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MOOSIC – For the second straight year, Marcus Danchision dazzled on the mound for MMI Prep in the District 2 Class A Championship Game.
Unlike the performance in 2018, the sophomore hurler didn’t get the victory.
Old Forge’s Mario Samony laced a walk-off single scoring Matthew Smith with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning leading the Blue Devils to a 2-1 victory.
“I’m proud as heck of these guys. Everything we worked on all week, getting runners on base. We really shored up our defense this week. It was one of our better games defensively for sure. Danch was good on the mound,” MMI coach Ryan Jastremsky said. “But this is baseball and sometimes things don’t go your way. We hit the ball right at them. They find a couple holes and that’s the difference. There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s why this game is the best game on earth.”
Danchision pitched well enough to lead the Preppers to their second straight district title. But the Blue Devils eventually got to him in the last frame.
The righty changed speeds effectively getting hitters out in front of his curveball then popping a fastball. Through most of the game, when Old Forge batters made contact, it was hit weakly. Danchision allowed six hits, while fanning eight and didn’t walk any.
“I really tried to focus on making them not know what was coming,” Danchision said. “I didn’t want them to see what was coming so I kept mixing it up.”
The Preppers certainly had opportunities to score more than one run. After A.J. Jordan drove in a run with a triple in the third for a 1-0 lead, he was stranded at third. The team then had opportunities with runners in scoring position and less than two outs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, but Old Forge didn’t allow anything. The Blue Devils also turned three double plays to keep MMI from scoring in those frames.
“We didn’t Wee-Willie Keeler the ball enough today, and we hit it right at them a little too much,” said Jastremsky, referring to the famous from the Hall of Famer ‘hit them where they ain’t ‘.
“Hat’s off to (Old Forge). They’re so well-coached. The kids are hard-nosed ball players and it was a heck of a baseball game.”
MMI Prep has been one of the top Class A teams in the district over the last six years having been to the D2 final four times. There doesn’t appear to be any end to the team’s stretch of success as they will graduate just one senior from the squad this season.
“We’ll be back next year,” Danchision said.
District 2 Class A Finals
Old Forge 2, MMI Prep 1
MMI Prep`AB`R`H`BI
Jordan c`4`0`1`1
Danchison p`2`0`0`0
Kassick cf`2`0`1`0
McNulty 1b` 2`0`0`0
Castro ss`1`0`0`0
Williams 3b` 1`0`0`0
Warner rf`2`0`0`0
Yamulla 2b`0`0`0`0
Kelly dh`2`0`0`0
Frask lf`2`1`0`0
Totals`18`1`2`1
Old Forge`AB`R`H`BI
DiGregorio ss`3`0`0`0
Grochowski p `3`1`2`0
Donovan c`3`0`1`0
Marsico 3b`3`0`1`1
Jones 1b`3`0`0`0
Smith lf`3`1`1`0
DiMattia rf`2`0`0`0
Samony 2b`3`0`1`1
Krenitsky cf`2`0`0`0
Totals`25`2`6`2
3B: Jordan, Marsico.
MMI Prep`001`000`0`—`1
Old Forge`000`001`1` —`2
MMI Prep`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Danchison (L) `6+`6`2`2`0`8
Old Forge`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Grochowski (W) `5+`2`1`1`5`4
Donovan`2.0`0`0`0`2`2
