Hazleton Area relief pitcher Jack Esposito celebrates the 5-1 win in the PIAA Class 6A first round over Hempfield.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Gavin Natt reacts to scoring the fourth Hazleton Area run in the sixth inning of the first round Class 6A PIAA playoff game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Freddy Corrado, the Hazleton Area starting pitcher against Hempfield in the Class 6A first round PIAA State Playoffs.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hazleton Area left fielder Nick Cunniffe gets under the ball hit by Hempfield’s Jonathan O’Maille in the sixth inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hazleton Area’s Jeudi Hidalgo passes third heading to home plate after hitting a two-run homer in the first inning against Hempfield.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
HAZLE TWP. — As dominant as he was through his first four innings of work, it may have been a shakier fifth inning that defined Freddy Corrado’s start in the opening round of the state playoffs on Monday.
With Hempfield threatening to change the complexion of the game, Corrado dug as deep as he could to stop the Black Knights in their tracks and help lead Hazleton Area through to the quarterfinals.
Corrado rounded out his five inning, 11-strikeout day by stranding the bases loaded in the fifth as Hazleton Area defeated Hempfield 5-1 in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs.
The junior, committed to Penn State, was on cruise control through the first four frames: Corrado recorded 10 of his first 12 outs by strikeout and had retired 11 Hempfield hitters in a row heading to the fifth as Hazleton Area took a 3-0 lead.
The Hempfield bats woke up in the fifth: two doubles and two walks brought home a run and loaded the bases with just one out, prompting Hazleton Area manager Russ Canzler to call timeout and talk things over with his pitcher.
“He (Corrado) gets himself in these situations, he’s been there before, he’s pitched in these types of games,” Canzler said. “He’s someone we have a ton of confidence in, he’s our horse and I’m okay keeping them on the mound in that type of situation.”
That confidence paid off: Corrado got the second out via his 11th strikeout of the day and got a soft grounder to third to strand the bases loaded and swing the energy back toward the Cougars.
“I really don’t get in my head too much, once I feel like I’m hitting a rough patch I just go back to what I’ve been coached on,” Corrado said. “I just go out there and execute and have fun.”
Just like in last week’s district championship game, it was the long ball that helped stake Corrado to an early lead.
Dom Marino had the big fly against Wilkes-Barre Area, and on Monday he served as the table-setter with a two-out base hit.
That brought up Jeudi Hidalgo, who drilled a fastball high over the left field wall off of Hempfield starter Logan Dougherty to make it 2-0 Hazleton Area.
Marino would make it 3-0 in the third inning with a double, bringing around Chris Knelly to score after Knelly had doubled the previous at-bat. He’d finish his day with three of Hazleton Area’s eight hits.
Hempfield turned to reliever Jaxsen Hulock for the fourth inning and Hulock kept the Cougars from running away.
But the Black Knights couldn’t make the most of the opportunities. An inning after leaving the bases loaded against Corrado, Hempfield got runners to second and third with one out.
Hazleton Area reliever Jack Esposito, who came on after Corrado allowed a leadoff single to start the sixth, got a called third strike to end Hempfield’s mini rally yet again.
The Cougars scratched across two critical insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Esposito pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to send Hazleton Area to the quarterfinals for a third straight year.
“It was a total team effort today,” Canzler said. “Between Freddy and Jack and the offense doing some timely hitting there, defensively we played pretty clean, that’s always going to be a pretty good recipe.”
It was the second straight year that the Cougars faced and defeated Hempfield in the opening round; Hempfield entered last year’s contest as the defending state champs in Class 6A before a Hazleton Area walk-off homer sent them home.
Hazleton Area (19-5) will play District 1 champion Pennsbury (23-2) in the Class 6A quarterfinals on Thursday at a time and site yet to be announced. Pennsbury defeated District 3 fourth seed Ephrata in the first round on Monday.
PIAA Class 6A First Round
Hazleton Area 5, Hempfield 1
Hempfield`AB`R`H`BI
Dougherty p`3`0`0`0
Katch 3b`3`0`0`0
C. Hulock ss`3`0`1`0
Eck 1b`3`0`1`0
O’Maille rf`3`0`0`0
Reihart dh`2`1`1`0
Charles c`2`0`0`0
Gebhard lf`3`0`1`1
Rishell cf`3`0`0`0
J. Hulock 2b-p`0`0`0`0
Constein cr`0`0`0`0
Totals`25`1`4`1
Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI
Hearity ss`4`0`1`1
Knelly c`3`1`1`0
Marino dh`4`1`3`1
Hidalgo 3b`2`1`1`2
Eckert 1b`2`0`1`0
Corrado p`2`0`0`0
Natt ph`0`1`0`0
Rinker cf`2`0`0`0
Serra ph`1`1`1`0
Cunniffe lf`2`0`0`0
Masias 2b`3`0`0`0
Totals`25`5`8`4
LOB — Hempfield 7, Hazleton Area 6. 2B — Gebhard, Reihart, Knelly, Marino. HR — Hidalgo. SB — Constein, Hearity, Cunniffe.
Hempfield`000`010`0 — 1
Hazleton Area`201`002`x — 5
Hempfield`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Dougherty (L)`3`4`3`3`3`4
J. Hulock`3`4`2`2`1`2
Hazleton Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Corrado (W)`5`4`1`1`3`11
Esposito`2`0`0`0`0`2
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