PINE GROVE — A big question surrounding the North Schuylkill baseball team is how will the Spartans replace injured center fielder Bobby Grigas in their lineup.
Sophomore Bobby Wagner made a great first impression Thursday.
In his second varsity at-bat this season, Wagner hit a three-run double to spark a six-run outburst that lifted North Schuylkill to an 8-4 victory over Pine Grove at Stump Stadium.
The victory sets up a first-place showdown between the Spartans (9-2, 6-0 D-I) and Pottsville (9-2, 6-0 D-I) at 4:30 p.m. today at Steidle Field.
Pine Grove tallied a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout by Logan Levan before North Schuylkill compiled four hits, two walks and a hit batsman off losing pitcher Kobe D’Agostino in the top of the second to take control.
Richie Zahodnick and John Rupinski each added RBI doubles in the frame as the Spartans scored all six runs with two outs.
Pine Grove sliced the deficit to 6-4 with two runs in the fourth, but North Schuylkill added insurance runs in the fifth and seventh to ice the victory.
Tevin Murray struck out five over five innings to get the win, while Ryan Hillbish tossed two scoreless frames and struck out four to seal it.
NS (9-2, 6-0) 060 010 1 — 8 6 4
PG (5-6, 2-5) 101 200 0 — 4 4 3
Murray, Hillbish (6) and Burke; D’Agostino, Leininger (5) and T. Levan. W — Murray (3-0). L — D’Agostino (1-2).
HITS: North Schuylkill — Zahodnick, Rupinski, Murray 2, Hummel, Wagner. Pine Grove — L. Levan, Weinus, Fick, Brown.
2B — Wagner, Rupinski, Murray, Zahodnick.
Tamaqua 5
Jim Thorpe 2
JIM THORPE — Brett Kosciolek struck out nine over five innings, and Nate MacDonald picked up two RBIs on a pair of sacrifice flies to give Tamaqua a Division I win over Jim Thorpe.
Owen Bates had three hits to pace the Blue Raiders’ 10-hit attack.
Chris Fayocavitz recorded two hits, and Dave Everitt had an RBI single for the Olympians.
Tam (5-4, 3-4) 102 100 1 — 5 10 1
JT (3-8, 0-6) 002 000 0 — 2 5 2
Kosciolek, Moll (6) and Rother; Fayocavitz, Porembo (5) and A. Joyce. W — Kosciolek (1-0). L — Fayocavitz (1-1). Sv — Moll.
HITS: Tamaqua — Rottet 2, MacDonald, Kosciolek, Bates 3, Minchhoff 2, Barron. Jim Thorpe — Carroll, Kovolenko, Everitt, Fayocavitz 2.
2B — Minchhoff, Barron.
Minersville 10
Panther Valley 0
MINERSVILLE — Cody Bettinger tallied three hits and knocked in three runs, and Ryan Nettles added three more hits as Minersville blanked Panther Valley in Division II-III crossover action.
Dylan Stephen tossed a two-hit shutout for the Miners, striking out five and walking none.
Darren Goida and Sam Stanko picked up the Panthers’ only hits.
PV (4-6, 2-4) 000 00 — 0 2 3
Min (9-2, 5-2) 120 43 — 10 13 0
Vavra, Taras (5) and Massie; Stephen and Bettinger. W — Stephen (4-0). L — Vavra (1-3).
HITS: Panther Valley — Goida, Stanko. Minersville — Hashin, Stephen 2, Bettinger 3, Pedron, McBreen 2, Brown, Nettles 3.
Schuylkill Haven 8
Shenandoah Valley 0
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Nick Behm hurled a four-hit shutout and struck out 12 as Schuylkill Haven blanked the Blue Devils in a Division II-III crossover game.
Ryan Fink knocked in two runs on two hits for Haven.
Derek Dombrowski tallied two hits for the Blue Devils.
SV (3-7, 2-5) 000 000 0 — 0 4 0
SH (12-1, 7-0) 300 131 x — 8 7 1
Cespedes, Grutza (6) and Urbanavage; Behm and Blugis. W — Behm (6-0). L — Cespedes (0-2).
HITS: Shenandoah Valley — Krusinsky, Dombrowski 2, Urbanavage. Schuylkill Haven — Saul, Blugis, Fink 2, Bl. Moyer, Fryer, Ulsh.
2B — Saul, Fink.
Tri-Valley 11
Mahanoy Area 1
HEGINS — Logan Yoder had two RBIs on two hits as Tri-Valley cruised past Mahanoy Area for a Division II-III crossover win.
Hunter Bordner had an RBI single and picked up the win on the mound for the Bulldogs, allowing just two hits over three innings.
Troy Kimmel had a double and scored the Golden Bears’ lone run.
