By Nate Johns, NEPA Sports Nation Student Journalist
DALLAS TWP. – Dallas combined Sam Barrouk’s complete game pitching effort with strong hitting throughout the lineup Wednesday to advance to the District 2 Class 4A baseball semifinals with an 11-1, five-inning victory over visiting Tunkhannock.
The Mountaineers completed a three-game season sweep of the Tigers, including home-and-home meetings as part of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 schedule.
Barrouk threw a two-hitter with two walks while striking out five.
The Dallas offense put up 11 runs on 12 hits. The Mountaineers also took advantage of six walks and a hit batter.
Joe Peters, who is committed to play at Misericordia next season, led the offense with three hits, two RBIs and a walk.
After a quick top of the first, Dallas struck first with three hits, including an RBI single from Peters, to make it 1-0.
The Dallas bats got back at it after a 1-2-3 top of the third with two strikeouts from Barrouk. Peters had his second hit and J.J. Rischawy drove him in with a single to make it 2-0.
The Tunkhannock offense came alive in the fourth with three straight, two-out baserunners. Andrew Roxby got the offense going with a single to left. Colin Gregory drove Roxby in with a single to center.
The bottom of fourth showcased the offense that allowed Dallas to land the second seed in the district playoff power rankings. The Mountaineers sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs on two-run singles from Gavin Adamski and Peters. The five-hit inning gave Dallas a 6-1 lead.
After another 1-2-3 inning by Barrouk, Dallas put up five more runs to end the game. The Mountaineers capitalized on four straight walks, which led to a Jude Nocito walk-off single to left to score Peters with the game-ending run.
Dallas advances to the semi-finals to play Scranton Prep on Friday at home.
