BY CONOR FOLEY
Times-Shamrock Writer

Mountain View starting pitcher Dylan Thomas said his arm didn’t feel quite ready to go early in Monday’s game against Montrose.

But it warmed up quickly.

The Eagles’ ace held Montrose to just three hits while striking out 10 and four Mountain View batters had multiple RBI games to key an 11-1 win in six innings over the Meteors in a Lackawanna League Division IV matchup at Mountain View High School.

“Montrose is no team to mess around with,” Thomas said. “I had to take them with complete, just respect for them. Lucky we got a few runs in the beginning, and then kind of shut them down in the end.”
Thomas faced the minimum through three innings, and got a boost from his offense in the bottom of the third.

Leading, 1-0, the Eagles (10-1, 10-2 overall) sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs, with the biggest blast being a two-out, two-run double by Matt Heller.

Montrose’s Justin Hartman got one of the runs back for the Meteors (6-3, 6-5), opening the fourth inning with a home run to left center. It was the first earned run against Thomas this season, who saw his ERA jump to 0.29.

But that was all the damage Montrose mustered against the senior righty, who struck out six of the last 10 batters he faced.

He also was given plenty of run support.

Mountain View scored two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI fielder’s choice by Nate Goodenough and a run-scoring single by Colby Thomas. In the fifth, the Eagles got a two-run single by Brandon Hawm to push their lead to 10-1.

The following inning, Hawm worked a two-out, bases-loaded walk – taking a 3-2 pitch after running the count to 3-0 – to score Mountain View’s 11th run and end the game.

“I was just trying to get that win,” Hawm said. “We’re working. We’re in the groove. We just have to keep going. We can’t stop here.”

Hawm finished with three RBIs, while Goodenough, Colby Thomas and Heller each had two.

The win helps Mountain View hold on to first place in Division IV, maintaining a half-game lead over Lackawanna Trail (8-1, 10-1) which beat Elk Lake, 16-1, on Tuesday.

“Hard work is paying off at this point,” Mountain View coach Ernest Griffis said. “We’re putting in a lot of swings. We’re starting to peak at right time, I think. We’ve got a week before district playoffs, and we want to go in on a high.”

With the loss, Montrose’s chances of defending its division title (the Meteors captured the Division III crown last season) were dashed.

“If we won out we would have had a shot,” Montrose co-coach Ryan Soden said. “But Dylan pitched. He’s an amazing pitcher, amazing athlete. He was tough last year and this year he’s gotten even tougher. He just throws strikes, and he takes control out there.”

Also, last week, Mountain View took a 13-2 victory over Susquehanna on the road Saturday after it handed Lackawanna Trail its first loss of the season at home on Thursday.

The Eagles also grabbed a 14-3 victory over Blue Ridge on the road on Tuesday in a Division V matchup.
On Saturday, Chris White had two hits, including a double and four RBIs to lead the Eagles.

Matt Heller and Brandon Hawn had three hits apiece for the Eagles.

Dylan Thomas took the pitching victory with 10 strikeouts in six innings pitched. He gave up just three hits and one earned run while walking five.

Susquehanna executed a triple play in the second inning when John Ball caught a fly ball in right field, fired the ball into third base to get one runner. Brady Towner then threw the ball to second to get another runner.

Christian Miller homered for the Sabers.

Against Trail, Dylan Thomas fired a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts as the Eagles took the victory.

Owen Flannery had a double two RBIs for the Eagles while Nate Goodenough singled and scored.

On Tuesday, the Eagles came out to an early lead, scoring seven runs in the first two innings to hold a 7-2 lead going into the fifth.

The Eagles then added three runs in the fifth, two more in the sixth and a pair in the seventh to take the 14-3 win.

Colby Thomas had a triple and three RBIs and Nate Goodenough had two doubles and two RBIs to lead the Eagles.

Riley Fekette led Blue Ridge with two hits, including a double. Devin Hawk added a pair of hits and a RBI.

White took the pitching win for the Eagles giving up nine hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out five in six innings.

Hawk was the losing pitcher, dealing out four hits, six earned runs and four walks while striking out one in two innings.

Montrose

The Montrose Area baseball team took an 11-1 victory over Susquehanna at home on Thursday after the team took a 16-3 victory over Elk Lake on the road in Lackawanna League Division IV on Tuesday.

Against Susquehanna, the Meteors scored nine runs by the end of the third inning and added two more to win the game via the 10-run rule in five innings.

Matt Lewis had two hits and drove in two runs and Korey Stimmell had two doubles, scored twice and drove in a run to lead the Meteors.

Anthony Bartok had a double, an RBI and scored a run.

Nick Myers took the win giving up one hit and one walk while striking out three in four innings.

Susquehanna’s Austin Felter took the pitching loss with nine hits, nine earned runs and six walks while striking out four in three-and-two-thirds innings.

On Tuesday, The Meteors got off to a 6-0 lead after two innings, before Elk Lake would cut the lead to 6-3 with one in the second and two in the third.

However, Montrose kept plugging away, scoring four runs in the fourth and sixth more in the seventh to cap the victory.

Dale Harder had two hits for Montrose including a double, and four RBIs to lead the Meteors.

Korey Stimmell had two hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs. Nick Myers also added a pair of singles, two RBIs and scored twice.

Anthony Bartok was the winning pitcher, giving up six hits, two earned runs and three walks while striking out eight in a complete game.

Elk Lake was paced by Pete McGee with a double and two RBIs for the Warriors.

Matt Horvath, Matt Domasawicz Nick Dudock, Damian Dailey and Tyler each added a hit.

Dudock took the pitching loss, giving up seven hits, three earned runs and a pair of walks while striking out four in three innings.

Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge baseball team handed Elk Lake a 13-7 loss at home on Thursday afternoon in Division IV.
Blue Ridge got on the board first with a run in the first inning before Elk Lake would take a 4-1 lead in the fourth.

However, Blue Ridge scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth and added two in each of the fifth and sixth innings to top the Warriors.

Joey Zawiski had three hits, including two doubles, scored three runs and drove in four to lead Blue Ridge.

Devin Hawk doubled, singled, scored twice and drove in a run for the Raiders while Matt Laubach had three singles.

Riley Fekette took the pitching victory giving up 11 hits, three earned runs and a walk while striking out 10 in a complete game.

Elk Lake was paced by Nick Dudock with a pair of singles and two RBIs while Damien Dailey doubled. Ty Moon singled and drove in three runs.

Dailey took the pitching loss giving up 16 hits, eight earned runs and no walks while striking out two in four-and-a-third innings.

Forest City

The Forest City baseball team was dealt a 12-1 loss at Lackawanna Trail on Saturday after it faced a 14-1 loss to Carbondale in five innings at home on Wednesday afternoon.

On Saturday, Lackawanna Trail scored two runs in the first and three more in the third to take an early 5-0 lead.

The Foresters then scored its only run of the game in the top of the fourth before Trail added two more in the bottom of the fourth and added insurance with a five-run fifth inning.
Matt Hardman-Zimmerman led the Foresters with a single and a RBI.

Mitchell Blake took the pitching loss, giving up 12 hits and 10 earned runs in four-and-a-third innings. He struck out two.

On Wednesday, Carbondale struck first, scoring four runs in the second, three in the third and eight more in the fourth to take a 14-0 lead. Despite the Foresters’ one run in the fifth, the game was stopped via the 10-run rule.

Forest City was led by Rutledge with two hits and a run scored while Mitchell Blake added a hit.
Matt Hartman took the pitching loss, giving up three hits, five earned runs and three walks while striking out five in three innings.