HUGHESTOWN – Montrose made it through the District 11 playoffs last week, earning a rare appearance in the Pennsylvania Region 5 Senior American Legion Baseball Tournament.
The reward for a trip to the district finals was an opening-round game against defending state champion Swoyersville Saturday at Mountain Post.
After a loss there, Montrose had its season come to an end Sunday when Mark Wetzel threw a five-hit shutout and got plenty of support from Austin Reed while leading Shamokin/Mount Carmel to a 10-0 victory in seven innings.
Reed went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI. Playing right field, he also helped Shamokin/Mount Carmel end the game early by throwing out a runner at the plate in the sixth inning.
Regional tournament games were scheduled for nine innings, but the 10-run rule was in effect from the end of the seventh inning on.
“It was a great season,” first-year Montrose manager Ed Dieck said. “ … We didn’t have one star kid, we got a total team effort.”
Eric Lee went 2-for-3 with a double in the season finale.
Pat Adamski was perfect through five innings and did not allow a hit for 5 2/3 innings in Saturday’s opening round before Swoyersville had to hold off Montrose late in a 9-5 victory.
Swoyersville led 6-0 before Montrose got going with a three-run sixth.
Adamski left with his no-hitter as Swoyersville manager Sean Toole tried to work through pitch count rules and keep as many pitchers available as possible for later in the tournament.
Nick Warriner’s RBI double in the sixth broke up the combined no-hitter.
Nate Pettyjohn’s pinch-hit single drove in two Montrose runs in the ninth.
The first two days of the Region tournament trimmed the field in the double-elimination event from eight to six teams.
Swoyersville and Wyoming Valley League rival Greater Pittston got off to 2-0 starts.
Dickson City, Montoursville, Shamokin/Mount Carmel and Nanticoke were each 1-1. Danville and Montrose were the teams that went 0-2 and were eliminated.
Montrose already had its regional berth clinched when it lost, 9-0, to Dickson City in Wednesday’s District 11 championship game.
After going 9-7 and finish second out of six teams in the Kays Division, Montrose shut out Carbondale/Lakeland, 3-0, to earn a shot at division champion Green Ridge in a best-of-three league semifinal series.
Montrose opened with a 6-2 win before Green Ridge tied the series with an 11-2 win.
Brendan Buck’s two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning gave Montrose a 10-9 win in the deciding game.
“We battled back and forth,” Dieck said. “Brendan Buck hit the home run to give us the lead for good.
“That was obviously a big win for us.”
The Montrose Legion team features players, who played their high school baseball at Montrose, Elk Lake, Blue Ridge and Susquehanna.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRider Aaron Judge won of Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby in Miami after being one of the biggest stars of the first half of the season.
The favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award and a serious contender for Most Valuable Player, Judge played 154 of his 348 career minor-league games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on his way the New York Yankees.
Judge hit four home runs of more than 500 feet at Marlins Park July 10. He hit 47 home runs in three rounds of competition with just 29 “outs,” on swings that did not produce a homer.
The 6-foot-7, 282-pound outfielder had already broken Joe DiMaggio’s Yankees record for home runs by a rookie when he hit his Major League-leading 30th before the All-Star Break.
With the RailRiders, Judge had 19 homers, 65 RBI and a .270 average in 93 games in 2016 before earning a promotion to the Yankees in August. He had eight homers, 28 RBI and a .224 average in 61 games at Triple-A after a midseason promotion in 2015.
It was all-star week throughout all of baseball.
Caleb Smith from the RailRiders gave up four runs in an inning and was the losing pitcher when the International League fell to Pacific Coast League, 6-4, in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Tacoma Washington. Al Pedrique from the RailRiders managed the IL.
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies had three players in the East starting lineup, including the pitcher and lead-off hitter, during a 7-1 victory over the West in the Eastern League All-Star Game.
Cody Oswalt pitched a spotless first inning with one strikeout.
Luis Guillorme led off and started at second base, going 0-for-3.
Thomas Nido started at catcher and struck out in his only at-bat.
Nido excelled in the Futures Game for the top prospects in all of Minor League Baseball, going 2-for-2 with two RBI for the World team in a 7-6 loss to the United States.
Former Binghamton Met Amed Rosario, who played with the team in 2015 and 2016 before it was renamed Rumble Ponies, played shortstop and went 0-for-2.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Susquehanna County players have made the most out of limited representation during the last two Dream Games.
