HS Baseball Roundup: Ligenza fires perfect game as Tamaqua clinches Division I title
Tamaqua's Mason Ligenza stands in the batter's box (Photo by Kelly Wiley).
LANSFORD — Mason Ligenza was dominant on the mound, striking out 16 in a perfect game to lead Tamaqua past Panther Valley 3-0 on Wednesday in Schuylkill League Division I play at Panther Valley.
Ligenza did not walk a batter in the seven-inning gem, facing the minimum and keeping Panther Valley off balance throughout. He also helped Tamaqua (17-1, 10-1) clinch the Division I title and a bye into the Schuylkill League semifinals.
Tamaqua’s offense was led by the bottom of the lineup, where Brayden Witkowski, Logan Morgans and Maximus Najarro combined for four of the team’s eight hits. Morgans finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Luke Kane and Najarro each had two hits.
Kane put the Blue Raiders on the board with a steal of home in the third inning. He also swiped three of the team’s nine stolen bases and recorded a team-high 16 chances in the field without an error.
Danny Wehr started for Panther Valley and was effective, allowing six hits and one unearned run over five innings while striking out eight. The Panthers (4-12, 1-9) played clean defense with no errors and turned one double play. Brody Breiner recorded a team-high nine chances in the field.
Tri-Valley 1, Pottsville 0
POTTSVILLE — Braeden Doyle tossed a five-hit shutout and Tri-Valley pushed across the game’s only run in the fourth inning to defeat Pottsville in a Division I ballgame.
Doyle struck out three and didn’t walk a batter over the course of the game. Gavin Scheib went 3-for-3 for the Dawgs (15-4, 8-3) and Jason Stewart scored the lone run on an RBI knock by Trey Porter.
Pottsville (6-12, 3-7) managed five hits but stranded four runners. Dom Rynard allowed one run over five innings and took the loss for the Crimson Tide. Harrison Ciavarella doubled for the Tide.
Pine Grove 4, Blue Mountain 3
ORWIGSBURG — Pine Grove held off a late rally to edge Blue Mountain thanks to a four-run first inning and a solid pitching effort from Quinn Brommer.
Brommer scattered six hits and struck out six over seven innings to earn the win. He was briefly replaced for a batter with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but was called right back to toss the final two outs. The Cardinals (9-9, 5-6) struck early, scoring four in the top of the first. Wyatt Snyder delivered a two-run single down the left field line, and Jake Hatter stole home to cap the inning.
Blue Mountain cut the deficit to one with a three-run sixth, fueled by an RBI single and a two-run double from Aidan Grace, who finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
PG (9-9, 5-6) 400 000 0 — 4 6 2
BM (12-7, 8-4) 000 003 0 — 3 6 1
Brommer, C. Lengle (7), Brommer (7) and Dixon; Setlock and Sebastian. W — Brommer. L — Setlock.
HITS: Pine Grove — Lengle, Lengle, Hatter, Allen, Brommer, Snyder. Blue Mountain — Grace 2, Strause, Kirby, Finn, Setlock.
2B — C. Lengle.
Schuylkill Haven 9
Shenandoah Valley 8
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Alan Evans went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead Schuylkill Haven a win over Shenandoah Valley in a back-and-forth Division II game.
The Hurricanes (16-3, 13-0) built a 6-3 lead through four innings and held off a furious five-run rally by the Blue Devils in the top of the seventh. Hunter Correll went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and pitched a complete game, scattering nine hits while striking out seven.
Brayden Maksimik and Landon Monaghan each had two hits for Shenandoah Valley (13-6, 9-4), which tallied eight runs on nine hits but left multiple runners stranded in the final frame. Johnny Burke homered and tripled in the loss.
Nativity 8, Williams Valley 7
TOWER CITY — Nativity rallied from a six-run first-inning deficit and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh to edge Williams Valley.
The Hilltoppers (8-10, 7-6) scored five runs between the fifth and seventh innings, capped by Nick Clarke’s RBI double. Stephen Karinch earned the win in relief, tossing 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and allowing just one earned run. Nick Wagner closed it out with a perfect seventh for the save.
Ryan Examitis and Ryan Grabowski each drove in two runs for Nativity.
Williams Valley (8-10, 6-7) jumped ahead 6-1 after two innings and was led by Fletcher Thompson and Cody Boehmer, who had two hits each.
Nat (8-10, 7-6) 110 023 1 — 8 9 1
WV (8-10, 6-7) 601 000 0 — 7 8 4
Examitis, Karinch (1), Wagner (7) and Bartashus; Boehmer, Deibert (7) and Thompson. W — Karinch. L — Deibert. S — Wagner.
HITS: Nativity — Karinch, Grabowski, Wagner, Examitis, Bartashus 2, Rugh, Clarke 2. Marian — Boehmer 2, Thompson 2, Trawitz, Deiter, Achenbach, Martin
2B — Clarke, Bartashus, Rugh. 3B — Martin.
