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Masse on baseball: Williamsport earned chance at title game

Dejected Williamsport players left Wyoming Valley West’s baseball field last year wanting a second chance.

It did not matter that Valley West, the eventual champion, played in the previous year’s Class AAAA state championship and was the favored top seed. Williamsport expected to win that district semifinal and reach PNC Field, but watched a two-run lead turn into a 6-3 loss. Since that day, the Millionaires have coveted earning another opportunity.

And now it is here.

Williamsport (14-4) will play Scranton at PNC Field Monday for the District 2-4 Class 6A championship. The Millionaires are playing in their first final since 2011 and are seeking their first championship since that same year.

“Last year we ran into a really tough Valley West team there and these guys have had that taste in their mouth since then,” Williamsport coach Ryan Miller said after the Millionaires blanked Delaware Valley in Thursday’s semifinals. “They are not satisfied being here. They want to get it and they are going after it. This senior class has been very successful all throughout the whole school year in other sports and they’re looking to continue that here. I’m excited for Monday and I know they’re all excited.”

Williamsport has made nice strides the last two seasons. A year ago the Millionaires made an eight-win improvement and won the program’s first playoff game since 2012. Williamsport completed its league season early and because District 2 takes only league records into consideration for seeding, it was left playing a lot of games with little ramifications.

The Millionaires played to win but also longed for the postseason and these high-stakes games. They responded by playing well against Delaware Valley as Tanner Esposito threw a 3-hit shutout at Bucknell University and Elliott Walker went 2 for 2 with two runs.

“This is the time of the year that we live for,” Esposito said. “We play up and we’re ready for every game now.”

“It’s hard to play in the District 2 playoff format because our conference games are done so early in the year and you’re playing out the rest of the year looking forward to these moments,” Miller said. “In these types of situations they rise to the occasion and we’re very pleased with the effort they put out (against DV). Going from Bucknell to PNC Field, so it’s going to be a big-time atmosphere there too and I know the kids will be ready.”

That is good since Scranton presents a challenge after beating Hazleton, 4-1 in the quarterfinals and top-seeded West Scranton in the semifinals. Scranton is surging at the right time and both Colin Mullen and Robbie McAndrew had two hits against West Scranton. Jack Kelly threw a five-hit shutout and struck out five after fanning 12 in 6 2/3 innings against Hazleton.

Scranton is tough but Williamsport enjoys challenges like these. This is exactly where Williamsport wanted to be when it left Valley West last May. Now they hope to make the most of this chance.

“We’ve been talking about it all year. We want to strive to be the best that we can be,” Walker said. “We want to play our best baseball. We’re just striving to be the best we can be to get to where we want to be.”

“We’re very excited,” Esposito said. “We want to bring it home for our home town.”

NOT THIS TIME

Loyalsock reached the District 4 Class AAA championship, defeating Danville, 11-3, on Friday. For a while the game played out exactly as the two previous regular-season contests had. Loyalsock won those games 7-6 and 6-4, building 7-0 and 6-0 leads before Danville made furious comebacks. This time, Loyalsock led 6-0 before Danville scored three sixth-inning runs and put the tying runs on base.

This time, Loyalsock stopped the comeback before it could really gather steam. Larry Van Stavoren left the bases loaded in the sixth, Loyalsock scored five in the bottom half and reached its fifth district championship in six seasons. The Lancers (17-3) will play Central Columbia in Wednesday’s final at Penn State in a showdown between HAC-II and HAC-III champions.

“Danville’s tough. We had them on the ropes in the first game here and they battled back and made it a one run game. So when that started to happen, I started having some flashbacks to that,” Loyalsock coach Zac Martin said. “They’re not going to roll over and die. They have a lot more spirit than that. The biggest thing we can do after a big inning is throw up a zero and the biggest thing we can do after a big inning for them is put the ball in the yard and put on pressure.”

Loyalsock is making its eighth district final appearance since 2008 and put together strong performances against Mount Carmel and Danville. Andrew Malone threw a two-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Mount Carmel and the Lancers delivered 12 hits against Danville while making no errors. Hunter Webb had two hits in both games, Van Stavoren went 2 for 4 with three steals against Danville and Chase McNulty added two hits, two runs and an RBI.

Logan Edmonds continued building on his strong late-season run and threw five quality innings against Danville. Edmonds allowed just two hits and struck out six as Loyalsock earned a trip to the field where it won state championships in 2013 and 14.

“He’s a great kid,” Van Stavoren said. “He’s just going to get in there, tuck his head and throw pitches.”