Susquehanna’s Jarred Mills and Montrose’s Colin Mondi will try to continue that trend Wednesday night while playing for the City in the 83rd annual Dream Game, the Scranton Lions Club-sponsored all-star game for recent graduates of Lackawanna Football Conference schools.
Mills, a Blue Ridge graduate, played with the Sabers as part of the cooperative sponsorship of the sport between the two schools.
The City is coached by Scranton’s Mike Marichak and will include players from West Scranton, Dunmore, Scranton Prep, Holy Cross, North Pocono, Wallenpaupack, Scranton, Susquehanna, Montrose and Lackawanna Trail.
In an effort to make the games more even after recent dominance by the City, Lackawanna Trail was moved from the County to the City with Delaware Valley switching to the County.
Delaware Valley players will be joined on the County roster by those from Old Forge, Riverside, Mid Valley, Valley View, Lakeland, Carbondale, Western Wayne, Honesdale and Abington Heights.
Joe Repshis from Abington Heights will coach the County.
Susquehanna’s Zach Conrad and Evan Aldrich joined Montrose’s Derek Nunez in leading the City defense in last year’s 35-8 rout.
Conrad led the City in tackles and the three combined for 19 tackles, including five of the eight that the team made for losses, and seven assists.
Nunez threw the County for a pair of nine-yard losses in the first quarter.
Former Susquehanna Sabers led the City in tackles each of the past two seasons.
In 2015, it was Christian Miller leading a unit that did not allow a first down in the second half while forcing three turnovers in a 41-6 runaway.
Miller had five tackles, including a seven-yard sack and a four-yard loss, and three assists during that second half. One of four Susquehanna players in the game, he finished with six tackles, five assists and three pass rushes.
Austin White started at quarterback and passed for 75 yards.
Craig Stanley started at wide receiver and Steve Jesse handle the kickoffs with six extra points and four kickoffs inside the 6.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
HAMLIN WINS AT NEW HAMPSHIRE
Denny Hamlin
LOUDON, N.H.--Denny Hamlin is back in victory lane after 28 winless races. He won Sunday's 301-lap Cup Series race by less than 100 feet over Kyle Larson.
After a restart on 268 Hamlin pushed his No. 11 Toyota to the front of the pack. Kyle Larson moved into second ahead of Matt Kenseth, and had Hamlin in his sights. By lap 290, he was about 200 feet behind the leader. Five laps later, he had cut the distance to 100 feet. With two to go, it looked like Larsen might be able to gain his third victory of the year, but he was never able to challenge Hamlin, and had to settle for the runner-up spot.
“Yes, I knew Kyle was coming, but we had a fast car and I don't think there was anyway that he could have gotten by me before the end of the race,” said Hamlin. “It's been a long time since our last win and I wasn't going to leave anything on the track. We hung it all out today.
“It's been a long time, but we're getting better and better. The Chase is coming and we've got to get going.”
While second would have been great for many of the drivers, it wasn't for Larsen. He had actually qualified first, but his car failed a post-qualifying inspection and he had to start the race from the last position.
“I gave it my best shot there at the end,” said Larsen. “I could gain on him in the corners, but he had a rocket on the straightaways.”
Martin Truex Jr., winner of last week's race started on the pole, led the most laps (137), and finished third.
“I wish I could take that last restart back,” said Truex. “It wasn't one of my best. We ran a good race, but there at the end, I don't think we had the winning car.”
Matt Kenseth was fourth, followed by Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson.
Truex was the winner of Stage One, while Kyle Busch took Stage Two.
Kyle Busch started the race from the seventh spot, led 95 laps but wound up 12th. While he ran up front for much of the early laps, he was probably the race's biggest loser. He was hit with two pit road speeding penalties. Both of them were for entering pit road too fast, and each time he had to come back down pit road at the legal speed limit. The first occurred on lap 201, and he was able to work his way back to the front. The second one came on lap 262, and it put him back in 22nd position, too far back with 39 laps left to reach the leaders.
“It's racing,” said Busch. “What can I say? We all get in a hurry sometimes and don't realize how fast we're going. It's one of those things. I hate it for my guys, because they gave me a good car.”
Joey Logano was one of the first drivers out of the race. His No. 22 Ford had a mechanical failure, leaving him with a 37th-place finish. The poor finish dropped him to 13th in points.
Erik Jones, who will take over the No. 20 Joe Gibbs car next season was the first car out after a cut tire caused him to hit the outside wall.
