CLEARFIELD — Schuylkill North’s hopes for a state championship came to an end Saturday.
Josh Jacavage had four hits in two games, but it wasn’t enough as Schuylkill North lost twice and was eliminated from the VFW 15-16-Year-Old State Teener Tournament.
Schuylkill North fell to Lebanon City 5-3 in the winners’ bracket semifinals Saturday morning. In the evening, Altoona ended Schuylkill North’s tournament run with an 8-3 victory.
Richie Zahodnick had three hits for Schuylkill North in the opener, while Evan Kosar added two.
Jacavage also had two hits, including a run-producing double, in the first inning in the opener, giving Schuylkill North an early lead. Kosar then knocked in Jacavage to make it 2-0.
After Lebanon City tied the game with single runs in the third and fourth, Schuylkill North took a 3-2 advantage in the top of the sixth on another RBI single by Kosar.
But Lebanon City took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning as Cory Kissinger had an RBI double, Michael Deleon hit a run-scoring single and Ethan Sticker had an RBI double.
In the evening’s elimination game, Altoona raced out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and never looked back. That included a four-run second as Altoona sent nine hitters to the plate and had two hits, taking advantage of three Schuylkill North walks and two errors.
John Gority finished with three RBIs in the game for Altoona, including a two-run double in the fourth.
Javacage had two hits, including an RBI double in the sixth.
VFW 15-16-Year-Old State Tournament
At Clearfield
Winners’ bracket semifinal
Sch. North 200 001 0 — 3 8 4
Leb City 001 103 x — 5 9 2
Jacavage and Nolter; Kissinger and Vasquez. W — Kissinger. L — Jacavage.
HITS: Schuylkill North — Zahodnick 3, Jacavage 2, Kosar 2, Norris. Lebanon City — Johnson, Kissinger 2, Deleon, Stickler, Ritters, Cassazo 2, Vasquez.
2B — Kissinger, Stickler, Jacavage.
Losers’ bracket
Sch. North 001 101 0 — 3 5 4
Altoona 140 300 x — 8 6 2
B. Wagner, Zahodnick (4), Kowalishen (5), Kosar (6) and Nolter; Plunket, Burchfield (7) and Noll. W — Plunket. L — B. Wagner.
HITS: Schuylkill North — Jacavage 2, Dietz, Norris, Donmoyer. Altoona — Sankey, Gority 2, Benton, Burchfield 2.
2B — Jacavage, Gority.