PINE GROVE — Blue Mountain had eight days between the end of its regular season and Tuesday’s Schuylkill League semifinals.
The Eagles could have taken some time off, relaxed and recharged for the postseason.
Not these Eagles. They went to work.
Blue Mountain coach Tom Kramer put his squad through five intense practices, working on offensive situations, moving runners and hitting with runners in scoring position.
The Eagles’ hard work paid huge dividends Tuesday.
Paced by the top of its lineup, Blue Mountain collected 13 hits off Schuylkill Haven ace Nick Behm en route to a 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes at Stump Stadium.
The win puts the Division I wild-card Eagles in the Schuylkill League championship game for the first time since 2010. Blue Mountain (17-4) will face Division I champion Pottsville (17-4), a 6-2 winner over Marian, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Stump Stadium.
“We worked real hard the last couple of days on situational offense, and it showed up in some situations today,” Kramer said. “We had some real productive two-strike at-bats, and that’s important at this time of the year.
“We had a couple of intense practices. I thought our practices were productive. There were some things that we just weren’t real good at, and with playoffs coming, it’s time to address those things and try to clean them up.”
Leading the Eagles’ charge were the top three hitters in their order:
Adam Hull, Dean Stramara and Sean Greenawalt.
The senior trio combined for six hits, scored two runs and drove in three. No. 5 hitter Zach Martin added a pair of hits, while Austin Krammes had two hits and two RBIs as eight Blue Mountain players had hits.
“We’ve been doing a great job of putting the ball in play, hitting the ball hard,” said Hull, who was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. “We’ve been working hard the past five days, working with the pitching machine throwing curveballs. We were prepared for Behm.”
Hull got the Eagles’ offense started in the third inning with a bunt single. Hull bunted the ball right to Haven first baseman Brad Fryer, but Hull made an athletic play to dive under and around Fryer to reach safely.
Stramara, who finished 3-for-4, and Greenawalt (2-for-3) followed with singles to give Blue Mountain a 1-0 lead.
“I saw the first baseman was playing pretty deep, and I thought I could get a bunt down as long as I got it down the line,” Hull said of his bunt single. “He came up on it, and it didn’t look like he was going to make a throw. I thought I could dodge him, get under him and touch the bag.”
Blue Mountain had its leadoff hitter reach safely six out of seven innings, with four of those batters eventually scoring.
In the fourth, Krammes doubled and scored on a single by Stramara. In the sixth, Dave Kyslinger reached on an infield single and courtesy runner Jon Benner scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly by Hull.
Krammes’ two-run single in the seventh plated Blue Mountain’s final two runs.
“Austin Krammes came up big with a two-out hit,” Kramer said. “A lot of our key hits came with two outs.”
The offensive outburst was plenty of support for Stramara, who dominated the Hurricanes’ offense for six-plus innings.
Stramara faced one batter over the minimum through six shutout innings, surrendering a triple to Danny Blugis in the first and an infield single to Mike Ulsh in the sixth. Ulsh was then erased on a double play.
The senior right-hander retired 14 straight at one point and 15 of the first 16 he faced. During the first six innings, Stramara struck out eight and walked none on just 62 pitches.
He finished with nine strikeouts and no walks on 88 pitches.
“In the beginning of the game I felt great and had a low pitch count,” Stramara said. “I was just pounding the zone. I mixed in my slider and it was keeping them off-balance.
“Near the end of the game I started to get cramps due to the heat. It’s hard to stay hydrated in this weather, especially since it was so cold early in the season and now the heat has come on. I just tried to work my way through it.”
Schuylkill Haven (18-3), the Division II champion, tallied its run in the bottom of the seventh as Ryan Fink doubled, Noah Saul singled and Blayne Moyer delivered an RBI single.
The late uprising wasn’t enough, however, as Stramara recorded the final out by strikeout to set up a third matchup between the Eagles and Crimson Tide.
It’s the first time this group of Blue Mountain players will play for a league title.
“It’s going to be an exciting game,” Stramara said. “I’m excited for it.”
Added Hull: “We’ve never been in (the league final). I’m very excited. It should be a great game.”
Game Summary
Schuylkill League Semifinal
At Stump Stadium, Pine Grove
BLUE MOUNTAIN (5) — Hull cf 3 1 1 1, Stramara p 4 0 3 1, S. Greenawalt ss 3 1 2 1, T. Moyer 2b 3 0 0 0, Hammer lf 0 0 0 0, Martin dh 4 1 2 0, Oliver 3b 2 0 1 0, Kyslinger c 4 0 1 0, Benner cr 0 1 0 0, Krammes 1b 4 1 2 2, Barton rf 4 0 1 0. Totals 31 5 13 5.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (1) — Webb cf 3 0 0 0, Blugis c 3 0 1 0, Fink 2b 3 1 1 0, Saul lf 3 0 1 0, Behm p 3 0 0 0, Conage 3b 0 0 0 0, Bl. Moyer dh 3 0 1 1, Fryer 1b 3 0 0 0, Kane ph 0 0 0 0, Ulsh ss 2 0 1 0, Browne rf 2 0 0 0. Totals 25 1 5 1.
Blue Mtn. (17-4) 001 101 2 — 5
Sch. Haven (18-3) 000 000 1 — 1
E — Blue Mountain 0, Schuylkill Haven 1. DP — Blue Mountain 1, Schuylkill Haven 1. LOB — Blue Mountain 10, Schuylkill Haven 3. 2B — Krammes, Fink. 3B — Blugis. SB — S. Greenawalt. S — S. Greenawalt, T. Moyer. SF — Hull.
Blue Mtn. IP H R ER BB K
Strmra W,5-2 7 5 1 1 0 9
Sch. Haven IP H R ER BB K
Behm L,8-2 7 13 5 5 1 7
HBP — by Behm (Oliver). PB — Blugis. T — 1:45.