After Slow Start, Pittston On A Roll/ Region Power Finished Regular Season 14-10, But Went 3-0 In Wval Playoffs To Advance
By DAVE ROSENGRANT [email protected]
Sunday, July 24, 2005 Page: 6C
It seems regular-season struggles are of little concern to the Greater
Pittston baseball team.
It’s the postseason that counts.
Despite ending the Wyoming Valley American Legion regular season with a
fourth consecutive league title last week and 12th overall.
The team will begin its quest to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive
Region 5 championship this week in Danville. Greater Pittston opens the
double-elimination tournament against Troy, the Bradford County champion, at 1
p.m. Tuesday.
“The target was on our back all year,” general manager Ron Musto said about
the team’s regular-season slump. “We’re everybody’s Berwick football. We are
their World Series. We get everybody’s best shot in the regular season. Our
league is so well-balanced and the competition is so good, that it prepares us
for the regional tournament.”
Drew Whyte took over the coaching duties after last season started and led
the team to do something no other WVAL team has ever done – win a game in the
state tournament.
After winning its first game in the double-elimination state event, the
Region 5 champs held a commanding lead over legion powerhouse Boyertown. The
game was suspended because of rain and when it resumed, Boyertown rallied for
a 7-5 win on its way to a 17th state title.
“Last year’s team was a better offensive team than this year’s team,” Whyte
said. “This year, we are better defensively and our pitching is equal. And our
goal is to get back to the state tournament. The whole team wants it.”
Greater Pittston’s offense is led by 6-foot-5, 273-pound Lou Falzone, who
has 39 hits for the season. Wyoming Valley Conference Division III MVP Sean
Rooney is second on the team with 30 base hits. The pitching staff is led by
Falzone and 6-foot-4 right-hander Joe Hines, who was the winning pitcher in
the championship game against top-seeded Plains. Whyte was not sure who would
start against Troy on Tuesday.
The rules change in the upcoming tournaments, as National League rules are
used. Each game in the regional and state tournaments will be nine innings.
The use of the designated hitter or a courtesy runner is also not allowed.
The biggest challenge for Greater Pittston in the Region 5 tournament is
sure to be West Snyder, which is out of the Susquehanna Valley American Legion
League. The way the bracket is set up, Greater Pittston wouldn’t have to face
West Snyder until the third of possibly six games.
West Snyder (20-2) is in the west branch of the bracket and is led by
pitcher Matt Wright. In the semifinal game of the SVALL tournament, Wright
struck out 12 batters and only allowed three singles in his team’s 1-0
victory.
Greater Pittston faced Wright in the regionals last year, a game in which
he struck out 17, but Greater Pittston still won 1-0.
More recently, Wright played for Midd-West High School in the spring and
played against Pittston Area – which several Greater Pittston team members
played for — in the PIAA Class 3A playoffs. Wright struck out six batters
through three innings to earn the pitching victory, drove in four runs at the
plate and made a spectacular diving catch in center field as the Mustangs
ousted the Patriots 10-0 in five innings.
Musto, who has been involved with the Greater Pittston team in some
capacity for the last 18 years, knows that although the team is walking with a
bit of a swagger, it will be prepared for the challenge to get back to the
state tournament.
“There’s a little bit of an attitude and expectations, but I think we
earned that right to walk with our heads high,” Musto said. “Our boys will
step up to anyone and are not intimidated by anyone. They believe they can win
and we believe we are the champions.”
The state tournament is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Aug. 6 at West
Lawn.
Greater Pittston vs. Troy
Danville HS
