Little League: Hanover Area defeats East Scranton for Section 5 Senior Baseball title

Hanover banged out 19 hits as it defeated East Scranton 13-7 Saturday morning to capture the Section 5 Little League Senior Baseball championship.

District 16 champion Hanover will head to the state tournament for a second consecutive year. It will open play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against the Section 6 champion at the Dubois Little League’s Showers Field.

Justin Richards led the Hanover offense with four hits, including three doubles, and five RBI. Nate Jaslar had three hits and three RBI. Todd Kolbicka had two hits and two RBI. Aiden Geisinger and Tristan Davies each had a hit and an RBI.

Hanover Area’s Gavin Isopi pitched six innings. He struck out eight, surrendered five hits and allowed two earned runs.

Josh Kilvitus was 2-for-2 with two RBI for East Scranton.

Title games postponed

Saturday’s District 16 and District 31 8-10 Baseball and 10-11 Baseball championship games were postponed due to weather concerns. The games will be played Sunday.

At West Pittston Little League, Greater Wyoming Area plays Back Mountain National at 1 p.m. for the District 31 8-10 championship and at 3 p.m. for the District 31 10-11 championship.

At Pittston City Little League, Township plays Greater Pittston Area at 5:30 p.m. for the District 16 8-10 championship and Township plays Mountain Top at 7:30 p.m. for the District 16 10-11 championship.

All the winners advance to the Section 5 playoffs, which will be held in the Scranton area.

Little League on WQMY

WQMY will televise the District 31 and District 16 Little League Major Baseball championship games Monday live from the Duryea Little League.

The broadcast starts at 5:30 p.m. with the D31 game between Swoyersville and Back Mountain National beginning at 5:45 p.m. Township will play Greater Pittston Area at 7:45 p.m. for the D16 championship.

SENIOR LEGION

Hazleton 4, Back Mountain 1

Johnathan Pozniak went the distance, tossing a three-hitter with four strikeouts and no earned runs to lead Stripes & Strikes Post 76. He also added two hits at the plate.

Darren Kerdesky struck out six in six innings of work for Back Mountain.

Stripes & Strikes also won the nightcap due to a mid-game forfeit.

It was calm before the storm, as volunteers with West Pittston Little League prepare to cover the infield with tarps on Saturday after both district championship baseball games were postponed due to storms in the region. They are scheduled to play on Sunday at West Pittston, weather permitting.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_GamesRainedOut1-1.jpg.optimal.jpgIt was calm before the storm, as volunteers with West Pittston Little League prepare to cover the infield with tarps on Saturday after both district championship baseball games were postponed due to storms in the region. They are scheduled to play on Sunday at West Pittston, weather permitting. Butch Comegys | For Times Leader

It was calm before the storm, as a volunteer with West Pittston Little League drags a tarp to cover a section of the infield on Saturday after both games were cancelled due to storms in the region.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_GamesRainedOut2-1.jpg.optimal.jpgIt was calm before the storm, as a volunteer with West Pittston Little League drags a tarp to cover a section of the infield on Saturday after both games were cancelled due to storms in the region. Butch Comegys | For Times Leader

Hanover holds its Section 5 Little League Senior Baseball championship banner after defeating East Scranton for the title on Saturday morning.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_hANOVER-1.jpg.optimal.jpgHanover holds its Section 5 Little League Senior Baseball championship banner after defeating East Scranton for the title on Saturday morning. Submitted photo