KINGSTON — JJ Hood nearly pitched a perfect game as West Pittston advanced to the championship of District 31 Major Baseball.
Hood delivered five innings of perfect baseball before giving up a single in the sixth. West Pittston came out 5-0 winners over Kingston/Forty Fort. Ethan Elmes hit a home run in the first inning, which proved to be enough for Hood. In the fourth, Jason Wiedl singles and scored on Nick Ross’ shot.
West Pittston will play Back Mountain National at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Pittston Township Little League field for the D31 championship and a spot in the Section 5 playoffs. National defeated West Pittston 15-2 in pool play on Tuesday. National beat Back Mountain American, 15-4, on Thursday.
In the loss on Tuesday, National scored runs in all five innings, including nine in the fifth, and took advantage of seven West Pittston errors.
Hood struck out six batters in two innings before being pulled to be eligible for the game against Kingston/Forty Fort. West Pittston scored two in the fourth on Blaise Sokach-Minnick’s RBI single and Richie Kashuba’s sacrifice fly.
Nanticoke 5,
Pittston Twp. 1
In the semifinals of the District 16 championships, Anthony Cencetti had two hits for Pittston Township, including a double in the team’s loss.
Drew Delucca doubled and Brayden Powers had a single despite the defeat. Zach Elko scored the lone run for Pittston Twp. With the win, Nanticoke advanced to the District 16 championship game Monday at Pittston Township.
Mountain Top 6,
Jenkins Twp. 1
Adam Litchofski, Ryan Petrosky and Trevor Bukowski combined for seven strikeouts in Mountain Top’s District 16 win over Jenkins Township.
Jenkins Township pitcher Karl Pecha had five strikeouts, while Matt Johnson and Matt Prociak both had hits. Jenkins finished 1-3 in pool play.
Duryea 9,
NWADP 5
Connor Mulhearn posted eight strikeouts as Duryea finished 2-2, just short of the District 16 semifinals.
The Duryea offense was led by Jeremy Cawley (2 for 2), David Behm (2 for 3), Ryan Zapko (2 for 3) and Mickey O’Malley (2 for 4).
Cameron Krugel homered for North Wilkes-Barre/Avoca/Dupont/Pittston City. David Girman had two hits.
Wyo./West Wyoming 7,
Swoyersville 6
Owen Hizynski had three hits as Wyoming/West Wyoming finished pool play at 2-2 and were unable to secure a spot in the semifinals of the District 31 championships.
Jayden Rusyn had two RBI. Nick Elko struck out nine over 4.2 innings. Anthony Bayo had two hits and three RBI to pace Swoyersville.