PLAINS TWP. — It wouldn’t have been a routine play for Pittston Area — even if the tying run for Coughlin weren’t 90 feet away with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
But with a similar play from earlier in the game still on his mind, Patriots shortstop Kyle O’Fier got a quick jump, charging in on the grounder and whipping it over to first as both dugouts were on their feet and shouting.
Out by a step. Celebration time for the Patriots.
“(Earlier) I had the same play and I sat back, and I didn’t get the out,” O’Fier said after Pittston Area’s 5-4 win over Coughlin in Saturday’s District 2 Class 5A quarterfinal at Hilldale Park. “That play was the same read, same hop. So I came up and made the play on the run.”
That, along with a five-run fifth inning, sent the Patriots into Wednesday’s semifinals, where they will travel to play No. 1 Wallenpaupack.
After four innings on Saturday, however, Pittston Area was looking at a third loss in as many tries this season against the rival Crusaders. Coughlin ace Chase Nowak hadn’t allowed a hit, and the Crusaders had just broken through for a 2-0 lead on RBIs from George Oko and Eric Christian.
Leading off the fifth, it was a freshman that got the fifth-seeded Patriots going. Joe Cencetti doubled into the gap and, before long, Pittston Area had loaded the bases.
From there, a Joe DeLucca single and an O’Fier triple on a 1-1 fastball each drove in two runs to give Pittston Area the lead for good.
Patriots coach Paul Zaffuto pointed to Cencetti’s ice-breaking hit as a turning point.
“Chase was in a groove, he’s got a no-hitter going, he thinks everything going all right — and then the freshie hits a gapper and gives us a spark,” Zaffuto said. “So you never know who’s going to contribute. Today, he was the one who started it up.”
Coughlin wasn’t about to go away.
T.J. Wozniak and Nowak had back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth to pull within 5-4. The No. 4 Crusaders then put runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh, looking for a hit that would tie it up or even deliver a walk-off win.
But Hunter Ralston induced the grounder to complete a four-out save in relief of senior Tyler Jackson, who picked up the win.
Coughlin looked to have another run back in the fifth inning when a runner scored from second on an apparent error. But it was ruled that the sequence was caused by interference when the runner, not wanting to be hit by the grounder for the third out, briefly held up between second and third.
Instead of scoring a run, the inning was over.
“That’s a call you never see called,” Crusaders coach Moe Rodzinak said. “If he didn’t stop, he would’ve gotten hit with the ball.
“But I’m not crying about that. We just didn’t get the hit when we needed it. … They’re a good team, and they hung tough.”
Rodzinak was more disappointed that the Crusaders only scored four runs despite hammering out 13 hits — all singles.
Coughlin’s top eight hitters all had at least one hit with Christian, Nowak, Leroy Fettig, Oko and Taylor Chronowski all finishing with two apiece.
Jacob Lupas even kept it at a one-run deficit in the top of the seventh when he pitched his way out of a no-out bases-loaded jam by getting three straight grounders — two force outs at home before getting the final one on a 5-3 put-out.
In the end, the Crusaders barely missed extending the game.
“(The Patriots) got the hits when they needed them,” Rodzinak said. “We had so many chances. We left too many men on base early. At one point, we could’ve jumped up 4-0 there, but we just couldn’t do it.
“It’s a heartbreaker.”
Crestwood 4,
North Pocono 2
Curtis Tokach broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded walk by Matt Taleroski to provide some insurance in a Class 5A quarterfinal victory.
Colin Macko struck out nine for the win, recording all but the final out on the mound while adding an RBI at the plate. Justin Darden doubled for the second-seeded Comets, who got hits from seven different players.
Ryan Deom had two of the four hits for the No. 7 Trojans and had their lone RBI.
Crestwood will host Wyoming Valley West in Wednesday’s semifinals. The teams split their regular-season series with the home team winning both games.
Class A update
The District 2-11 Class A subregional bracket was released Saturday with MMI Prep earning the No. 5 seed in the six-team field. The Preppers will travel to Allentown on Monday to face fourth-seeded Lincoln Leadership Academy at 4:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
If the Preppers win, then their subregional semifinal against No. 1 Forest City will also serve as the District 2 Class A championship game to be played at 1:30 p.m. on May 28 at PNC Field.
If MMI loses, then the D2-A final will instead pit Forest City against Susquehanna because the Sabers finished with a higher winning percentage than the Preppers in conference play.
MMI edged Susquehanna for a spot in the subregional because berths were awarded based on District 11’s full-season power ratings formula. The Preppers were boosted by having played the toughest schedule out of nine eligible teams.
District 2 Class 5A quarterfinals
Pittston Area 5, Coughlin 4
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
JoeDeLucca cf`4`1`2`2
KRalston lf`2`0`0`0
OFier ss`3`1`2`2
Jackson p-rf`3`0`0`0
Shamnoski c`0`0`0`0
JohDeLucca dh`4`0`0`0
Cencetti 3b`4`1`1`0
JStella 1b`3`0`1`0
DStella pr`0`0`0`0
Krawczyk 2b`1`1`0`0
Zuba rf`1`1`0`0
Brody ph`1`0`0`0
HRalston p`0`0`0`0
Totals`26`5`6`4
Coughlin`AB`R`H`BI
Christian cf`3`1`2`1
Wozniak ss`3`0`1`1
Nowak p-3b`4`0`2`1
Fettig 1b`4`0`2`0
Dressler c`3`1`1`0
Lupas 2b-p`3`1`1`0
Oko lf`4`1`2`1
Chronowski rf`4`0`2`0
Marek 3b-2b`3`0`0`0
Egidio ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`32`4`13`4
Pittston Area`000`050`0`—`5
Coughlin`000`202`0`—`4
2B — Cencetti; 3B — O’Fier
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Jackson (W)`5.2`12`4`2`1`1
HRalston (S)`1.1`1`0`0`0`0
Coughlin`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Nowak (L)`4.2`3`5`4`3`5
Lupas`2.1`3`0`0`1`1
District 2 Class 5A quarterfinals
Crestwood 4, North Pocono 2
North Pocono`AB`R`H`BI
Noon cf`3`0`0`0
Walsh lf`3`0`0`0
Kravitz ss`3`0`1`0
Wall 3b`3`1`1`0
Woloszyn 1b`2`1`0`0
Deom p`3`0`2`1
Mastillo c`2`0`0`0
Sapienza 2b`0`0`0`0
Donato p`0`0`0`0
McLain dh`3`0`0`0
Kowalski lf`2`0`0`0
Cruciani ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`25`2`4`1
Crestwood`AB`R`H`BI
Caladie ss`4`0`1`0
Macko p`2`0`1`1
Chalk 1b`0`0`0`0
Graves dh`3`1`1`0
Darden 2b`3`1`1`0
Wegener c`3`0`1`0
Tokach 3b`3`0`1`1
Bafunno pr`0`0`0`0
Kindler rf`2`0`0`0
Brozena ph`1`0`0`0
Knapp lf`2`1`0`0
Taleroski cf`1`1`1`1
Totals`24`4`8`3
North Pocono`000`101`0`—`2
Crestwood`001`012`x`—`4
2B — Darden
N. Pocono`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Deom (L)`5+`7`4`3`1`1
Donato`1.0`1`0`0`2`2
Crestwood`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Macko (W)`6.2`4`2`1`2`9
Trimmer (S)`0.1`0`0`0`0`0
