Tunkhannock freshman Michaela Howell will face a potent Valley View lineup in the District 2 Class 4A championship game.
Tony Callaio | Times Leader file photo
Pittston Area senior Elijah Barr pitched a complete game in the Patriots’ 6-2 win over Abington Heights in the District 2 Class 5A semifinals.
Tony Callaio | Times Leader file photo
What is known is three Wyoming Valley Conference baseball teams will be advancing to the PIAA state playoffs. It’s inevitable with two all-WVC matchups in District 2 championship games this week.
Plus, Class 4A baseball finalist Wyoming Area is guaranteed a spot, win or lose, vs. Mid Valley.
What is unknown is the fate of two other WVC baseball teams and two WVC softball teams. They face Lackawanna League opponents in their title games.
What is also known is it’s time to pony up some money to see the contests. Advanced tickets are available only at piaad2.org through the Hometown Ticketing link. Cost is $6 plus a $1 platform fee plus a credit card processing fee.
The latter goes down based on how many tickets are purchased at once. A single ticket checks in at $7.52, two tickets at $14.73. There is a limit of 10 tickets per purchase.
There is another option — paying $10 at the gate. This is a cash-only transaction.
All playing facilities have limited seating, so it’s a good idea to bring a chair.
Here’s a look at the games.
MMI Prep (7-13) vs. Susquehanna (6-12)
D2-A Baseball Championship
3 p.m. Tuesday, Wilkes University
MMI Prep had the easiest path to a championship game. All the Preppers needed to do was finish atop the three-team district standings. Of course, there’s a caveat. They haven’t played in nearly two weeks.
Seniors Caleb Skuba and Ben Gombeda are MMI’s top run producers.
Second-seeded Susquehanna edged Forest City 5-4 in the semifinals. It was only the Sabers’ second win since starting the season 4-1. They don’t have any player hitting over .300.
MMI has won four of the last five D2-A championships, with Susquehanna interrupting the streak in 2023.
Wyoming Seminary (13-9) vs. Elk Lake (15-7)
D2-2A Baseball Championship
4:30 p.m. Friday, University of Scranton
There will be a new champion for a third consecutive year after fourth-seeded Wyoming Seminary eliminated defending champion Holy Redeemer 6-3 in the semifinals. The Blue Knights scored five times in the top of the seventh.
Pitcher Caleb Aponick shut down the Royals with seven innings of relief work. Junior Leo Nockley, who has verbally committed to Tennessee, is batting .404 with freshmen Neiko Ravaioli (.369) and George Rolland (.366) next in line.
Second-seeded Elk Lake cruised to two playoff wins and has won five in a row. Three of the Warriors’ losses have been by one run.
Cohen Orlandini, Alden Felker and Brayden Miller were all hitting in the .400 range based on the last available stats, but there’s a noticeable dropoff from there. Miller is the ace of the pitching staff, averaging over a strikeout per inning.
Seminary has never won a district baseball title, while Elk Lake was the champion in 2023.
Wyoming Area (19-3) vs. Mid Valley (17-5)
D2-4A Baseball Championship
4:30 p.m. Friday, Wilkes University
Second-seeded Mid Valley hopes history repeats itself. The Spartans won the title last year, with their only other one coming in 1985.
Joey Romanosky (.472) and Nick Mills (.404) are the main holdovers from the title team. Brett Yanoski (.359) is third in line. Jake Bondy doesn’t hit for a lofty average, but he and Mills bring power to the batting order. Yanoski and Cooper Lukasavage have done most of the pitching. Neither strikes out batters at a high clip.
Top-seeded Wyoming Area will look to make amends from a poor showing in last year’s semifinals. The Warriors have the bats to do so in Alex Vacula (.534), Mitchell Rusinchak (.459), Zach Smith (.455), Robbie Yatsko (.429) and Jacob Snyder (.412). David Favata is a few points away from joining the .400 club.
While Ryan Nemshick had logged the most innings on the mound, it wouldn’t be surprising seeing either Snyder or Vacula start. Both have a high strikeout rate.
Wyoming Area won consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022 for the only D2 crowns in program history.
Pittston Area (19-3) vs. Dallas (16-6)
D2-5A Baseball Championship
5 p.m. Thursday, University of Scranton
Since the PIAA expanded baseball from four to six classes in 2017, no team has won three consecutive D2-5A championships. Pittston Area hopes to buck that trend.
