Pittston Blows Out Top-seeded Plains/
By DAVE ROSENGRANT [email protected]
Sunday, July 17, 2005 Page: 1C
WILKES-BARRE – Plains entered the Wyoming Valley American Legion playoffs
with only three losses. But that didn’t seem to bother Greater Pittston, which
came into Saturday’s play with 10 defeats.
Bucknell University-bound Bret Sokirka reached base and scored five times
as No. 4-seed Greater Pittston upset top-seed Plains, 11-3, at Artillery Park
in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.
“It’s great to start off this tournament with a win,” the second baseman
said. “Now we can just see what everyone else does and just take it from
there.”
Greater Pittston won the tournament last year before being ousted in the
regionals. Pittston will play Plymouth-Grontkowski in the winners bracket game
at 1 p.m. today at Artillery Park.
Plymouth, which entered the tournament seeded third, knocked off No. 2
Nanticoke, 2-0, in eight innings on Saturday to advance. Today’s second game
will be at 5 p.m. and will feature Plains against Nanticoke, with the losing
team being eliminated.
In the top of the first inning of Saturday’s first game, Greater Pittston
got on the board after the first three batters singled to load the bases.
Gerry Zangardi walked with two outs to force in Sokirka and give Greater
Pittston a 1-0 lead. Plains pitcher Steve Craig got George Dructor to ground
out to second base to end the inning, and the bases were left loaded.
But when Greater Pittston got the opportunities in the second and third
innings, it didn’t pass them up. The winners sent 10 batters to the plate in
the second and nine in the third, busting the game open. Highlighting the
scoring were two run-scoring singles by Ryan McDonnell, and one each by Lou
Falzone, Dructor and Sokirka.
Sacrifice flies by Sean Rooney and Zangardi gave Greater Pittston a 9-0
advantage heading into the bottom of the third.
“We came into the game fired up,” Sokirka said. “We wanted this one bad, so
we made a little statement by everyone coming together and hitting well, with
hits, walks, bunting and base-running.”
Falzone was the winning pitcher and didn’t allow a hit until the third
inning, when Plains scored its first run of the game. Bob Cirko’s sacrifice
fly plated Matt Leskiw with the run.
Falzone kept the potent Plains lineup off stride the whole game. Even
though he allowed nine hits and surrendered six walks, he got out of jams to
protect his team’s huge cushion.
“I felt more comfortable and confident after we got the big lead,” the
got in a groove and when I didn’t make a good pitch, the guys helped me out.”
Sokirka, McDonnell and Falzone each had three hits to lead the 13-hit
attack for Greater Pittston.
Chris Sedon led Plains with three hits and Leskiw went 2-for-4 with a run
and RBI.
The day’s second game featured a pitching duel between Nanticoke’s Dan
Benick and Plymouth’s Tim Kufta.
The contest was scoreless until Bishop Hoban grad Tom Semanek delivered a
two-run single to left field in the eighth to score Sean Toole and Chris
Mayerski.
Kufta pitched all eight innings to pick up the win. He only allowed three
hits, and struck out five.
“I was throwing fastballs at the beginning of the game,” the Wyoming Valley
West senior said. “Then, after I started to know the hitters a little better
after one time through the lineup, I used my cutters and curve. Once I got
them going it was all straight out from there.”
Benick also went the distance. The University of Maryland-bound player
struck out four and didn’t allow a ball hit out of the infield until Toole
singled to center in the eighth.
“He throws hard,” Kufta said of Benick. “His pitching certainly pumped us
all up.”
Nanticoke’s leading hitter was first baseman George Jones, who had two of
his team’s hits.
