But injuries wiped out Naughton’s season before it started and limited Jackson to just four innings. And yet the Millionaires still won 14 games, finished second in the HAC-I and repeated as Backyard Brawl champions.

So, the tears so many players and coached shed as they walked off the Millionaire Mountain field for the final time Friday evening should soon dry. What they all likely will and, frankly, should remember are the obstacles they overcame just to reach that point.

Giovanni White, Grant Vilello and Christian Franzen all collected two hits, but Wilkes-Barre scored nine unanswered runs, turning a three-run deficit into a 9-3 District 2-4 Class AAAAAA semifinal win. Wilkes-Barre (14-8) reached its first championship and will play five-time defending champion Hazleton in Wednesday’s final. The Millionaires did not earn the title banner they so craved, but did not need one to validate what they represented this season.

“Any time you asked them to do something, they gave their best. They can walk away from this season knowing they did everything they could,” an emotional Tyler Albert said after concluding his first season as Williamsport’s coach. “There is nothing to hang their heads about. They should be able to walk off the field with their heads held high and feel proud with what they were able to accomplish this year.”

Camden March of Williamsport tries to make the play at second base as Omar Jerez of Wilkes Barre slides safely into base in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

They accomplished a lot, too. Different players stepped up throughout the season, helping Williamsport win its final five regular season games and make enormous strides while navigating a demanding schedule. At any time, Williamsport could have fallen back on the injuries and youth excuses, but instead it kept forging forward, rallying around each other and producing quality results.

Even Friday, it was not what Williamsport did wrong but what Wilkes-Barre did right which ended its season. Nate Fritz threw 5 2/3 gutsy innings, while going 3 for 4 with a home run, double and four RBIs. The Wolfpack delivered 15 hits and five generated at least two each, helping them score nine runs from the fourth-sixth innings.

Still, Williamsport went down fighting. The energy remained high and Franzen led off the seventh inning with a laser-like single. Players kept hitting the ball hard, but often right at or near Wilkes-Barre defenders who made all the plays over those last four innings.

The effort was there and Wilkes-Barre won the game, but Williamsport was not defeated.

“Baseball is a game that will rip your heart out if you let it, but you can’t let it. That’s the only way you can win this game is by finding comfort in your teammates, regardless of failure and knowing regardless of circumstance, regardless of one moment, that you did all you could,” Albert said. “It’s letting them know that one moment of failure does not dictate me right now and it does not dictate me for the rest of my life.

Cole Dietrick of Williamsport pitches in the first inning to Wilkes Barre in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“There are a group of guys in there that leaned on one another and know that they did their best.”

Williamsport scored three third inning runs, building a 3-0 advantage as Wyatt Bair hit a two-run single and White a sacrifice fly. Deshaun White ignited the rally with a lead-off single before Zane Rogers walked and Franzen dropped a perfect bunt single to load the bases.

Instead of that surge rattling Wilkes-Barre, it seemed to light its collective fire. The Wolfpack scored three runs in the fourth, took the lead in the fifth and tagged on five in the sixth, Fritz capping that flurry with a two-run home run.

“I knew we’d hit. We’ve been hitting real well lately. We were hyped and we executed,” Fritz said. “It’s a great feeling. I’m kind of at a loss for words. The adrenaline is still running.”

Williamsport was dealt a blow in the fourth inning when Wilkes-Barre scored the game-tying run on a two-out wild pitch despite the runner’s foot clearly being blocked by Cole Deitrick’s glove. Jaxson March had hustled after the baseball, and made a snap throw to Deitrick who easily had the runner, tagging him out with the runner’s foot nowhere near home. Instead of Williamsport exiting the inning up 3-2, the game was tied and momentum drastically was altered.

Cole Deitrick of Williamsport (41) and Wyatt Bair celebrate Deitrick getting out of the third inning against Wilkes Barre without allowing a run in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Fritz put the Wolfpack ahead to stay, hitting an RBI double an inning later before capping the sixth inning, five run eruption with his first high school home run.

