Dallas players celebrate their 8-3 win over Archbishop Wood in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals on Tuesday at DeSales University. The Mountaineers advanced to the state championship game for the second time, looking to follow in the footsteps of the 2017 title team.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Gary Weaver got the start Tuesday and went four innings, allowing one run on two hits and four walks while striking out four to pick up the win.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Mike Timinski reacts as he heads to the Dallas dugout after scoring a run in the fourth inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas shortstop Zach Paczewski fields a bouncing ball in the fourth inning on Tuesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Joe Peters slides into home plate for a Dallas run in the fourth inning as teammate Gavin Adamski gets ready to congratulate him.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Courtesy runner Kaden Coyne slides safely into second base for a steal in the third inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas pitcher Gary Weaver reacts to finishing off the fourth inning with a strikeout.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
CENTER VALLEY — The big inning that was so elusive a few days earlier arrived on Tuesday.
And the way senior Gary Weaver was pitching, those six runs were going to be more than enough.
Dallas scored six times in the fourth inning and Weaver perplexed batters with off-speed offerings as the Mountaineers defeated Archbishop Wood 8-3 in the PIAA Class 4A baseball semifinals at DeSales University.
District 2 champion Dallas (18-7) will play District 6 champion Bellefonte (19-5) for the state championship at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Penn State University. Bellefonte defeated D7 champion Hopewell 6-5 in a semifinal game on Monday. District 12 champion Wood finished 18-7, losing in a state semifinal game for the second consecutive year.
Dallas will be the eighth Wyoming Valley Conference team to play for a state title since the PIAA started state playoffs in 1977. The Mountaineers won the 4A state championship in 2017.
Weaver threw 84 pitches over four innings, allowing two hits and one run and striking out four. The game, though, didn’t start well for him. He walked the first two batters and then hit another to load the bases.
“I think it was just pregame jitters,” Weaver said. “I was just amped up to go out there to play today. I had too much energy, but I came back in the next couple innings, refocused and did my thing.”
Wood managed only one run in the first inning, and after Weaver started locating his breaking ball, the Vikings often watched it cross the plate for strikes.
“That first inning, Gary struggled a little bit,” said Dallas coach Mike Viglone, who had Sam Barrouk throwing in the bullpen in the first inning. “But we knew if we could stick with him, he has really good off-speed stuff that we saw on film with these guys.”
Dallas tied the score 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Gavin Adamski led off with an infield single and scored when Zach Paczewski rocketed a double into the right-center gap. The Mountaineers pulled ahead 2-1 when Joey Peters lined an RBI single to center in the third innings.
The fourth inning was the game-changer.
Dallas stranded seven runners in scoring position in a 6-0 win over Hanover in the quarterfinals. The Mountaineers never got the momentum-grabbing hit in that game. They did Tuesday in the fourth.
“We finally got those hits that we needed with runners in scoring position,” Viglone said. “It deflated them a little bit. You could see on their faces and their body language they were deflated.”
Dallas sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth, banged out four hits and scored six times to take an 8-1 lead. JJ Rischawy started the inning with a single. Mike Timinski and Adamski later had RBI singles followed by a sacrifice fly by Paczewski that scored another run.
Jude Nocito added a two-run single to make it 8-1 and all but closed the door on Wood.
“We definitely need that big inning,” Adamski said. “We needed those hits. We broke it open, I felt like. It all went from there. Got up, got comfortable.”
Barrouk threw the final three innings for Dallas, striking out five. Wood finally got some offense going in the seventh as Patrick Gozdan knocked in two runs with a single. A flyout and strikeout ended the game and sent Dallas to the championship.
Class 4A Semifinals
Dallas 8, Archbishop Wood 3
Archbishop Wood`AB`R`H`BI
DiGuisseppe 2b`3`1`1`0
Gozdan ss`3`0`1`2
Gale cf-p`3`0`0`0
Klumpp dh`4`0`1`0
Madison c`0`0`0`0
Tiburcio 3b`3`0`0`1
Burke rf-cf`2`0`0`0
Kelly p-rf`3`0`1`0
Casey cr`0`0`0`0
Uzdzienski 1b`2`0`1`0
Burlingame p`0`0`0`0
Pietzrak rf`1`1`0`0
Neeld ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`25`3`5`3
Dallas`AB`H`R`BI
Adamski c`2`2`2`1
Coyne cr`0`1`0`0
Paczewski ss`3`0`1`2
Peters rf`3`1`1`1
Geskey 3b`3`1`0`0
Nocito 2b`4`0`1`2
Rischawy lf`3`1`1`0
S.Healey 1b`3`0`0`0
C.Healey pr`0`0`0`0
Zangardi dh`0`1`0`0
Weaver p`0`0`0`0
Barrouk p`0`0`0`0
Timinski cf`3`1`1`1
Totals`24`8`7`7
Archbishop Wood`100`000`2 – 3
Dallas`101`600`x –8
E – Wood 2. LOB – Wood 7, Dallas 6. 2B – DiGuiseppe, Uzdzienski, Paczewski. SB – Coyne, Rischawy, C.Healey. CS – Tuburcio.
Wood`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Kelly (L)`3.0`4`4`3`2`3
Gale`0.2`3`4`0`2`0
Burlingame`2.1`0`0`0`0`5
Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Weaver (W)`4.0`2`1`1`4`4
Barrouk (S)`3.0`3`2`2`0`4
HBP – Gale (by Weaver), Adamski (by Kelly), Zangardi (by Burlingame), Adamski (by Burlingame).