The top-seeded Patriots certainly have the offense, defense and pitching to do so. All of the regulars in the batting order are hitting well above .300 with Joshua Barr (.480), Beau Widdick (.457), Jacoby Harnen (.436), Joe Bradley (.426) and Elijah Barr (.414).
Elijah Barr, a Pitt commit, missed some time after injuring his non-throwing wrist on a slide. He’s been lights out recently on the mound and has a 1.27 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 22 innings.
Dallas has also had an ace on the mound in Nick Bednar, who pitched in the Mountaineers’ 2-1 win over Wallenpaupack in the semifinals. He has fanned 72 in 49.2 innings.
Dallas, which won the D2-4A titles in 2023 and 2024, has some quality hitters as well in Dom Zangardi (.500), Brady Youngblood (.443), Peyton VanValkenburgh (.352) and Conor Healey (.324). All can hit for power as well.
Pittston Area won the regular-season matchups 11-1 and 4-3.
Hazleton Area (17-5) vs. Wilkes-Barre Area (13-9)
D2-6A Baseball Championship
4:30 p.m. Thursday, Wilkes University
Neither team entered districts on a high note. Top-seeded Hazleton Area had a three-game losing streak. Fourth-seeded Wilkes-Barre Area had lost five in a row.
Hazleton Area has won six consecutive D2-6A titles and is a favored after defeating WBA 7-1 and 11-2 during the regular season. Penn State recruit Fred Corrado averages over a strikeout per inning to go with his sub-2.00 ERA. The most recent batting averages have Nick Cunniffe hitting .514, Logan Herrity at .441 and Jeudi Hidalgo at .389.
WBA survived two extra-inning games to reach the title contest, including a 5-2 nine-inning triumph over top-seeded Williamsport. Nathan Fritz (.431), Jake Howe (.406) and Alex Hufford (.342) have been the top offensive threats. Fritz, a lefty, and Hufford, a righty, have handled the bulk of the pitching duties.
Hazleton Area defeated WBA 10-0 in last year’s championship game.
Lake-Lehman (19-2) vs. Mid Valley (18-3)
D2-3A Softball Championship
6 p.m. Tuesday, Wilkes University
Top-seeded Lake-Lehman has been one of the most successful programs in the WVC over recent seasons. Yet the Black Knights haven’t won a district softball championship since 1993. The reason will be in the opposite dugout. Second-seeded Mid Valley has dominated the D2-3A ranks with six consecutive championships.
Mid Valley defeated Lehman 6-4 for the 2025 crown as Mid Valley’s Ava Hazelton struck out 13 and Lehman’s Hannah Chipego fanned 11. Hazelton has struck out 195 in 123.2 innings and Chipego has struck out 224 in 111 innings.
Both will be facing potent batting orders.
Chipego leads Lehman with a .612 average followed by Julia Sholtis (.582), Kaitlyn Brudnicki (.509) and Hayley Wallace (.411). Brudnicki had six home runs and Chipego had four.
Mid Valley has power throughout as witnessed by its 18 homers. Angela Laskowski leads the Spartans with a .500 average and five home runs. Marley Morano (.491), Parker Bennett (.468) and Ariana Davey (.422) are other batters hitting over .400.
Tunkhannock (21-1) vs. Valley View (19-3)
D2-4A Softball Championship
6 p.m. Wednesday, Wilkes University
The old cliché that it’s a shame someone has to lose is true in this match of two of the premier softball programs in the state.
Tunkhannock won the D2-4A championship in 2021 and 2022 and lost by one run twice in the state championship game. Valley View has won the last three D2-4A titles and is the defending state champ.
Valley View defeated Tunkhannock 7-3 in last year’s title game. Neither had much trouble in the postseason as Valley View outscored its two opponents 28-0 and Tunkhannock outscored its two 22-2.
Addisyn Waterman (.478) leads a Tunkhannock offense that includes Kianna Hannon (.391), Lucy Karp (.388), Makenzie Bevan (.379) and Michaela Howell (.369).
Bevan has 11 home runs and Howell has five, but Howell’s biggest contribution comes in the circle. The freshman filled the most vital role in softball as she had 189 strikeouts and a 1.81 ERA in 131.1 innings pitched.
Valley View is led by Clemson recruit Abbi Call, who is hitting .673 with seven homers. She has also done most of the pitching and has 129 strikeouts and a 2.28 ERA in 79.2 innings.
Also hitting over .400 for the Cougars are Ashlyn Palickar (.409), Zoie Krupovich (.408) and Ella Swingle (.400).
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