Dom Zangardi started on the mound for Dallas.
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Elijah Barr threw a five-inning complete game with seven strikeouts.
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Richard Tonte (3) Kellen Kroski and Nick Innamorati (1) react to scoring on Dom Innamorati’s triple in the fifth inning.
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Nick Innamorati looks to his dugout and reacts to the double he hit in the fourth inning
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Dallas shortstop Connor Healey throws to first in the third inning to record an out.
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
Pittston Area shortstop Silvio Giardina tags out Dallas’ Brady Mizzer trying to steal in the second inning.
Fred Adams| For Times Leader
HUGHESVILLE — Just when it appeared Pittston Area was going to miss another opportunity to create some distance Wednesday, Dom Innamorati struck.
Then four more Patriots did the same.
Innamorati’s bases-loaded triple with two outs in the fifth led to seven runs as unbeaten Pittston Area defeated Dallas 10-0 in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 baseball game.
Innamorati’s triple to the left-center gap bumped Pittston Area’s lead to 6-0. Elijah Barr then hit an RBI single, Silvio Giardina followed with an RBI single, Jake Aftewicz hit an RBI double and Beau Widdick ended the game by the 10-run rule with an RBI single.
Until then Pittston Area (4-0 Div. 1, 8-0 overall) was holding a 3-0 lead that at times could have been larger. The Patriots stranded eight runners in scoring position entering the fifth
“Me, personally, knowing my team I thought we should have had the game over in the third or fourth inning,” Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto said. “We left so many runners on base.
“Our two-strike hitting was not good today. Our two-out hitting was not good today. Our execution was not good, but somehow, some way we find our way out of jams and get ourselves in position where we can have an explosive inning like this at any time.”
The Patriots took a 2-0 lead in the first. Innamorati scored from second on a fielder’s choice. A double steal on the play created a gap in the Dallas defense and by the time Dallas second baseman Jack Leandri could get back to his original position the Mountaineers couldn’t turn a double play on Giardina’s slow roller.
Giardina later scored on a single by Widdick. Innamorati singled in his brother Nick, who had doubled, in the fourth inning to make it 3-0.
Dallas (1-2 Div. 1, 2-3) faced one of the WVC’s top pitchers for the second time in three games. Barr held the Mountaineers to two hits — an infield single by Dom Zangardi in the first and a double by Zach Williams in the fourth. He fanned seven.
The victory’s importance was twofold for Pittston Area. The Patriots maintained a game lead for first place, but also kept in the running for one of the top-two seeds in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs. The top-two seeds get byes to the semifinals.
Dallas dropped from third to fourth in the D2-5A standings.
Pittston Area 10, Dallas 0
(5 inn.)
Dallas`AB`R`H`BI
Nocito lf`2`0`0`0
Zangardi p`3`0`1`0
Healey ss`2`0`0`0
Chapman p`0`0`0`0
Leandri 2b`2`0`0`0
B.Youngblood c`2`0`0`0
Mizzer cr`0`0`0`0
Geskey 3b`1`0`0`0
Williams 1b`2`0`1`0
Patton dh`2`0`0`0
Reeves cf`0`0`0`0
Dale 3b`1`0`0`0
Totals`17`0`2`0
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
D.Innamorati cf`2`2`2`4
Barr p`2`0`1`1
Bradley cr`0`1`0`0
Giardina ss`4`2`2`2
Aftewicz c`4`0`3`1
Cerasaro cr`0`1`0`0
Widdick 2b`4`0`3`2
Montigney 1b`3`0`0`0
Harnen dh`1`0`0`0
LePore pr`0`0`0`0
Kroski ph`0`1`0`0
Mead rf`0`0`0`0
Tonte 3b`3`1`1`0
N.Innamorati lf`1`2`1`0
Totals`24`10`13`10
Dallas`000`00 — 0
Pittston Area`200`17 — 10
2B — Williams, N.Innamorati, Aftewicz. 3B — D.Innamorati.
Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Zangardi (L)`3.1`7`3`3`4`2
Healey`1.1`5`7`7`1`2
Chapman`0.0`1`0`0`0`0
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Barr (W)`5`2`0`0`2`7
