Log In


Reset Password

Towamensing powers by Anthracite

It's every coach's vision to have his entire lineup clicking during post-season action.

Towamensing put on an impressive display of power during its 14-4 District 18 11-12 Tournament victory over Anthracite on Monday.Nine different Towamensing players had a hit during yesterday's contest. The real damage came in the second inning which involved two separate two-run home runs by Matt Doherty and Colby Kunkle. Tyler Haydt had two RBIs in the inning as well."The bottom of our lineup came through for us," said Towamensing head coach Randy Schoch. "Colby and Matt had a couple of home runs for us toward the bottom of the order and I'll take that any day. "Towamensing also had a brilliant pitching performance by Luke Eitner. Eitner tossed three and two thirds innings, striking out nine and walking two."We had some very good hitting and pitching today. Luke Eitner did both very well especially with the way he threw the ball on the mound," said Schoch.Eitner reached his pitch count with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth and two outs. Anthracite's Blake Morgans followed with a grand slam to give his team a lift."Blake got us going a little, but sometimes the kids get down and it's hard to get them up," said Anthracite head coach Doug Yoder. "We need to play a little better defense than we did today in our next game. They're all a good bunch of kids with a lot of personality."Towamensing rebounded after Anthracite's four-run top of the inning and scored the necessary two runs to force the 10-run rule to come into effect and end the game."This group of kids is a good mix of age, some younger and older kids. I've coached almost all of these kids at one time or another it's nice to get to know them," Schoch explained.Anthracite still has life left in the post-season due to the double-elimination bracket set up. It travels to Valley West for a 6 p.m. elimination game on Wednesday."They have some good baseball players," Yoder said. "We had one bad inning and it fell apart after that. Their hitters stepped up and they have a big pitcher who threw hard."Schoch and his Towamensing club will host Franklin Township who was victorious over West Hazelton, in a winner's bracket contest Friday at 6 p.m.."If we come out smashing the ball like this again, I truly believe we can beat anybody," Schoch said.Anthracite 000 4 - 4 2 3Towamensing 192 2 - 14 11 1Taras, Robin (2), Shelton (2) and Smith; Eitner, Keck (4) and Bollinger. W - Eitner. L - Taras. HR: Anthracite - Morgans (4th, three on); Towamensing - Doherty (2nd, one on), Kunkle (2nd, one on).Tamaqua-White HavenTamaqua defeated White Haven 11-5 to advance in the winners bracket and will host Valley East on Friday at 6 p.m.Tamaqua used a 12-hit attack in the come-from-behind win.Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Tamaqua scored eight times to take the lead for good. During that inning Tamaqua had eight of its 12 hits for the night. Emma Kuczynski delivered the big blow with a three-run triple. Cody Hamm then hit a two-run homer to allow Tamaqua to take the lead.Matthew Kistler led Tamaqua with three hits, while Hamm contributed a double and his home run. Minchhoff, Boyle, Titus, Barron, Strouse and Minehan each had hits for Tamaqua.Nate Boyle came on in relief of Brayden Knoblauch in the second inning and struck out nine batters in getting the win. Shaw had a three-run homer and a solo shot and Horn also contributed a solo home run.White Haven 040 100 - 5 4Tamaqua 003 08x - 11 12Jones, Preston (3), Dixon (5) and Macurak; Knoblauch, Boyle (2) and Titus.Franklin Twp.-West HazletonFranklin Township handed West Hazleton a 7-1 setback in the winner's bracket on Monday. Franklin will now travel to Towamensing on Friday night for a 6 p.m. contest.All nine players in the lineup had at least one hit for Franklin.Ben Schatz led the team with three hits including a home run. Ethan Lutz added a home run for Franklin. Logan Wentz came on in relief to pitch the final four innings. He didn't surrender a run or allow a walk while striking out six batters.

MIKE FEIFEL/TIMES NEWS Luke Eitner of Towamensing fires a pitchto an Anthracite batter in Monday's 14-4 District 18 11-12 tournament win.