The Pittston Area golf team captured the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A team championship with a 327-338 win over Dallas on Monday.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
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EXETER — Solid, consistent, balanced golf. It’s gotten Pittston Area through some tight matches this year, and now it’s brought the Patriots home a conference title.
The Patriots’ top four scorers all finished between scores of 81-83, holding off Dallas to win the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A team championship by a 327-338 final score.
Pittston Area didn’t have the best individual round of the day on their card — that belonged to Dallas’s Ryan Roman, who fired off a 78.
But the Mountaineers couldn’t match Pittston Area’s consistency, with two qualifying scores in the 90s pushing Dallas out of contention.
“We grinded all day long, and put together a very respectable score that held up against a very good Dallas team,” said Pittston Area head coach Jason Miller.
After conquering Crestwood in the conference semis on Wednesday, Pittston Area set their sights on Dallas in a rematch of a regular-season matchup that came down to just a single stroke.
The Patriots were victorious then, and they picked up another win on Friday with the conference crown on the line.
Patrick Ruane and Andrew Nocito shot matching 81s to lead Pittston Area.
Ruane has been at the front of the Pittston Area lineup all year, and carded a big round to pace the Patriots and get his team where they needed to be.
“One good thing about our team is our depth,” Ruane said. “We know we have the guys behind us that could put up good numbers.”
As good as Ruane and Nocito’s scores were, it was arguably the work of their third and fourth qualifiers that sealed the deal for Pittston Area.
Noah Gruber shot an 82 and Chris Scavo added an 83 for the Patriots. Those two scores were 13 shots better than the third and fourth-best Dallas scores, putting the Patriots in the driver’s seat.
Gruber, who was referred to by Miller as the team’s “anchor,” had the single best nine-hole score for Pittston Area. After a 43 on the front nine, Gruber completed the back nine with a 39 to put himself right in the thick of things.
“Last year I was shooting 50s, I’ve been working a lot every day,” Gruber said. “It’s nice to get some recognition and finally see the results I’ve been looking for.”
After Roman’s match-leading 78, Charlie Letwinsky finished second for Dallas with an 82. He shared the nine-hole lead with Roman at the turn, both shooting 39 on the front nine.
Peyton VanValkenburgh shot an 87, and Logan Moser rounded out the qualifying scorers for the Mountaineers with a 91.
Pittston Area will advance to the District 2 Class 3A team championship, set for Oct. 4 with a 9 a.m. start at Fox Hill Country Club against a Lackawanna Conference opponent yet to be determined.
WVC Class 3A Team Golf Championship
Pittston Area 327, Dallas 338
Best four scores qualify*
Pittston Area
Patrick Ruane 40-41-81
Andrew Nocito 40-41-81
Noah Gruber 43-39-82
Chris Scavo 41-42-83
Ryan Noone 42-48-90
Nick Cook 45-46-91
Dallas
Ryan Roman 39-39-78
Charlie Letwinsky 39-43-82
Peyton VanValkenburgh 45-42-87
Logan Moser 46-45-91
Connor Hivish 45-49-94
Brady Youngblood 47-54-101