Jake Lenahan tossed a one-hitter and Abington Heights scored in every inning April 29 while defeating visiting Scranton Prep 10-0 in a Lackawanna League Division 1 baseball game.
The Comets had lost their previous two games and three out of four after getting off to a 9-0 start that, at the time, made them the last remaining unbeaten in the district.
Thomas LaCoe and Nick Bradley led the offense that produced 13 hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Abington Heights scored four times in the bottom of the first and kept building the lead until Lincoln Anderson’s single in the fifth drove in Bradley with the run that ended the game on the 10-run rule.
Lenahan struck out seven and walked one. He retired the first seven batters he faced and the only hit he allowed was Matt Kalinoski’s single with one out in the fourth.
LaCoe homered, tripled, drove in three runs and scored two. He launched a three-run homer after Bradley had singled in the game’s first run.
Bradley went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
Tate Pentasuglio, Lincoln Anderson and Hunter Pentasuglio had two hits each. Tate Pentasuglio stole two bases and scored twice.
Reese Zalewski was 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored.
Abington Heights, which spent much of the first month of league play in the division lead, used the win to move back ahead of Scranton Prep and into second place in Lackawanna Division 1 at 5-3.
The Comets moved into May with a 10-3 overall record and in third place in the eight-team seeding race for the District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional playoffs.
Scranton Prep slipped to 5-4 in the division and 5-6 overall. The Cavaliers were fourth in the 10-team race for eight District 2 Class 4A playoff berths, which would give them a quarterfinal home game.
Lackawanna Trail was 4-5 in Lackawanna Division 3 and 4-7 overall going into May. The Lions are guaranteed of a berth in the seven-team District 2 Class 2A playoffs, but were on a path toward opening the postseason on the road.
ABINGTON HEIGHTS
Lenahan and Bradley have formed a 1-2 pitching punch.
While Lenahan has won all six of his starts, Bradley has posted a team-best 0.72 earned run average and is 3-1.
Lenahan has struck out 40 while allowing 14 hits and walking 11 in 32 1/3 innings. He has a 1.52 ERA.
Bradley has a 27-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 19 1/3 innings.
The Comets have struggled, however, to a 6.83 ERA in the other 26 2/3 innings.
Tate Pentasuglio leads the offense with a .558 on-base percentage, 11 stolen bases and 22 runs while sharing in doubles with Lenahan with five.
LaCoe is the only Comet with two homers, along with leading the team in triples (two) and slugging percentage (.647).
Anderson has a team-best .441 batting average while Zalewski has a team-high 18 RBI.
The Comets averaged 9.7 runs in their 9-0 start, which included wins in the first six games of April.
Abington Heights moved into first place April 15 with a 16-4, six-inning rout at Wallenpaupack, which has since taken back the division lead.
Bradley went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs against the Buckhorns.
LaCoe and winning pitcher Lenahan each doubled and drove in three runs.
SCRANTON PREP
The Cavaliers have played a series of close games.
Scranton Prep is 2-3 in one-run games, has won both its two-run games and won its only game that was decided by three.
The Cavaliers handed Wallenpaupack its only other non-league loss, beating the Buckhorns and Delaware Valley in successive, one-run, road games, 5-4 and 4-3.
Roman Valvano has saved four of the Scranton Prep wins.
Valvano has struck out 11 and walked five in 8 1/3 innings for a team-best 1.68 ERA, along with sharing the team lead with five stolen bases.
Zander Condeelis also has five stolen bases while leading the team in hits (14) and runs (15).
Kalinoski leads the Cavaliers with a .343 batting average and .514 slugging percentage.
Brian Kellogg has drive in a team-high eight runs.
LACKAWANNA TRAIL
The Lions started 1-4 before going 3-2 between April 20 and 26. They lost April 29 to Blue Ridge 10-8.
Gavin June leads the Lackawanna Trail offense with a .367 batting average and 10 RBI. He has three doubles and home run for a .567 slugging percentage.
Tucker Kinney has been the team’s top pitcher, but has been hurt by unearned runs while going 1-2 in four starts.
Kinney has struck out 36 and walked nine while registering an 0.93 ERA in 22 2/3 innings.
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