Coal Region pinch runner Cole Myers steams home with the go-ahead run with Prime catcher Roman Cino and pitcher Gavin Lubomski awaiting the throw.
By Rich Bevensee
With no playoffs to prepare for, Coal Region Sports and Northeast Prime 27 Scout knew that the consequences of their final pool game of the weekend would go a long way toward deciding if they would return to Diamond Nation for a late summer, invitational-only tournament.
And they played the game that way, all the way to the end. Great pitching, clutch plays, and a final out which, fittingly, decided the outcome.
Keegan Brown’s two-out single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth inning drove in the go-ahead run, and left fielder Kaden Zachman threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the top of the sixth to clinch a 3-2 victory for Coal Region Sports in the Super 16 Invitational on Sunday at The Nation in Flemington.
The top five teams from the Super 16 earned automatic bids to a showcase event at the Nation in August. Four more invitationals will be held to determine the entire field.
Coal Region finished 2-0; one game was washed out due to inclement weather. The Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania-based program also defeated Titans Cooney, 5-0. Coal Region sits ninth in the standings, which uses runs scored and runs against as parameters.
Northeast Prime coach Carmine Palummo, whose team entered the game 2-0, could be heard before the game psyching up his players to close out a very good weekend and give themselves a shot at being invited back to the Nation in August.
Unfortunately, Prime – based in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area – came up short of its goal of closing the weekend undefeated and finished 19th in the standings.
Brown allowed two runs in 3⅓ innings on four hits, two walks and two hit batsmen, and he struck one.
“My fastball was tailing – I hope,” Brown said. “That was my first time throwing in a while so I was just hoping to come out and throw strikes. I wasn’t worried about velo.”
Brown walked and flew out to center in his two at bats prior to coming up with two out and two runners on in the fifth and the score tied 2-2. His single knocked in Cole Myers, who was pinch running for Ty Troutman. Troutman reached on an infield fielding error and took second on an errant flip to the bag on a flubbed force play.
“I was trying to take my time, get settled in the box and wait for my pitch, which eventually came after fouling a couple off,” said Brown, a sophomore at Mount Carmel High.
This was the first spring appearance for Coal Region 16U, and win or lose, Brown thought the experience of a tight game in the season’s first weekend would be beneficial for the team.
“It’s always fun to win a close game, but if you lose and it’s just the first game, it’s a confidence booster for the beginning of the season,” Brown said.
Ayden Hockenbroch of Coal Region dives back to first as N.E. Prime’s Joey Bradley takes the throw.
With Coal Region clinging to a one-run lead and Northeast Prime facing its final at bat – the 1-hour, 50-minute game clock expired halfway through Prime’s at bat – Xander D’Onofrio set the stage for some late drama when he reached on a one-out, dropped third strike against Coal Region’s second reliever, Colton Rosko.
D’Onofrio advanced to second on a balk and moved to third on a single by Jaxon Fedak, Prime’s starting pitcher.
George Binikos, who singled sharply in his previous at bat, lined out to Zachman in left, and Zachman unleashed a strong throw home with D’Onofrio tagging. The throw was wide but Coal Region catcher Ty Troutman dove to his left to tag a diving D’Onofrio just as he reached the plate.
Myers relieved Brown in the fourth and pitched two scoreless innings, yielding just one hit and one walk and striking out three. Coal Region coach Dave Langton was pleased with his pitching staff’s performance in a tight ballgame. Brown, Myers and Rosko combined to yield just three walks.
“You always want to be in control and limit the walks,” Langton said. “That always gives you a chance, so it was nice to see.”
Myers got Coal Region on the board first with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning.
Not until the fourth inning did any more scoring take place, when Prime notched a pair of unearned runs. Noah Fetko walked and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt. He stole third and scored easily on an errant throw to third. Binikos then drove in D’Onofrio to give Prime a 2-1 lead.
That lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the fourth, Coal Region’s Owen Ramirez roped a single into the left-center gap to score Levi Everitt, who reached on an infield error, to tie the game at 2-2.
Myers pitched to one batter in the fifth and got a strikeout before handing off to Rosko, who gave up a single before the game-ending double play keyed by Zachman.
Fedak led Prime’s offense by going 3-for-3 and had three of his team’s six hits. Fedak pitched the first two innings and surrendered one run on one hit and three walks with three strikeouts.
Fetko took over in the third and allowed one run over the next two innings. He gave up two hits and no walks and struck out three. Gavin Lubomski pitched the final inning for Prime and gave up one run on one hit.