Crestwood volleyball avenged a pair of losses to Holy Redeemer to win the District 2 Class 2A championship. Now both teams are headed to states with the Comets hosting Masterman on Tuesday and the Royals traveling to Brandywine Heights on Wednesday.
Mark Moran file photo | For Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary’s Ryan Finlay slides into home for one of the Blue Knights’ 21 runs in Friday’s District 2 Class 2A title win over Elk Lake. Sem faces Marian Catholic in Monday’s state tournament opener.
Buck Norton-Jennings file photo | For Times Leader
For eight Wyoming Valley Conference teams, the first step on the big stage comes this week. And half of them won’t need to leave their home venues.
First-round games in the PIAA tournament across multiple sports begin Monday. Five baseball teams — Hazleton Area, MMI Prep, Pittston Area, Wyoming Area and Wyoming Seminary — are joined by Crestwood and Holy Redeemer boys volleyball and Crestwood girls lacrosse in preparing for states.
All five baseball teams will play Monday, followed by the Crestwood squads on Tuesday and Royals volleyball on Wednesday. Baseball winners advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, while the volleyball and lacrosse quarters are set for Saturday. State semifinals and championships will be the following week.
BASEBALL
• Hazleton Area (18-4) is coming off its eighth straight District 2/4 Class 6A championship, taking down a Wilkes-Barre Area squad that had won a pair of extra-inning affairs to reach the finals.
The Cougars will get to host Monday’s opener against Hempfield at 4:30 p.m. in a rematch of a memorable PIAA opener from last June. Hempfield entered that game as the reigning state champion and led 1-0 after five innings before the Cougars tied it and then won 4-1 on a walk-off three-run blast.
Hempfield is the No. 3 seed out of District 3, going 19-3 on the season.
• In Class 5A, Pittston Area rides the momentum of scoring seven unanswered runs to rally past Dallas for the District 2 championship last week.
The reward for the Patriots is a home game at 4:30 p.m. Monday against District 3 runner-up Lower Dauphin. Both teams enter the game at 20-3 on the season.
Pittston Area is looking to break through after having an undefeated run end in the first round of states a year ago against Palmyra.
• Wyoming Area’s Class 4A opener won’t be taking place across the river, as the Warriors enter as the District 2 runner-up and will have to hit the road. They will be heading out to face D4 champion Montoursville at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Lycoming Valley Intermediate School.
Uncharacteristic errors doomed the Warriors’ district title hopes in a 6-2 loss to Mid Valley, which managed just one hit but took advantage of six miscues.
Regardless, this decade has been the best in program history for Wyoming Area, as another trip to states comes on the heels of district crowns in 2021 and 2022.
• Wyoming Seminary celebrated its first district championship last week, capping off an impressive run through the Class 2A playoffs.
The title didn’t mean a home game for the Blue Knights, but they won’t have to travel too far, heading south to Tamaqua to play District 11 champion Marian Catholic at 4 p.m. on Monday.
Sem had to win three games in districts to reach this point, knocking off Old Forge before upsetting top seed Holy Redeemer and No. 2 Elk Lake. The bats came alive, racking up 37 runs in those games, including a whopping 21 in the title game.
• MMI Prep has become a staple in the Class A state tournament after winning the District 2 crown for a third straight year.
The Preppers will be at their home field in Freeland and hosting District 3 runner-up Fairfield at 4 p.m. Monday. Both teams were under .500 in the regular season, a consequence of playing in divisions against predominantly larger schools. Those tough schedules, however, help prepare them for the postseason.
MMI beat Susquehanna 5-4 in its lone playoff game thus far and will be looking to return to the state quarters for the third straight season.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Crestwood and Holy Redeemer staged an epic series of three matches in the past few weeks. Fittingly, both will get to continue their seasons in the PIAA Class 2A tournament.
The Royals triumphed in the regular season and won the Wyoming Valley Conference title, but the Comets prevailed in the District 2 championship against the perennial powerhouse.
As such, Crestwood will get to stay at home on Tuesday, hosting District 12 third seed Masterman at 6 p.m.
Holy Redeemer’s opening match was pushed back a day to Wednesday. The Royals will have to travel down to Berks County to face host Brandywine Heights at 6 p.m.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Crestwood has been one of the most successful and consistent programs in the area, and this year has been no different for the Comets.
Though they were edged out for the District 2 Class 2A title by another strong squad in Abington Heights, the season continues on.
Crestwood hits the road on Tuesday to take on District 3 champion Danville at 3 p.m.
ELSEWHERE
In other District 2 action on Monday, Dunmore baseball will host Warrior Run at 4:30 p.m. at Marywood. The Class 3A champion Bucks had to win the longest playoff game in PIAA history to get there, beating Lake-Lehman in 19 innings just to reach the district final.
Mid Valley baseball hosts East Pennsboro at 4:30 p.m. Monday in Class 4A.
The Lackawanna League blanked the WVC in the District 2 softball brackets, including two highly competitive games in 4A and 3A as Valley View and Mid Valley edged Tunkhannock and Lake-Lehman, respectively. Any of those four teams appeared poised to make a deep run into the states.
As it is, Valley View will host Northern Lebanon at 4 p.m. Monday and Mid Valley hosts Warrior Run at 4:30 p.m.
Also in softball on Monday, Abington Heights hosts Upper Moreland in a Class 5A opener at 4:30 p.m. Two more Lackawanna teams will be on the road with Holy Cross heading to Montgomery at 4 p.m. and Montrose taking on a former D2 member in Northwest — the champion in District 4 this season — at 5 p.m. at Central Columbia.