one via RBI and the other on an error on the play. Zach Schultz scored a run with a sacrifice fly and DJ McDermott scored on a wild pitch.
Wyoming Area responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, with Tom Carlin’s RBI triple being the sole hit of the inning for the Warriors. An error with two outs brought two runs across the plate.
Wyoming Area 8, Holy Redeemer 7
Holy Redeemer`AB`R`H`BI
Kopec center fielder 3 1 0 0
Cisney left fielder-pitcher 3 1 1 0
Quaglia shortstop 1 3 1 0
Gordon first baseman 4 0 1 3
Stevenson catcher 4 0 1 0
McDermott right fielder 2 1 0 0
Schultz third baseman-pitcher 3 0 0 1
Hendrzak designated hitter 2 0 0 0
Mazzarella pitcher 0 0 0 0
Hurst 2nd baseman 2 0 0 0
Totals 25 7 4 4
Wyoming Area`AB`R`H`BI
Snyder center fielder-pitcher 3 2 1 0
Ma.Rusinchak left fielder-center fielder 3 1 1 0
Fath 2nd baseman 2 3 2 0
Smith designated hitter 1 0 0 1
Yatsko 3rd baseman 0 0 0 0
Noone shortstop 3 1 1 1
Layland catcher 3 0 0 2
Speicher first baseman 3 1 0 1
Carlin pitcher 3 0 2 1
Donati left fielder 1 0 0 0
Rogish left fielder 0 0 0 0
Mi.Rusinchak right fielder 3 0 0 0
Dymond cr 0 0 0 0
Totals 25 8 7 6
Holy Redeemer`104`100`1 — 7
Wyoming Area`203`003`x — 8
2B — Quaglia, Cisney. 3B — Carlin.
Holy Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Mazzarella`3.0`5`5`2`2`2
Schultz (L)`2.1`2`3`3`2`1
Cisney`0.2`0`0`0`3`2
Wyoming Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Carlin`3`3`5`5`5`1
Snyder (W)`4`1`2`1`3`7
