Swineford's slam ignites Seals

Todd Hummel, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·5 min read

May 26—SELINSGROVE — The roar from the Selinsgrove crowd was loud as Tyler Swineford's shot headed toward center field.

Not loud enough to cover up the sound of breaking glass.

Swineford's grand slam in the fourth inning crashed through back window of a car parked beyond the center-field fence — his aunt's — and keyed an eight-run explosion as Selinsgrove outlasted Pittston, 12-7, in Wednesday's Districts 2/4 Class 5A semifinal.

"I heard it (when it hit)," the Selinsgrove junior said. "I didn't know it was my aunt's car until I got back to the dugout.

"They have insurance," he joked.

The homer and the broken window sent a stream of Little Leaguers to center field to check out the damage from a crowded Selinsgrove side, and gave the Seals the momentum back from a dicey third and fourth inning.

The Seals gave back a 4-0 lead when starter Teague Hoover allowed a three-run homer to Drew Menendez in the third. With Hoover nursing an injury, Swineford relieved him in the third two hitters after the homer. The Patriots' No. 9 hitter Anthony Cencetti then hit a solo homer off Swineford to tie the game.

Suddenly all the momentum seemed to have swung the Patriots' way.

"I'm definitely concerned. Teague's got to come off nursing that hamstring. He gutted through against a real good hitting team," Selinsgrove coach Brent Beiler said. "But I think we realize that we are good team; we aren't just any one guy.

"We can hit, too."

That's a lesson born from last year's frustrating 1-0 loss to Wyoming Valley West in the quarterfinals. The Seals exorcised that demon in Monday's 6-0 win over the Spartans, but those lessons paid off once again against the Patriots.

"Most all of the guys — even if they didn't play in the game — were at that loss to Wyoming Valley West last season," Swineford said. "We wanted to prove to District 2 what kind of baseball we play down here in District 4.

"We knew we'd have to hit. Losing Teague hurt, but we've had each other's backs all year, we knew could do it, one more time."

After Cencetti homer tied it, Swineford retired the top three hitters in the Patriots order to end the fourth without allowing any more damage.

Lefty Ben Gearhart shot a single through the hole between short and third to open the inning off Pittston freshman T.J. Johnson. It was just the third hit for the Seals. Pittston's young lefty struggled with his control — two walks and four hit batters — but Selinsgrove didn't make a lot of solid contact early in the game.

"He was throwing a lot of changeups that tailed away from right-handed hitters," Swineford said.

Gearhart moved to second on a wild pitch before Josh Domaracki walked. Gannon Steimling then beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Hoover re-entered the game to hit, and hit a dribbler in front of the mound. Johnson rushed his throw, and threw it to the backstop, allowing Gearhart to score for the 5-4 lead.

Swineford followed with his window-destroying bomb to center field for a 9-4 advantage.

"With the bases loaded and no outs, I was just looking for something I could put in play, and score the runs," Swineford said.

Mason Richter followed with his own solo homer that one-hopped off a car door next to Swineford's aunt's car to give Selinsgrove a 10-4 lead. Ryan Reich greeted reliever Eli Mead with a double. Reich moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Andrew Gephart's sacrifice fly. Pinch hitter Hunter Carper then walked. Tucker Teats, who Carper pinch hit for, re-entered, stole second and scored on Gearhart's second hit of the inning for a 12-4 Selinsgrove lead.

The hard-hitting Patriots hit .352 as a team, and scored 177 runs in 20 games (8.9 runs per game), so they weren't quite done. Troy Davis hit an RBI double, and Silvio Giardina followed with a two-run double to cut the lead to 12-7 in the top of the sixth.

The Seals replied with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Gephart singled, and Teats beat out a bunt. After a pop out, Domarcki and Steimling followed with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead back to 14-7, before Pittston turned an inning-ending double play.

Pittston loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but Nick Cerasaro was called out for for leaving early on Jeremy Cawley's apparent sacrifice fly, ending the game.

The Seals (19-2) will face No. 4 seed North Pocono (17-4) in the district championship game on Tuesday. District 2 will release a site and time later on this week according to its website. Tickets will have to be purchased online for the championship game.

------

DISTRICTS 2/4 CLASS 5A PLAYOFFS

SEMIFINAL

at Selinsgrove H.S.

SELINSGROVE 14, PITTSTON 7

Pittston;003;103;0 — 7-7-1

Selinsgrove;310;802;x — 14-12-1

T.J. Johnson, Eli Mead (4), Drew DeLuca (4), Ryan Turant (6) and Sean Conners. Teague Hoover, Tyler Swineford (3) and Gannon Steimling.

WP: Swineford; LP: Johnson.

Pittson: DeLuca, 1-for-4, run; Troy Davis, 1-for-2, double, 2 runs; Silvio Giardina, 1-for-4, double, 2 RBIs; Drew Menendez, 1-for-4, homer (3rd, two on), run, 3 RBIs; Anthony Cencetti, 1-for-3, homer (4th, solo), run, RBI.

Selinsgrove: Josh Domaracki, 1-for-2, 2 runs, RBI; Steimling, 3-for-4, RBI; Caleb Hicks, 2 runs; Jacob Anders, 2 runs; Swineford, 1-for-3, homer (4th, grand slam), 5 RBIs; Richter, 2-for-3, homer (4th, solo), run, RBI; Ryan Reich, 1-for-4, double, run; Tucker Teats, 1-for-3, 2 runs; Ben Gearhart, 2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI.