CENTER VALLEY - Pleasant Valley got to Bangor starting pitcher Greg Campbell early with three first-inning runs in Saturday’s District 5A semifinal baseball game at DeSales University.

The Bears combined that fast offensive start with strong pitching from twin brothers Ben and Nate Mostosky to pull out a 4-3 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Starter Ben Mostosky held the Slaters to four hits and three runs over six-plus innings to pick up the victory. Brother Nate Mostosky earned the save by getting a ground out with the bases loaded to end the game.

“It was very nerve-racking,” Pleasant Valley acting head coach Joe Anderton said. “With the top of their lineup coming up and a runner on base, I thought it was necessary to bring Nate in at that point and give them a different look.

“They’ve seen Ben the whole game, and were starting to put the ball in play and squared some balls up a little more. I think the change was important, just to change the arm side and to give them a different look from the mound to throw them off a little bit.”

Nate came in to pitch when brother Ben gave up a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. Nate first faced Greg Campbell and got him to ground out in the lefty vs. lefty matchup as the potential tying run moved up to second. A wild pitch and a walk put Bangor runners on the corners with one out.

Anderton then elected to intentionally walk Slaters’ cleanup hitter Dylan Keith to load the bases. That strategy worked to perfection as Nate Mostosky got a big strikeout of Cody Quagliato, and then got Blake Kornafel to ground out to PV second baseman Rylan Adamski to end the game.

After capturing the Colonial League championship to earn the top seed for the district playoffs, Bangor came up one hit short against the Bears.

“We were able to keep our guys healthy for the whole season, and our bats got hot at the right time in the (Colonial League) playoffs last week - that allowed us to take home the championship,” said Bangor coach Anthony Martino. “But I think with the long layoff between the league playoffs and today - because of the bye we got for being the No. 1 seed in districts - kind of hurt us.

“We had a couple of scrimmages last week, but nothing is comparable to in-game playoff games.”

Pleasant Valley built its early lead when Dakota Lucas ripped a first-inning single and Jack Smale doubled him home. A Mike Konopke sacrifice fly eventually made it 2-0 before Nate Mostosky doubled home courtesy runner Zach Pandolfo to cap the outburst.

After Bangor scored a run in the bottom of the frame, Ben Mostosky restored the three-run lead when he knocked in a third-inning run for the Bears.

Ben then combined with brother Nate to make sure that lead held up.

“Hitting them with those runs early was very big for us,” said Ben. “I just tried to go pitch-by-pitch, out-by-out once I had the lead. I was trying to keep them off-balance. The curveball was really going for me at times, and when I really needed it most. It seemed to get a lot of swings-and-misses.

“Our defense made the plays when we needed them most, and we came out with the win.”

HITTING STARS ... Smale and Nate Mostosky both had two hits for the Bears. Lucas and Maverick Walsh had the other Pleasant Valley hits. Smale also scored two runs.

THE SEASON CONTINUES ... The win sends Pleasant Valley into the District 11 5A championship game against Pocono Mountain East tonight at 7 p.m. at DeSales University. Pleasant Valley split two games with Pocono Mountain East this season. The Bears posted a 6-5 win on March 23, while the Cardinals recorded an 8-2 victory on May 1. “East is very good,” Anderton said. “They have the two horses on the mound, their bats have been very good, and defense has been very solid as well. They’ve done nothing but improve all season long.”

Pleasant Vy. 301 000 0 - 4 6 2

Bangor 100 002 0 - 3 4 3

Campbell, Rydell (5) and Aulisi; B. Mostosky, N. Mostosky (7) and Walsh. W - B. Mostosky. L - Campbell. S - N. Mostosky.