The pennant and wild-card chase in Schuylkill League Division II baseball was expected to be exciting to the finish.
Minersville helped make the standings atop that division even more congested Monday afternoon.
Getting RBI singles from Matt Roberts and Cody Bettinger and a sacrifice fly by Zack Brown to jump start the offense, the Miners exploded for a 13-1 Division II rout of Nativity on Lawton's Hill.
Roberts finished the afternoon 2-for-5 with four RBIs, including a three-run double in the sixth inning that helped put the game out of reach. Brown, Chris Leshko and Aaron Fritz each drove in a pair of runs for Minersville.
Kyle Kaledas' solo home run in the sixth inning provided Nativity with its only run.
Pine Grove 4 Jim Thorpe 1
JIM THORPE - Kobe D'Agostino's RBI triple after a lead-off walk set the tone as the Cardinals earned a Division I victory over the Olympians.
Nick Cataldo doubled to lead off the second, and Logan Levan hit an RBI single after a pair of strikeouts. In the sixth, Steve Zimmerman added ground-rule double and scored on RBI single by Marcus Brown.
Dave Everitt doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth and scored on an error for Jim Thorpe's only run.
Tri-Valley 18 Shenandoah Valley 5
SHENANDOAH - Tri-Valley kept its bats hot, collecting 15 hits in a Division II rout of the Blue Devils.
Collin Maurer and Hunter Herb compiled three RBIs apiece with Maurer slugging three singles for the Dawgs.
Jaden Buchanan, Chase Schaeffer and Billy Wagner added two hits apiece for Tri-Valley.
Angelo Maskornick, Nick Gurski and Adam Sajone had three hits apiece for Shenandoah Valley.
Blue Mountain 10 Panther Valley 0
LANSFORD - Sean Greenawalt smashed a three-run home run in the fourth inning as the Eagles rolled to a five-inning Division I win over the Panthers.
Austin Krammes hit a two-run single in the first, and Dave Kyslinger added a two-run double in the frame to help Blue Mountain to a 5-0 edge.
Darren Goida and Jake Szczecina led off with back-to-back singles for Panther Valley in the bottom half, but the Blue Mountain pitchers allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way.
Dean Stramara recorded seven strikeouts in three innings of work. He helped himself at the plate with a two-run single in the third.
Marian 12 Mahanoy Area 2
MIDDLEPORT - Trailing by two runs in the third, Dante Salerno's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Peter Baddick tied the score before Marian added 10 more runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a Division II rout of the Golden Bears.
Frank Nietz helped start the Colts' four-run fourth inning with an RBI double off the fence. Marian added six more runs in the fifth, including Rob Hinkle's sac fly, Salerno's second RBI single of the game and a two-run double by Baddick.
Ryan Buchman scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, and Mason Evitts came across in the third on a throwing error to give Mahanoy Area a 2-0 lead.
Schuylkill Haven 11 Weatherly 6
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Nick Behm had three hits and the Hurricanes used a four-run fourth inning to rally past the Wreckers in a Division II game.
Trailing 4-0 after two innings, Weatherly compiled six hits in the top of the third to score six runs and take a 6-4 lead. Haven tied in the bottom half of the third, then surged ahead with four in the fourth.
Alec Bailey, Mike Feryo and winning pitcher Mike Ulsh had two hits for Schuylkill Haven. Mark Miller paced Weatherly's 10-hit attack with three singles.
Upper Dauphin 2 Susquenita 0
COVE - Peyton Barge hit a bases-loaded RBI single in the second inning, and Aaron Cleveland scored on an error with two outs in the fourth, lifting the Trojans to a non-league win over the Blackhawks.
Mac Ney faced 26 batters, striking out three, walking two and scattering six hits to pick up the shutout, while Cleveland finished with three hits.
Hamburg 18 Schuylkill Valley 1
LEESPORT - Tyler Seidel went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and Bailey Berger went 2-for-2 with a double as the Hawks (9-1, 4-1 Berks II) won their seventh straight with a four-inning rout of the Panthers (1-10, 0-5).
Ryan Smith scored three runs for Hamburg, which is unbeaten in April.