The race was red-flagged for 25-minutes while speedway officials patched a hole in the asphalt track.
Top-10 leaders after 19 of 36: 1. Truex-758, 2. Larson-720, 3. Kyle Busch-650, 4. Harvick-639, 5. Hamlin-589, 6. Elliott-587, 7. McMurray-577, 8. Keselowski-564, 9. Johnson-552, 10. Bowyer-526.
Results of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race held Sat., July 15 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. Ryan Preece, 3. William Byron, 4. Kyle Larson, 5. Brad Keselowski, 6. Ben Kennedy, 7. Elliott Sadler, 8. Ty Dillon, 9. Cole Custer, 10. Brennan Poole.
Top-10 leaders after 17 of 33: 1. Sadler-620, 2. Byron-575, 3. Allgaier-530, 4. B. Poole-428, 5. Hemric-421, 6. Custer-396, 7. Tifft-387, 8. Reed-377, 9. Annett-355, 10. Armstrong-351.
SCHRADER IS BACK ON THE TRACK
During a recent interview, racing legend Ken Schrader mentioned that he'd like to run the 5th annual NASCAR Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway. Schrader has participated in the summer classic each year since its inception. Eldora is the only dirt race scheduled among NASCAR top-tier series.
Almost immediately, his phone was ringing with offers from several truck teams. A call from Jeff Bolen, owner of the No. 66 Chevrolet Silverado and Bolen Motorsports, was the ideal call. Schrader will race with crew chief Paul Clapprood making the calls from the pit box. Eldora marks the first race in which Schrader and Clapprood will work together. “When it comes to dirt and putting a driver behind the wheel with experience, you can't beat this opportunity with Schrader,” said Clapprood.
Schrader's stats at Eldora Speedway includes running all eight years of The Prelude to the Dream race in which he has five top-10 finishes; two USAC midget victories; a USAC Silver Crown victory and three UMP modified wins. Schrader also holds the track record for his 2013 Pole position in the NCWTS.
“We are thrilled to be running Eldora again this season,” Schrader said. “It is truly a classic event and I enjoy every aspect of the race - the fans' excitement, the level of competition and the fun of running at this iconic track. Driving the Bolen Motorsports Silverado will be a blast. As a track owner myself, I see and appreciate what Tony Stewart and his team have done to create such a Midsummer Classic!”
Meanwhile, Aric Almirola, the driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford , who suffered a fracture to his T5 Vertebra after a multi-car accident at Kansas Speedway in May, returned to racing this past weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The injury, which has a standard healing time of eight to 12 weeks, took eight weeks for Almirola to recover. Throughout the recovery process, Almirola did physical therapy, swam and tested in a simulation and on track environment. A test yesterday at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the final step in a multi-step process to return.
“It felt great to be back in the race car,” said Almirola. “After racing in the Cup Series for five and a half years, it got to be routine, and I took it for granted. When something gets taken away from you at a moment's notice like that, it has certainly made me appreciate my passion for racing and my desire to compete at this level. The thrill of running 200 miles per hour in a stock car was something that I had honestly lost a little bit. After being out of the car for eight weeks, the passion is back, now more than ever.”
There had been talk in recent weeks that Dodge might return to NASCAR, but last week at New Hampshire, Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said it wouldn't happen.
A return to the sport showed that it would be too complex and, more importantly, too expensive. Part of the problem would be finding a team with top-tier engine-building capability-and there just aren't many choices now that the Cup series has consolidated engine-building among a handful of teams (Or in Toyota's case, the company itself). Dodge would prefer to supply the engine specifications and have the engines built by the team, like they were at Penske. But there are minimal options.
The company still supports the National Hot Rod Association, where Dodge- and Mopar-backed teams are doing well in Funny Car and Top Fuel.
Weekend Racing: The Truck Series will have a Wednesday night race on the dirt at Eldora Speedway, while the Cup and Xfinity teams are at the 2.5-mile Brickyard in Indianapolis.
Wed., July 19; Truck Series race 11 of 23; Starting time: 9 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.
Sat., July 22; Xfinity Series race 18 of 33; Starting time: 3:30 pm ET; TV: NBCSN.
Sun., July 23; Cup Series race 20 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: NBC.
Racing Trivia Question: How many drivers will be eligible for the start of the 10-race Chase for the Championship?
Last Week's Question: Where is Matt Kenseth's hometown? Answer. It is Cambridge, Wisconsin.
Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR writer and author. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
