Three strikes and you’re out!

For Weatherly’s baseball team, it didn’t get three strikes, but it is out for the remainder of the spring sports season.

A roster that was limited in size (12 players) to open the season had concerns for everyone associated with the squad when early season injuries started to mount. Before the team could get to its seventh game, the school district was forced to drop the sport.

“It pains me to think that we have to shut it down,” said Weatherly athletic director Scott Zoscin. “We had some early-season injuries that took us down to nine players, then another injury just recently and now we’re at eight players, and it doesn’t look like the player who suffered the last injury is going to get clearance (to play) for a few more weeks.”

The Wreckers did have a win in five games, but to field a team with only eight players wasn’t going to happen.

“We tried everything to save the program for this season. Even before it began, we had to ask a few players to come out to make it 12. Then when several players were injured, we were faced with no other alternative but to shut it down,” explained Zoscin.

“Our kids take a lot of pride in our small high school to participate in sports. So that’s the killer. No one wanted to cancel the remainder of the season. It hurts me deeply that our administrators had to take this type of action. We had very limited options.”

Zoscin went through the proper protocol, informing District 11 chairman Bob Hartman. Hartman informed Zoscin that the remainder of the teams on the schedule will receive forfeits and they will be recorded as 7-0 losses. There were 14 games remaining on Weatherly’s 20-game schedule.

Zoscin didn’t want to seek out additional help from students in the school who were not already on the team, saying that if he sought more players to just finish the season, there was a risk factor with those who have no baseball experience.

“As an athletic director, you try everything to keep your sports teams going, but when you’re looking at baseball and trying to fill out the roster just to finish the season, there are risk for additional injuries and that’s not a good thing,” he said.

Last spring, Weatherly qualified for the District 11 baseball playoffs, but decided not to take part because a depleted roster prevented it from fielding nine players.

The lone win on the Weatherly schedule this season came against winless Mahanoy Area — an 8-2 decision in the Schuylkill Baseball League Division III. Overall the Wreckers were 1-5 and all five losses were via the 10-run mercy rule.

As for 2020?

“We will field a team,” said Zoscin in a positive light.

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LOOOOONG INNING ... When Panther Valley hosted Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg in a baseball game on March 27, the teams played a first inning that seemed like it would never end.

NDES opened the game with a five-run top of the first before Panther Valley countered with a 16-run explosion in the bottom of the frame. The 21-run opening inning lasted one hour and 15 minutes.

Panthers’ relief pitcher Bradley Buzzard did his best to return some normalcy to the game’s pace as he tossed three innings of scoreless relief and PV went on to close out a 20-5 four-inning, mercy-rule victory.

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TIGERS MAKE HISTORY ... On March 25, Northwestern defeated Scranton Prep by a 6-5 score to mark the first lacrosse win in school history.

Senior captain Cole Norman netted the eventual game-winning goal with seven minutes left in the contest. Norman, who had two goals in the game, was assisted by junior Zach Rosamalia, who also tallied twice. Senior goalie Tyler Lobach, who made eight saves, came up with a number of key stops down the stretch to preserve the program’s initial victory.

The win was extra special for Northwestern head coach Marcus Janda, whose coaching career started at Scranton Prep six years ago.

The Tigers were 3-3 after their first six games.

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LIGHTING IT UP ... Pleasant Valley’s Juliana Lopez scored her 200th-career goal in a 15-14 win over Nazareth on April 6.

Lopez scored eight goals in the contest for the Bears, who are currently 8-2. Lopez leads the team with 64 goals scored and 74 points.

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GREAT HEIGHTS ... Northwestern pole-vaulter Sydney Derr won her events against Palmerton (4/2) and Southern Lehigh (4/4), establishing school records in both meets. Derr set the mark at 10-3 against the Bombers, and surpassed it by clearing 10-6 against the Spartans later in the week.

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GRAB A CALCULATOR ... The Northwestern and Moravian Academy baseball teams combined for 39 runs in a game on April 1. The Tigers prevailed 25-14, collecting 20 hits in the contest. Derek Holmes led the Northwestern attack, recording eight RBIs, finishing with two singles and a triple. Brandon Mengel had a four-hit day with four singles, three runs scored and two RBIs. Carter Welch (single, triple, four runs scored, RBI), Rafe Perich (single, triple, three runs scored, three RBIs), Colten Hagadus (two singles, three runs scored, three RBIs) and Vince Castrine (single, double, run scored) all contributed in the offensive explosion. Not to be outdone, the Northwestern softball team also lit up the scoreboard with a 20-7 win over Palisades on the same day. Morgan Farthing posted a 4-for-5 performance, recording two doubles, a home run, a single, a run scored and eight RBIs for the Tigers. Anna Akelaitis chipped in with three hits, five runs scored and four RBIs; Emily Akelaitis added two doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs; Brynn Balliet had three singles and four runs scored; Kylie Zentz had two hits and two runs scored; and Molly Mitman had a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.