H.S. Baseball/Softball: Three baseball teams, one softball team head to PIAA quarterfinals

Four Wyoming Valley Conference baseball teams and three more WVC softball teams played in the first round of the PIAA state playoffs Monday. Only four made it through. The toll could have been worse.

Lake-Lehman baseball scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge District 4 champion Loyalsock 13-12 in a Class 3A game. Tunkhannock softball scored the game’s only run in the ninth inning to edge District 4 champ Danville.

Wyoming Area baseball and MMI Prep baseball had easier times advancing.

All four teams will be in action Thursday in the quarterfinals. Tickets are $8 and can only be purchased at piaa.org/sports/tickets.

Good news emerged from the PIAA on Wednesday should any of the WVC teams make the state championships at Penn State. There will be no spectator restrictions for baseball and softball.

MMI Prep (13-8)

vs. Juniata Valley (16-5)

Class A Baseball Quarterfinals

3 p.m. Thursday

Newport HS

MMI Prep opened state play with a 7-3 victory over District 3 champion Greenwood.

Pitcher Marcus Danchision pitched 3.2 innings of three-hit ball with five strikeouts. He didn’t qualify for the win (NFHS rules require a starter to go four innings in a seven-inning game), but that wasn’t important. The big thing was Danchision was pulled when he reached 75 pitches with a 6-1 lead. That means the Lehigh University recruit is eligible to pitch vs. Juniata Valley. Kevin McNulty, who finished off the game, is also available.

Danchision, Colin Williams, Carson Valkusky, Cory Nolasco and Jacob Magula led the 11-hit attack.

D6 champion Juniata Valley defeated D5 runner-up Northeast Bedford 9-6 in the first round. The Hornets bring in some impressive offense as Jake Johnson and Mike Miller both hit .400 or better during the regular season. Johnson also swiped 28 bases.

Bryant Allison has been the top power hitter and one of three arms Juniata Valley has relied on this season.

The winner plays Monday in the semifinals against either D11 champion Tri Valley (17-5) or D3 runner-up Halifax (13-10).

Lake-Lehman (17-2)

vs. Trinity (16-6)

Class 3A Quarterfinals

4:30 p.m. Thursday

Walter Stump Stadium, Pine Grove

District 2 champion Lake-Lehman is in the state quarterfinals for a fifth time. The Black Knights narrowly made it.

Down five runs in the bottom of the seventh, Lehman rallied to defeat District 4 champ Loyalsock 13-12.

Luke Spencer missed a good chunk of the season because of an early-season hamstring injury but made up for lost time. He went 4-for-4, drove in two runs in the seventh and scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Ty Federici homered as every Black Knight had a hit.

Virginia Tech recruit Nick Finarelli started vs. Loyalsock but won’t be eligible to throw against Trinity. Federici, an LSU recruit, is also certain to start. The lefty picked up the win in the quarterfinals, throwing two innings of relief.

Like Lehman, District 3 runner-up Trinity is fortunate to be playing. The Shamocks plated a run in the seventh to edge D12 champion Neumann-Goretti 5-4. JT Cap was 3-for-4 while Josh McCombs and Payton Warner drove in two runs each. The trio is among six starters hitting .311 or better. The top hitter is Maika Niu, a New Orleans University recruit who is batting .493 with 22 stolen bases.

Sophomore Landon Kuntzelman has started the last three games, but based on his pitch count vs. Neumann-Goretti listed on maxpreps.com, he won’t have the required rest. Niu, Josh McCombs and Ethan Pfeffer, the last pitcher to start other than Kuntzelman, are all options.

The winner plays in the semifinals on Monday against either D3 champion Oley Valley (18-3) or D2 runner-up Scranton Prep (7-12).

Wyoming Area (12-6)

vs. ELCO (17-6)

Class 4A Baseball Quarterfinals

11 a.m. Thursday

DeSales University

The early start is because ELCO has graduation later in the day. Considering both programs are in the state quarterfinals for the first time, they would have probably played at 5 a.m. if asked.

District 2 champion Wyoming Area is at this point for two reasons. First, pitcher JJ Hood carried over an outstanding season into the playoffs. The UConn recruit pitched a complete game in a 5-1 opening-round win vs. Midd-West. While he surrendered nine hits, the Warriors weren’t put into difficult situations very often.

Hood is unavailable because he won’t have the required rest mandated by the PIAA, so Hunter Lawall will get the start unless Wyoming Area breaks from the norm. He and Hood combined to pitch 80% of the innings during the regular season. Lawall was 2-4 during the regular season but was victimized by unearned runs in three of the losses. He had a 2.41 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 29 innings.

Secondly, the offense is putting up a lot of crooked numbers in the postseason. The Warriors jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning vs. Midd-West. They had five-run and six-run innings vs. Honesdale in the district title game. They scored five times in the seventh to knock off Valley View in the semifinals and had a seven-run inning in their district opener vs. Hanover Area.

District 3 champion ELCO, though, has been stingy about giving up runs. The Raiders have outscored their four postseason opponents 34-2, including a 15-0 win over District 12 runner-up Science Leadership in their state opener. The biggest thing about the win was starter Dakota Smith threw only 47 pitches, so ELCO will have its full arsenal of arms available.

Hitting stats weren’t readily available, but Braden Bohannon has been swinging a hot bat in the playoffs while Jeremy Eck has shown some power throughout the season.

The winner plays in the semifinals Monday against either D12 champion Bonner-Prendie (15-7) or D1 champion Holy Ghost Prep (10-7).

Tunkhannock (21-2)

vs. Hamburg (21-4)

Class 4A Softball Quarterfinals

2 p.m. Thursday

Patriots Park, Allentown

Not all first-round games were created equal. Take for example the first-round games District 2 champion Tunkhannock and District 3 runner-up Hamburg were involved in.

Tunkhannock needed to go nine innings against District 4 champ Danville, a team with state title aspirations. The Tigers needed a double from Nicole Howell and a throwing error to win 1-0.

Meanwhile, Hamburg got District 12 champion Archbishop Ryan. District 12 isn’t known for softball and probably wants to forget the result — Hamburg 20-0. The six-inning game included a 14-run sixth inning by the Hawks.

The game also included a no-hitter by Haley Gravish, who struck out 10. Gravish also pitched a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Eastern York in the D3 semifinals. The offense — led in the postseason by Gravish, Katie Behler, Morgan Kleckner and Kylah Reading — went flat in a 5-0 loss to Bishop McDevitt in the D3 championship game.

Tunkhannock ran into a buzzsaw vs. Danville and managed just five hits while striking out 16 times. The latter, even without looking it up, has to be the most by the Tigers this season. The sophomore-dominated lineup, though, has hit well throughout the season. Sophomore pitcher Kaya Hannon struck out 14 and allowed five hits against Danville.

The winner plays Monday in the semifinals against either D11 champion Bethlehem Catholic (13-8) or D1 champion Villa Joseph Marie (16-6).