DISTRICT 2 BASEBALL: Jagger, Mountain View stun Old Forge
May 26—OLD FORGE — Three times Old Forge had the bases loaded in its District 2 Class 2A semifinal game Thursday.
Each time, Mountain View pitcher Riley Jagger left them loaded.
The junior's escape acts enabled No. 4-seeded Eagles to upset the top-seeded Blue Devils, 3-1, at Forti Field at Pagnotti Park to advance to the district championship game. There, they will face No. 2 Elk Lake, which advanced with a 15-10 victory in its semifinal over No. 6 Montrose. The final is Monday at 1:30 p.m. at PNC Field.
Jagger also helped his cause with a RBI double. But it was his pitching that was the difference.
He threw 101 pitches in five innings — 57 for strikes — and allowed an unearned run on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
"Riley's been a bulldog all year," Mountain View coach Anthony Borgia said. "He pounds the strike zone, pitches to contact and we backed him up with some solid defense today. One thing I don't worry about Riley is that he is mentally tough. Nothing seems to get to him in a lot of big situations. He's done a fantastic job. We have all the confidence in Riley."
Old Forge coach Tony DiMattia was also impressed with Jagger's performance.
"He kept us off-balance," DiMattia said. "It seemed like he was able to throw both of his pitches for strikes. He nibbled on the corner a lot. He had us guessing at certain times. We had some guys take some swings they haven't taken all year at some pitches. You've got to give him credit. He pounded the zone and gave them opportunities to stay in the game."
These teams met seven days ago at Mountain View with Old Forge winning in five innings, 17-5, collecting 16 hits.
It was a different Eagles (9-9) team this time, however.
"I think both teams were running on fumes that game pitching-wise. We knew they could hit and they saw some of our younger arms," Borgia said. "But it gave us a look at what they're like. They're very aggressive on the bases, they grind out at-bats and battle and put the ball in play. So maybe getting a look at their lineup set the tone for what we had to do and helped us today. We weren't caught off-guard."
In the bottom of the first inning Thursday, Old Forge had a chance to strike first when it loaded the bases with two outs on a single by Joe Granko and walks to Josh Spindler and Angelo Fumanti. But Jagger got Andrew Bartnikowski on a comebacker to end the threat.
Scoreless through the first three innings, Mountain View broke through in the top of the fourth against Fumanti, Old Forge's starter.
Carter Bain led off with a single just inside the third-base bag and took second when the ball was bobbled in the outfield for an error. Jagger then followed with a grounds-rule double to left to score Bain and make it 1-0.
"I was just thinking we need a base hit to score some runs," Jagger said. "He gave me a perfect pitch and I just sat back. I've been a little bit down this season hitting-wise, but I've been coming back the last couple of games."
After Noah Barnes laid down a sacrifice bunt, Caden Holtsmaster was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner Tanner Stout stole second. Tanner Holtsmaster followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0.
It was part of a three-hit day for the sophomore. In fact, the 7-8-9 batters in the Mountain View lineup — Tanner Holtsmaster and fellow sophomores Jackson Gesford and Zayandre Bradford — accounted for six of the Eagles' nine hits.
"I always look at the field before I get in the box," Holtsmaster said. "I saw an opening up the middle and just hit it that way."
Old Forge (14-7) got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Fumanti led off with a walk, courtesy runner Casey Holzman was balked to second, stole third and scored when a ball hit by Mario Colarusso was bobbled for an error.
Dominick Palma and Jake Iacavazzi then singled with load the bases with one out. But Jagger struck out Nico Killino and T.J. DiMattia — the top two hitters in the Blue Devils' lineup — to end the threat.
Then in the bottom of the fifth, Spindler singled with one out. With two outs, Bartnikowski was hit by a pitch and Colarusso walked to again load the bases. But again Jagger got a strikeout of Palma to get out of the jam.
"I was so nervous the whole game. I just tried to stay in it, keep focused on the next pitch and not worrying about the last pitch," Jagger said.
"I threw lots of curveballs. I'd start high fastball and then go off-speed to get them off-balance. It was working, they were chasing."
Added coach DiMattia: "Give him credit. He wiggled out of three jams. But we have to do a better job and put the ball in play. We've been harping on it all year and we knew it could hurt us and it did."
Bronson Kilmer relieved Jagger and threw a 1-2-3 sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Old Forge mounted one final threat. The first two Blue Devils reached on an error and a single by Spindler.
But after a fielder's choice got the first out at third base, Kilmer got Bartniklowski to hit a comebacker and turned it into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play.
Mountain View 3, Old Forge 1
Mountain View 000 300 0 — 3
Old Forge 000 100 0 — 1
WP: Riley Jagger 5IP, 5H, 1R, 0ER, 4BB, 8SO
LP: Angelo Fumanti 6 1/3IP, 9H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 5SO
2B: Owen Cameron (MV), Riley Jagger (MV), Jackson Gesford (MV).
Elk Lake 15, Montrose 10
At Elk Lake, Noah Gesford had a single and a double, scored three runs and drove in four to lead the second-seeded Warriors to a semifinal win.
Isaac Gesford had a single and a double, a run and four RBIs for Elk Lake, which erased a 6-0 deficit.
Hudson Aukema had a single and a double, a run and three RBIs for No. 6 Montrose.
Elk Lake 15, Montrose 10
Montrose 601 030 0 — 10
Elk Lake 041 154 x — 15
WP: Dawson Sherman 5 1/3IP, 5H, 4R, 1ER, 2BB, 9SO
LP: Cole Jones 1/3IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 0SO
2B: Patrick McComb (MON), Isaac Gesford (EL), Hudson Aukema (MON), Logan Ayotte (EL), Noah Gesford (EL), Brayden McMicken (EL). 3B: Elias Owens (EL).
Class 1A
Tyler Rockwell had a two-run double as part of a six-run second inning to send No. 2 Susquehanna to a 6-4 win over No. 3 Forest City in a District 2 Class 1A semifinal.
Matthew Callender had two hits, a run and an RBI for the Sabers.
Max Urbas had three hits, including a double and a home run, scored a run and drove in three for Forest City.
Susquehanna will play MMI Prep for the district championship Monday at 11 a.m. at PNC Field. MMI Prep had a bye in the semifinals.
Susquehanna 6, Forest City 4
Forest City 201 000 1 — 4
Susquehanna 060 000 x — 6
WP: Travis Rooney 7IP, 6H, 4R, 2ER, 1BB, 8SO
LP: DJ Heath 1 1/3IP, 3H, 6R, 6ER, 6BB, 3SO
2B: Logan Holsinger (FC), DJ Heath (FC), Tyler Rockwell (SUS), Max Urbas (FC). HR: Max Urbas (FC).
Class 6A
Brett Antolick hit two home runs and drove in all five Hazleton Area runs as the top-seeded Cougars advanced to the District 2-4 Class 6A subregional championship game with a 5-1 win over No. 4 Delaware Valley.
Hazleton Area will play Williamsport on Monday at PNC Field for the subregional championship. Williamsport advanced with an 11-5 win over Wyoming Valley West.
Everett Bell had both hits for Delaware Valley.
Hazleton Area 5, Delaware Valley 1
Delaware Valley 010 000 0 — 1
Hazleton Area 102 020 x — 5
WP: Antonio Doganiero 5 1/3IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 9SO
LP: Ronan McManus 4 1/3IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 4SO
2B: Grant Russo (HAZ). HR: Brett Antolick (HAZ) 2.
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