KINGSTON — It may have been a few days past the holiday, but Back Mountain National made sure to provide plenty of fireworks for the crowd on Saturday as they rolled to a District 31 championship.
Back Mt. National scored 10 runs in their first two trips to the plate, claiming the District 31 8-10 Baseball title with a 14-4 victory over Greater Wyoming Area.
It was a total team effort from the Back Mountain National lineup; all but one of their 12 hitters reached base safely, nine different players scored and seven different players drove in a run as they overwhelmed Greater Wyoming Area right from the jump.
“We played this team before, we had a very difficult time getting a good barrel on the ball,” said Back Mountain National manager Brian Wielgosz. “We focused on hitting the ball hard and on the ground…this group of kids, I don’t know if anyone works harder.”
The top of the order proved particularly lethal for Back Mountain National: their first five hitters in the lineup combined for eight hits, eight runs scored and nine runs driven in through just four innings of work.
Those guys got it started with a five-spot in the first inning, with Back Mountain National scoring four runs before the first out was recorded. Matt Wycallis had a two-run double as part of the barrage of offense.
They would add six more in the next two innings, and entered the home half of the fourth with an 11-4 lead, needing three runs to end the game early.
Jordon Rollins led off with a single, and scored on a sacrifice groundout from leadoff hitter Ethan Wielgosz. Oliver Bross followed with a single and scored on a base hit from Bruce Knowles.
Jack Katyl did the honors for Back Mountain National, singling to drive in Knowles and push the ten-run rule into effect.
Knowles had three singles, two runs scored and two RBI, but he may have made a bigger impact on the mound. The lefty threw four strong innings, navigating some really good Greater Wyoming Area at-bats to put his team in position to win early.
“Bruce is an unbelievable player, a near-complete player,” Wielgosz said. “We were counting on him today, he wanted the ball and he did a great job moving the ball, keeping them a little bit off-balance and pounding the strike zone.”
Cam DePriest had two hits and an RBI for Greater Wyoming Area, while also pitching two innings in relief. Albert Cordero and Bryce Bauman each had RBI singles, and Michael Fanti and Vinny Ginochetti each singled and scored for GWA.
Back Mountain National will begin play in the Section 5 tournament starting next Saturday, at a site yet to be finalized.
District 31 8-10 Baseball Championship
Back Mountain National 14, Greater Wyoming Area 4
Greater Wyo. Area`AB`R`H`BI
Arnold c`2`0`0`0
Fanti ss`2`1`1`0
DePriest 1b-p`2`1`2`1
Cordero 3b-p`2`0`1`1
Ginochetti cf`2`1`1`0
Bauman 2b`1`1`1`1
Hiller p`0`0`0`1
Cavalieri lf`1`0`0`0
Mazar eh`1`0`0`0
Ramiza eh`1`0`0`0
Pacchioni rf`1`0`0`0
Musinski eh`0`0`0`0
Totals`15`4`6`4
Back Mtn. National`AB`R`H`BI
Weilgosz 2b`2`2`0`2
Bross ss`2`3`2`1
Knowles`3`2`3`2
Katyl 1b`2`1`2`2
Wycallis c`2`0`1`2
Tribendis lf`1`2`1`0
Hanson cf`2`0`1`1
Salko 3b`2`0`1`0
Page eh`1`1`0`0
Kovach eh`2`0`0`0
Rollins rf`2`2`2`1
Dennis eh`2`1`1`0
Totals`23`14`14`11
Greater Wyo. Area`020`2 — 2
Back Mt. National`551`3 — 14
2B — Wycallis, Dennis, DePriest.
Greater Wyo. Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Hiller (L)`1.2`9`10`9`1`0
Cordero`0.1`0`1`1`2`0
DePriest`2`5`3`3`0`2
Back Mt. National`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Knowles (W)`4`6`4`4`1`3