HISTORY MAKERS

Cowanesque Valley is going where no other team in program history has gone. The Indians thumped top-seeded Montgomery, 9-2, in Wednesday’s District 4 Class A semifinals and will play in their first district championship on Wednesday at Penn State against league rival Sayre. CV (13-7) won its first-ever playoff game at Montgomery and continued an upward climb that began when this group played together as Little Leaguers.

“We’ve been wanting to do this forever,” Cowanesque Valley second baseman Corey Wells said after going 2 for 2 and scoring twice. “We’ve all played together since Little League so that makes everything better.”

“They’ve worked hard for it for a long time,” Cowanesque Valley coach Dennis Fitzwater said. “This has been many year’s coming.”

CV returned to the postseason last year but dropped an extra-inning heartbreaking quarterfinal at Muncy. Although slugger Tyler Melko graduated, a strong core returned and the Indians 10 of 12 games at one point. Even when CV ended the regular season on a three-game losing streak, its confidence did not waver.

It showed against Montgomery as CV scored nine straight runs and Caleb Fitzwater struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings in a game that was close for only two innings. It was a statement performance but the work is not finished.

“We had a lot of confidence at the plate. Once one thing good happens, we kind of all form together and take off,” Wells said. “It’s a great feeling to get there but it’s more coming back and getting to play Sayre again. We want revenge.”

Sayre (16-5) toppled defending champion Millville in the semifinals and swept 9-4 and 9-7 games from CV. Now the Indians have a third chance and this is the only one that matters.

When Caleb Fitzwater was a freshman, he and his dad watched the Class A state final at Penn State. At that time, the thought of CV playing for a championship on that field some day seemed far-fetched. Now it is reality and CV has a chance to write quite a story.

“Caleb and I sat there and I said, ‘do you ever envision playing at this level on this field? He said I would love to play on this field and now we have the chance,” Fitzwater said. “This group has been working for this. They know what they can do and they know the fundamentals.”

HISTORY MAKERS II

Wellsboro clinched its first Class AA state tournament berth and first district final appearance since 2010 when it defeated Williamson, 6-3, in Thursday’s semifinals. The Green Hornets (11-10) will try and win their first district championship on Tuesday at Penn State against South Williamsport.

Wellsboro is a young team that has shown nice growth since starting the season 3-5 and losing to Williamson 8-1. Since then the Hornets recorded some quality wins, including a 4-2 victory against 2016 Class AA champion North Penn-Mansfield. Wellsboro was three outs from not making the playoffs, but scored three times in the ninth inning in their regular-season finale as Carson Davis’s 2-run, walk-off single lifted it to a 7-6 win.

Now the Hornets seem to be peaking and had little trouble against Williamson after building an early 4-0 lead. Johnny Rowland won his sixth game, allowing no earned runs in five innings and also going 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Freshman Billy Lechler threw a scoreless seventh inning to earn the save and also had two hits as did Cameron Tennis who drove in two runs.

AROUND THE AREA

Lewisburg came within a run of reaching its first district championship since 2000 before losing, 4-3 to top-seeded Athens in the District 4 Class AAAA semifinals. The Green Dragons (13-9) reached the postseason for the first time in 17 years, defeated perennial title contender Jersey Shore, 7-1, in the quarterfinals and won nine of their last 11 games after starting 4-7. It was a huge turnaround season and could be just the start for a team that brings back nearly its entire pitching staff in 2018 … Central Columbia ended Montoursville’s season, defeating it 5-2 in the Class AAA semifinals. Eight Montoursville seniors graduate but the cupboard will be far from bare. The Warriors feature several good young players and it showed in an 8-2 quarterfinal win over Hughesville. Freshman Logan Ott threw two strong innings and had six strikeouts in three postseason innings thrown, Jaxon Dalena hit a two-run single and Dylan Bower doubled twice and drove in two runs … As frustrating as Montgomery’s loss to CV might have been, the Red Raiders have plenty of reason to remain optimistic. Montgomery has no seniors and only three juniors so the Mid-Penn champions might just be getting started.

Dr. Masse’s Top Five: 1. Williamsport (14-4); 2. Loyalsock (17-3); 3. North Penn-Mansfield (15-5); 4. Lewisburg (13-9); 5. Montoursville (12-8)

Players of the Week–Tanner Esposito, Williamsport and Connor Watkins, Loyalsock: In addition to throwing a three-hit shutout on 86 pitches, Esposito also delivered at the plate. The junior went 2 for 2 with a walk and hit a key two-out, two-run single that put Williamsport up 5-0. Watkins helped spark the Loyalsock offense, going 4 for 7 in two wins while playing solid defense. Watkins hit two doubles, drove in three runs, scored twice and stole a base.

Masse covers high school baseball for the Sun-Gazette. Email him at cmasse@sungazette.com or follow him on Twitter @docmasse.

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