ATHENS FALLS TO MONTOURSVILLE IN DISTRICT 4, CLASS AAAA SEMIS
By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | May 27, 2021 | Photo courtesy Tim Birney
BLOOMSBURG — One bad inning.
Second-seed Montoursville scored six
runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to break open a tie game on its
way to a 9-2 win over third-seed Athens here Thursday in the semifinals
of the District 4, Class AAAA baseball playoffs at Central Columbia
High School.
“One bad inning … we made a couple bad plays that
extended the inning; that was the difference,” said Athens coach Charlie
Havens. “(Montoursville) took advantage of our mistakes, and put
together a big inning.”
With one out in the home half of the fourth, Dylan Moll ripped a single through the hole at short.
Three
pitches later, Moll took of for second, and Athens shortstop Karter
Rude broke toward the bag to take a throw, but Antonio Lorente executed a
perfect hit-and-run with a groundball single into left field
With
runners on first and third, C.J. Signor laid down a perfect squeeze
bunt between the pitcher and first baseman to score Moll with the
go-ahead run.
“(Montoursville) answered right back after we tied the game,” said Havens. “That’s what good teams do.
“They executed very well to get their first run,” added Havens. “They’re a good team, it’s fun to watch that kind of stuff.”
Back-to-back
walks forced home another run to give Montoursville a 3-1 lead, and
Nick Reeder followed with an RBI double just inside the third-base page
to make it 5-1.
Havens elected to lift starter Mason Lister for
fellow sophomore Lucas Kraft, and Kraft struck out the first batter he
faced. However, Nolan Kutney hammered a 1-1 pitch into the right-center
field gap for a two-run double to push the lead to 7-1.
The
Wildcats scored a run in the top of the sixth without the benefit of a
hit, but Maddox Dalena answered with a two-run home run to left field in
the home half of the frame to provide the final margin.
Montoursville
scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead,
but Athens answered with a run in the fourth to tie the game.
Rude
led off the Athens fourth with an infield single, and advanced to third
base on an errant pick-off throw. Sophomore Caleb Nichols drove him
home with a sacrifice fly.
Reeder started for Montoursville and
pitched six innings of one-hit ball to earn the win, striking out six
and walking just one. Grayson Rinker retired Athens in order in the
seventh, striking out two.
“We only had one hit, and that was an infield single, so we didn’t help ourselves out that way,” said Havens.
Lister
was tagged with the loss, allowing seven runs — six earned — on four
hits, while striking out three and walking three in 3 1/3 innings.
Kraft finished off the game, allowing two runs on two hits, while striking out five and walking one in 2 2/3 innings or work.
Athens wraps up the season, the first under Havens, at 12-9.
“This
season was a huge transition,” said Havens. “It was a transition for
me, it was a transition for the guys getting used to each other, and to
our system.
“Me going from being a JV coach for such a long time …
it was a harder transition than I thought it would be,” noted Havens.
“Getting use to the speed of the game … and I didn’t know any of the
teams in the NTL — I do now.”
“The whole year was a learning
experience. Figuring out our system took a little time, but once we did,
we came around and did some good things,” he added. “Once we put it
together, we won 8 of our last 10 to end the regular season.”
The Wildcats graduate just three seniors in starters Kyler Setzer and Tanner Dildine, and reserve Ben Vough.
“We’re
going to lose three real good seniors who came to work every day,” said
Havens. “They will be tough to replace, and will definitely be missed.”
Havens believes the future is bright for Athens baseball.
“We
have a lot of sophomores, who will be juniors, coming back; and Karter
Rude will be a senior, he’s a heck of a player,” said Havens. “We have
the pieces here.
“Nick Jacob is going up from the JVs. He’s going
to be a heck of a ball player, and someone who will help us going
forward,” noted Havens. “And, Connor Mosher does a lot of good things.
He will help us out.
“Our junior high team was 15-2. There are some kids coming up from that team that we’ll take a look at.
“People
are going to get pushed for spots,” added Havens. “I think we have a
three or four year window where we can make a run at this.”
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