SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Cressona had the momentum heading into the bottom of the fifth Monday
It took Schuylkill Haven half an inning to grab it back for good.
Riley White and Austin Clauser drove in two runs apiece in a nine-run bottom of the fifth, carrying Schuylkill Haven to a 10-5 victory over Cressona in a Schuylkill County Teener League Senior Division contest at the Schuylkill Haven High School field.
Down 3-1, White’s two-run single with the bases loaded tied the game at 3. A two-run double to center by Clauser three hitters later made it 6-3.
Jake Luckenbill, Cody Reichert, Steven Balulis, Kobe Brish and Dawson Evitts added RBIs in the inning. Evitts’ single to left brought home Brish to make it 10-3, as Schuylkill Haven (12-1) sent 12 men to the plate and had six hits.
The victory allowed Schuylkill Haven to move 3.5 games ahead of both Branch and Cressona for first place in the South Division. Schuylkill Haven has four games remaining in the regular season. Schuylkill Haven also has the best overall record in the league, which would give it the No. 1 seed in the upcoming league playoffs.
Cressona (9-5) took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth when Vinnie Bobbin tripled to lead off the inning and was awarded home when the throw to third went into the Schuylkill Haven dugout.
Schuylkill Haven quickly got the advantage back off Cressona starter Brett Caulfield.
Balulis, the designated hitter in the No. 9 spot, poked an 0-2 pitch to center for a single. Brish was hit by a pitch, while Evitts reached on a fielder’s choice.
At that point, Cressona brought its infielders up, and Schuylkill Haven manager Scott Swoyer felt that’s where the game turned.
“I thought we had good at-bats from the very beginning (of the game),” he said. “We were putting the ball in play, hitting it solid, just hitting it right to them. In the fifth inning, after they brought the infield up, we were able to hit it through them and take advantage of it.”
White’s single went to center past a diving Ben Norris at second. After Shawn Davis reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases again, Luckenbill singled to left.
Clauser then doubled over the center fielder, bringing home pinch-runner Albe Evans and Davis.
Dillon Dress walked to load the bases again. Reichert and Balulis followed with back-to-back RBI groundouts. Brish then knocked in courtesy runner Adam Moyer with a double to left-center, ending Caulfield’s night.
Evitts greeted reliever Eric Freeman with a single to left, bringing home Brish to make it 10-5.
“That is a great team, they will hit the ball,” Cressona co-manager Tom Caulfield said. “We knew that. We had no choice. We had to bring the infield in and they started punching it through. It got contagious. Their lineup from top to bottom is a strong team.
“We were very pleased to be in the position of being in the lead at that point. That one inning got us.”
Brish and Luckenbill both finished the game 2-for-3.
Dress got the win, pitching into the seventh. He allowed only three hits but walked nine and hit two batters. But Dress got outs when he needed them as Cressona stranded 12 runners.
Schuylkill Haven lost its first game of the season Saturday afternoon when Pine Grove Red scored five runs with two outs in the top of the seventh to win 8-5. Schuylkill Haven then traveled to Pottsville on Saturday evening and rebounded by beating DeAngelo’s Black 12-3.
“The kids showed a lot of good character,” Swoyer said. “In less than in hour, we were playing up in Pottsville and beat a very good team. I was happy with the way they responded.”
Freeman had a two-run double for Cressona in the top of the third to make it 2-1. Cressona started the season 9-2 but has now lost three in a row to DeAngelo’s Crimson, Hegins and Schuylkill Haven.
Cressona had had to do some shuffling with its lineup as of late but is still in excellent position to make the league playoffs.
“We are hitting a very tough part of our schedule.” Tom Caulfield said. “We have a lot of the top teams in the league right in a row. Our lineup hasn’t been the same due to various reasons. We have some (junior) kids coming up and down, we have some travel-ball players who are not always available. We’ve got an injury. We are trying to play with a lineup that is never consistent. We are doing the best we can with what we have.”
Schuylkill-Berks Legion
Tamaqua 8
Pottsville 3
Nate MacDonald finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs and Matt Roberts struck out 11 to lead the Blue Sox to a Schuylkill-Berks Legion League victory over the Lions at Steidle Field.
Eddie Titus doubled twice and drove in two runs for Tamaqua, which took over first place in the North Division standings.
Eric Wapinsky went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI to lead Pottsville.
Tam. (5-7) 120 211 1 — 8 10 2
Pot. (2-7-1) 011 001 0 — 3 8 2
Roberts and Rother; Siminitus, Everly (3), Daubert (5), Robison (7) and Herndon. W — Roberts. L — Siminitus.
HITS: Tamaqua — Baddick, A. Bates, MacDonald 4, Titus 2, Lehman, Fedor. Pottsville — Wapinsky 2, Jacoby, Daubert, Herndon, Kalinich, Wilson, Spehrley.
2B — MacDonald, Titus 2.
Junior Legion
Southern Area 5
Conrad Weiser 0
ROBESONIA — Jakob Biever set the tone with a first-inning home run to lift Southern Area to victory over Conrad Weiser in a Berks County Area Junior Legion League game.
Mac O’Donell pitched seven shutout innings and scattered four hits for Southern Area.
SA (5-7) 203 000 0 — 5 5 1
CW (1-11) 000 000 0 — 0 4 0
O’Donell; Williams. W — O’Donell. L — Williams.
2B — Schafer, Wesley. HR — Biever.
Game Summary
CRESSONA (5) — H. Luckenbill ss 4 0 0 0, Bobbin c 1 2 1 0, Caulfield p-3b 3 0 1 1, Freeman cf-p 4 0 1 2, Norris 2b 3 0 0 0, Carroll 3b-cf 3 0 0 0, Nabholz rf 4 0 0 0, Carretta 1b 2 0 0 0, McNulty lf 2 1 0 0, Kurten eh 1 1 0 0, Strouphauer ph 0 1 0 0. Totals 27 5 3 3.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (10) — Brish cf 3 2 2 1, Evitts ss 3 1 1 1, White 3b 4 0 1 2, Evans cr 0 1 0 0, Davis 1b 4 1 1 0, J. Luckenbill c 3 1 2 1, Clauser 2b 3 1 1 2, Dress p 3 0 0 0, Moyer cr 0 1 0 0, Homan p 0 0 0 0, Reichert rf 3 1 1 1, Balulis dh 3 1 1 1, Buchler lf 0 0 0 0. Totals 29 10 10 9.
Cressona (9-5) 002 012 0 — 5
Sch. Haven (12-1) 010 090 x — 10
E — Cressona 1, Schuylkill Haven 5. DP — Cressona 1. LOB — Cressona 12, Schuylkill Haven 6. 2B — Freeeman, Brish, J. Luckenbill, Clauser. 3B — Bobbin. SB — Caulfield. CS — Evitts, Clauser.
Cressona IP H R ER BB K
Caulfield L 4.2 7 10 10 3 4
Freeman 1.1 3 0 0 0 0
Sch. Haven IP H R ER BB K
Dress W 6 3 5 4 9 0
Homan 1 0 0 0 0 1
Dress pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
HBP — by Caulfield (Brish), by Dress (Bobbin, Carretta). WP — Dress 2. PB — J. Luckenbill.