Pictured above: Winning pitcher Elijah Barr is shown in a file photo from earlier this season.
Three Pittston Area batters had multiple hits and three others provided multiple RBIs Wednesday as the Patriots rolled into the District 2-4 Subregional Class 5A baseball championship game with an 8-3 victory over visiting Wallenpaupack.
The Patriots (18-3) will face fourth-seeded Selinsgrove (16-5) Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at PNC Field for the subregional title. Wallenpaupack finished 10-12.
The sixth-seeded Buckhorns had knocked off third-seeded Abington Heights, 11-3, in the quarterfinals and broke on top with a run in the top of the second.
Pittston Area immediately responded with four runs in the bottom of the second. It added three more in the third and one in the fourth for an 8-1 lead that held until the seventh inning.
Freshman Elijah Barr pitched the first six innings, holding Wallenpaupack to a run on six hits. He walked two and struck out five before leaving, having thrown 102 pitches.
Anthony Ranieli went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored while Drew Menendez and Jake Aftewicz added two hits each.
Drew Delucca, Nick Cerasaro and Anthony Cencetti drove in two runs each.
Cencetti pitched the final inning. Both runs against him were unearned.
Pittston Area earned a rematch of last year’s subregional semifinal. Selinsgrove won that game, 14-7, on the way to a subregional title and appearance in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 5A state final.
MORE CLASS 5A BASEBALL COVERAGE
Pittston Area-Wallenpaupack semifinal: Patriots pound ‘Paupack in semis – NEPA Sports Nation.
Pittston Area-Shikellamy quarterfinal: Menendez, Ranieli carry Patriots – NEPA Sports Nation.
North Pocono-West Scranton quarterfinal: NP’s Chillot shuts out West, 4-0 – NEPA Sports Nation.
Wallenpaupack-Abington Heights quarterfinal: Buckhorns dump Comets, 11-3 – NEPA Sports Nation.
