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HAZLE TWP. — Hazleton Area didn’t have their best day at the plate on Monday, mustering just two hits against Central Bucks East in the PIAA Class 6A first round.
But with Jonas Aponick’s work on the mound, the Cougars didn’t need much offense to pick up the win.
Aponick threw a complete-game shutout with just three hits allowed, and the Cougars scratched out the game’s only run in the bottom of the seventh to beat C.B. East 1-0 in a pitchers’ duel to open up the state playoffs.
Aponick needed just 95 pitches to send the Cougars to the bottom of the seventh inning in a scoreless tie, needing just a run to win.
Logan Hearity’s groundball did the trick, as an error allowed Richie Rossi to come home from third with the game-winning run.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting in there, especially turning some 0-2 counts around,” said Hazleton Area coach Russ Canzler. “That’s the game, you have to be able to put the ball in play in high school baseball and thankfully we did it at the right time there.”
Through six and a half innings, Aponick and his C.B. East counterpart Damian Frayne traded zeroes, with only five total hits between the two teams and no runners advancing past second base.
The Patriots went to reliever Jason Abert to pitch the bottom of the seventh in a scoreless tie, and the Cougars offense saw their moment.
After a strikeout to open up the frame, pinch hitter Marcos Gil Pena went to bat in Rossi’s spot and managed to work a walk after falling behind 0-2.
Rossi went back out to run, and he managed to catch Abert’s attention. First, an errant pickoff throw allowed Rossi to go to second, and a wild pitch moved him to third, just waiting for Hearity to bring him home (with the help of C.B. East’s second error of the inning).
“I have to make sure they know I’m on base, they can’t just pitch comfortably,” Rossi said. “My bat wasn’t really here all game … I’m so happy Marcos got on, and if he got on, I was going to try and steal every base and win the game for us.”
Both teams had their chances through the first six innings, but Aponick and Frayne both stranded baserunner after baserunner, keeping things even and ensuring that the first runner to cross the plate on Monday would be sending his team to the second round of states.
Aponick, in particular, seemed to only get stronger as the game went on. The senior gave up three hits in the first two innings on a few very hard-hit balls — and then shut the Patriots down the rest of the way.
Over the final five innings, Aponick only allowed a couple of walks, no hits and had the C.B. East bats fishing multiple times after his breaking ball.
“As the game went on, I felt more comfortable,” Aponick said. “I felt I was getting stronger, just kept pounding the corner and my breaking ball kept doing its thing.”
He had some help from his defense, playing an error-free game with Rossi making the play of the day, a diving snag on a sinking liner out to center field that would have brought a run around to score for C.B. East.
The Patriots played six error-free innings, too, but miscues in the final inning came back to bite the team, ending their season.
Hazleton Area will advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals of the PIAA 6A playoffs, playing District 1 fifth seed Neshaminy (19-3). Neshaminy used a combined no-hitter to defeat District 11 champion Bethlehem Liberty 4-0.
PIAA Class 6A First Round
Hazleton Area 1, Central Bucks East 0
C.B. East`AB`R`H`BI
Moody dh`2`0`0`0
Frayne p`0`0`0
Abert p`0`0`0`0
Behm 2b`2`0`0`0
Harlan 3b`2`0`1`0
Mislan cf`2`0`0`0
Fulford ss`3`0`0`0
Mutchler c`3`0`0`0
Lynch 1b`3`0`1`0
Niro lf`3`0`1`0
Hill rf`3`0`0`0
Totals`23`0`3`0
Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI
Hearity lf`4`0`1`0
Florentino rf`2`0`1`0
Martoccio 3b`2`0`0`0
Ledger c`1`0`0`0
Schmidt cr`0`0`0`0
Higgins 2b`3`0`0`0
Marino dh`3`0`0`0
Rossi cf`2`1`0`0
Gil Pena ph`0`0`0`0
Aponick p`2`0`0`0
Racho 1b`2`0`0`0
Totals`21`1`2`0
C. Bucks East`000`000`0 – 0
Hazleton Area`000`000`1 – 1
C. Bucks East`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Frayne`6`2`0`0`4`7
Abert (L)`0.1`0`1`0`2`1
Hazleton Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Aponick (W)`7`3`0`0`3`6