MA (0-8, 0-5) 000 010 — 1 3 3
TV (6-5, 4-3) 232 103 — 11 14 0
Richmond, Middleton (3) and Fegley; Bordner, Schwalm (4) and Yoder. W — Bordner (4-1). L — Richmond (0-4).
HITS: Mahanoy Area — Fegley, Kimmel, Cavenas. Tri-Valley — Schwalm 2, Lucas, Bordner, Herb 2, Yoder 2, Kimmel, Buchanan, Boltz, Klinger 2, Poletti.
2B — Kimmel, Schwalm.
Williams Valley 9
Weatherly 1
TOWER CITY — Zach Ulsh had two hits at the plate and allowed one run on three hits from the mound as Williams Valley rolled over Weatherly in a Division II-III crossover game.
Ulsh recorded seven strikeouts in a complete-game effort. Scott Whitcomb finished with two RBIs on a pair of hits for the Vikings.
Ryan Hoffman had two hits and an RBI for the Wreckers.
Wea (0-7, 0-6) 001 000 0 — 1 3 6
WV (3-9, 3-5) 210 222 x — 9 6 0
Hoffman and Osifat; Ulsh and Whitcomb. W — Ulsh (2-2). L — Hoffman (0-2).
HITS: Weatherly — Hoffman 2, MacNeal. Williams Valley — Ross, Ulsh 2, Maurer, Whitcomb 2.
2B — Maurer, Whitcomb.
Nativity 6
Lanc. Co. Christian 4
LANCASTER — Jeff Yordy’s two-run double in the top of the seventh inning broke a 4-4 tie and lifted the Hilltoppers to a non-league win over Lancaster County Christian (7-3), which leads the latest District 3 Class A power ratings.
Dominic Piccioni led off the frame with a single to left, and Travis Hunyara followed with a perfectly-placed bunt single down the first-base line. Yordy followed with his double.
Nativity trailed 4-2 before Collin McGovern tied the contest in the fourth with a two-run homer.
Lancaster County Christian threatened to break it open when it loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth, but winning pitcher Riley White pitched out of the jam unscathed.
White (1-3) tossed a complete game for Nativity (6-4), which has won four straight.
Marian 13
Notre Dame-ES 3
MIDDLEPORT — Mason Evitts and Daniel Keer each hit two-run homers as the Colts won their seventh straight with a non-league win over the Spartans.
Evitts finished with four RBIs on two hits. K.J. Snerr finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs as Marian collected 15 hits in the five-inning victory.
NDES (3-5) 000 12 — 3 2 0
Mar (8-1) 532 3x — 13 15 1
Murphy, O’Malley (4) and Gregory; Kubishin and Snerr. W — Kubishin (2-0). L — Murphy.
HITS: Notre Dame-East Stroudsberg — Naughton, Krechel. Marian — Salerno 2, Kubishin, Snerr 4, Evitts 2, Keer 2, Maskornick, Nahas 2, Hinkle.
2B — Kubishin, Snerr 2, Evitts, Nahas. HR — Evitts, Keer.
Susquenita 8
Upper Dauphin 3
DUNCANNON — Shane Smith held the Trojans to three hits and Susquenita (7-2, 7-0 TVL West) used a five-run fourth inning to upend Upper Dauphin (8-4, 4-2 TVL East) in a battle of Tri-Valley League division leaders.
No further details were available.
College Baseball
PSU-Schuylkill sweeps pair from Fayette
MONT ALTO — Matt Roberts had four RBIs on two hits to lead Penn State Schuylkill to a 7-3 comeback win over Penn State Fayette in the opening game of a doubleheader.
Wade Bressler struck out seven and walked one in a complete game to lead Schuylkill past Fayette 7-1 in the nightcap.
Mac Ney went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored for Schuylkill.
Game 1
Sch (12-9, 8-5) 000 003 4 — 7 9 2
Fay (2-18, 0-11) 012 000 0 — 3 6 0
Ney, Oliver (7) and Roberts; Nolan and Spellman. W — Ney. L — Nolan.
HITS: Penn State Schuylkill — Visconti 2, Kreiser, Roberts 2, Ney, Perez, Merwine. Penn State Fayette — Amoroso, Krall, Nolan 2, Spellman, Cooney.
2B — Visconti, Roberts, Krall, Nolan.
Game 2
Sch (13-9, 9-5) 131 110 0 — 7 14 1
Fay (2-19, 0-12) 100 000 0 — 1 1 0
Bressler and Wenrick; Cooney and Krall. W — Bressler. L — Cooney.
HITS: Penn State Schuylkill — Visconti 2, Kreiser 2, Kreider, Roberts 2, Wenrick, Hasenauer 2, Joseph, Ney 2, Perez. Penn State Fayette — Wortman.
2B — Visconti, Kreider, Roberts, Wenrick, Hasenauer.