“The momentum carried through the game and then the hits started to fall,” Fritz said. “I didn’t expect that (home run) to get out. but it got out. It was very exciting.”

So was the play his teammate, third baseman Jake Howe made in the fifth inning. After the Wolfpack went ahead, 4-3, Williamsport looked like it would regain the lead. Rogers walked, Giovanni White ran like the wind to beat out a a bunt single and Deitrick walked, loading the bases with two outs. March, who shined all year behind the plate after Naughton and Jackson were lost, then hit a scorching grounder into the hole between third base and shortstop.

What looked like would be a sure two-run single became the game’s defining play. Howe (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) fully extended his body, diving to his left, stopped the grounder, popped up and made a snap throw which beat March and preserved the one-run lead.

That sequence gave Howe some added juice and his three-run double the following inning helped Wilkes-Barre start breaking things open. And, while Williamsport finished with 10 hits, Fritz and Alex Hufford excelled in big moments, stranding 10 runners, Fritz earning the win with his strong 5 2/3 inning performance.

Cole Deitrick of Williamsport appears to tag out Tyler Daughtery of Wilkes Barre at home plate during the 4th inning in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Daughtery was called safe on the play. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“I was just trying to do my best to keep the score where it was,” Fritz said. “I was trying to keep them off-balance with the off-speed and it worked.”

Williamsport made a lot work this season and played its fifth consecutive error-less game. Seniors Vilello, Franzen, Jackson, Chase Kelley and Ryan Schur did not get the Hollywood ending, but they still can take comfort, walking into the sunset knowing they helped Williamsport build on its tradition.

No one can tell what the future holds results-wise, but those seniors helped set a tone which Albert and his staff are certain will remain a constant throughout the offseason. The hard work will continue.

“There is a great foundation. I couldn’t ask for a better group of five seniors to help get this thing rolling and get the underclassmen going and getting them knowing what the expectation is,” Albert said. “They got them to meet that expectation, and I couldn’t ask for a better group, especially in my first year starting out. It was never a chore coming to the ball field. They were able to take a lot off your hands as far as being responsible among themselves and they respected one another.

“They set the standard.”

Zane Rogers of Williamsport dives back to first base safely as Tyler Daugherty of Wilkes Barre tries to make the play in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Wilkes-Barre 000 315 0―9 15 1

Williamsport 003 000 0–3 10 0

Nathan Fritz, Alex Hufford (6) and Dalton Flowers. Cole Deitrick, Wyatt Bair (5) and Jaxson March. W–Fritz. L–Deitrick.

Top Wilkes-Barre hitters: Fritz 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBIs; Hufford 3-4, R; Jake Howe 2-4, 2B, 3 RBIs, R; Jacob Chupka 2-4; Flowers 2-4, R. Top Williamsport hitters: Giovanni White 2-2, BB, RBI; Grant Vilello 2-3, 2B; Christian Franzen 2-4, R; Zane Rogers 1-2, 2 BB, R; Deitrick 1-3, 2B; Bair 1-4, 2 RBIs; Deshaun White 1-4, R.

Records: Wilkes-Barre 14-8. Williamsport 14-7.

Deshaun White of Williamsport celebrates scoring in the third inning against Wilkes Barre in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Wyatt Bair of Williamsport is tagged out at home plate by Dalton Flowers of Wilkes Barre during the third inning in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Cole Deitrick of Williamsport appears to tag out Tyler Daughtery of Wilkes Barre at home plate during the 4th inning in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Daughtery was called safe on the play. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Wyatt Bair of Williamsport waits for play to resume as James Bottger of Wilkes Barre rounds the bases on a solo home run during the sixth inning in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Grant Vilello of Williamsport doubles in the bottom of the sixth against Wilkes Barre in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Cole Deitrick of Williamsport appears to tag out Tyler Daughtery of Wilkes Barre at home plate during the 4th inning in Williamsport Friday afternoon. Daughtery was called safe on the play. Wilkes Barre won, 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette