H.S. Baseball: Pittston Area walks off Dallas, stays in hunt for Division 1

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.

HUGHESTOWN — Locked in a stalemate with Dallas, Pittston Area finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh Monday.

The Patriots also kept their divisional title hopes alive in the process.

Dom Innamorati singled home Elijah Mead with one out as Pittston Area walked off Dallas 3-2 in a key Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 baseball game.

Pittston Area (11-1 Div. 1, 15-2 overall) kept pace with first-place Hazleton Area (12-1 Div. 1, 14-4). The teams play Wednesday at Hazleton Area. Hazleton Area will win its fifth consecutive Division 1 championship with a victory. If Pittston Area wins, the Patriots will have to get past Dallas again on Thursday.

“That’s where we want to be come playoff time,” Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto said. “This is the first time we’ve been in a game game like this in a while. Even though we lost 5-3 at Wilkes-Barre last week, it wasn’t a game like this.”

The teams played three scoreless innings — both missing chances to break the 2-2 tie — entering the seventh.

Dallas got a one-out single from Kaden Coyne in the top of the seventh, but a fielder’s choice and popout ended the threat.

Pittston Area didn’t have a hit since the fourth inning when Mead led off the seventh with a single. Drew DeLucca used a sacrifice bunt to move Mead to second and he scored when Innamorati’s grounder leaked through the left side of the infield for the game-winning hit.

Dallas (8-3 Div. 1, 12-4) saw its divisional chances end. The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the third, but the threat ended when Pittston Area second baseman Beau Widdick made a backhanded stab of a grounder to get a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Pittston Area took a 1-0 lead in the first as Silvio Giardina rocketed a double to right-center to score Innamorati, who reached on an error.

Dallas took a 2-1 lead in the second. Connor Healey and Ethan Tinner led off by getting hit by pitches. Healey eventually scored on a groundout and Tinner scored on a wild pitch.

Pittston Area knotted the game in the third on three consecutive singles. Only one left the infield. Innamorati singled up the middle and went to third on an error on Giardina’s bunt single. Jake Aftewicz’s high chopper to short scored Innamorati.

“We had defensive mistakes again,” Dallas coach Mike Viglone said. “In a tight game, you can’t have them. It hurt us throughout the game and two-out hitting. We’re just not getting those runs home.”

Pittston Area 3, Dallas 2

Dallas`AB`R`H`BI

Adamski c`4`0`1`0

Paczewski p`4`0`1`0

Coyne cf`3`0`2`0

Geskey 1b`3`0`0`0

Zangardii rf`3`0`0`0

Healey ss`2`1`0`0

Tinner dh`1`1`0`0

Dale 3b`0`0`0`0

Rischawy lf`0`0`0`0

Leandri 2b`1`0`0`1

Totals`21`2`4`1

Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI

DeLucca cf`3`0`1`0

D.Innamorati lf`4`2`2`1

Giardina ss-p`3`0`2`1

Aftewicz c`3`0`1`1

Barr dh-p-2b`3`0`0`0

Johnson p`0`0`0`0

Widdick p-2b`3`0`0`0

Wardecki 1b`3`0`0`0

Barnic pr`0`0`0`0

Tonte 3b`3`0`0`0

Mead rf`3`1`2`0

Totals`28`3`8`3

Dallas`020`000`0 — 2

Pittston Area`101`000`1 — 3

2B — Giardina.

Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Paczewski (L)`6.1`8`3`2`0`2

Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Widdick`2.0`3`2`2`2`0

Johnson`1.2`0`0`0`1`1

Barr`2.1`0`0`0`1`1

Giardina (W)`1.0`1`0`0`0`0