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WILKES-BARRE — One out away from his first varsity no-hitter, Jordan Choman looked up and saw his coach approaching the mound for a quick visit.
An egregious breach of baseball protocol? Nope. With Monday’s playoff game well in hand, Holy Redeemer boss Chris Ritsick had one eye on Choman’s pitch count and another on the Royals’ best interests for the next round.
“He came out and said, ‘Four pitches. Get this guy,’ ” Choman said. The junior was at 71 pitches, and going past 75 would make him ineligible to throw in Thursday’s district semifinals. “I went ball, strike — and then I threw that second ball, and my heart just sank. I needed the kid to swing (at the next pitch).
“Luckily he did.”
Fly ball to right. And Choman had himself a five-inning no-hitter after all in the third-seeded Royals’ 10-0 win over Lake-Lehman in the District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals.
“It was a good feeling. A great feeling,” said Choman, who had thrown a no-hitter last summer for his travel team but said he didn’t know he was working on another one until the fifth inning on Monday. “The last inning, I looked at (third baseman) Cade Flanley and said, ‘I think I have a no-hitter.’
“He goes, ‘Well you may, but I’m not gonna say anything.’ “
Ritsick didn’t have that same luxury of upholding one of the sport’s top superstitions. Had Choman not gotten the pop-up with his 75th pitch, he very likely would have gone to his bullpen in the middle of the at-bat.
“It was a very good possibility,” Ritsick said. “It’s a tough call. But it’s a five-inning no-hitter — a great achievement, but they’re all team players. He totally would have understood why. We’re only trying to do what’s best for Thursday.”
Thursday would be the semifinals against No. 2 Meyers at Gibby Field. On the line will be a berth in the state tournament as well as a trip to PNC Field for Monday’s district title game.
Though Choman wouldn’t be in line to start that game — senior Tony Molitoris is most likely to get the nod — the third-seeded Royals now have the flexibility to use Choman out of the bullpen if needed.
Against the No. 6 Black Knights, Choman faced three batters over the minimum, issuing a walk in the first and third innings with another runner reaching on an error in the fourth. He finished with three strikeouts.
“He was good,” Ritsick said. “For the most part, it seems like he has that one bad inning every game, but other than that, he’s been consistent for us all year. And he showed up today.”
Naturally, there’s a lot less pressure on a pitcher when the offense puts up two, three and four runs, respectively, in the first three innings.
Choman helped his own cause with an RBI single in the first and led the team with two hits. Up 5-0 after two, Redeemer left no doubt in the third, taking advantage of a handful of Lehman errors to bat around. Tucker Ell had the big hit in the frame, hustling for a double that brought home two runs.
Seven different Royals drew eight walks in their four innings at the plate.
“You’ve gotta throw strikes,” Knights coach Len Sincavage said. “And when you do throw strikes, you’ve gotta make the plays. And that’s what killed us. I thought we swung the bats well. We didn’t get the hits, but I thought we had some good swings on him.
“But we set the tone early. Walked two guys in the first inning, gave up two runs. And then it kind of snowballed from there.”
Meyers 5, GAR 1
Senior Ryan Gilgallon had a day to remember, tossing a three-hitter on the mound while hitting a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Mohawks a win in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Gilgallon also doubled and reached base in all four plate appearances, drawing two walks.
Colin Pasone added three hits for the No. 2 Mohawks, who split the regular-season series with semifinal opponent Holy Redeemer. The home team won both games.
Simon Peter, Ismael Lake and Noah Edwards all singled for No. 10 GAR.
CLASS 6A
Scranton 4,
Hazleton Area 1
The fourth-seeded Cougars pushed across an unearned run in the first inning but couldn’t solve Scranton’s Jack Kelly, who struck out 12 in 6.2 innings for the win in a District 2-4 subregional quarterfinal.
Alex Amentler had two of Hazleton Area’s four hits while Chris Heim added a double.
The No. 5 Knights advanced to face rival West Scranton on Thursday. Delaware Valley will travel to Williamsport in the other Class 6A semifinal.
CLASS 2A
Old Forge 5,
Northwest 4
Looking to pull off another run to a district title, the sixth-seeded Rangers scored in the top of the seventh to tie the game before the Blue Devils answered in the home half for a walk-off victory.
No. 3 Old Forge will take on Elk Lake in Thursday’s semifinals, which will also pit Blue Ridge against Holy Cross.
CLASS A
MMI Prep 15,
Lincoln Academy 2
Lance Book drove in two runs and had three of the Preppers’ 14 hits as MMI went to Allentown and won a District 2-11 subregional quarterfinal against No. 4 Lincoln Leadership Academy in five innings.
Kisan Patel and George Palermo both had two hits, including a double, to go with two RBI. Christian Yamulla drove in three runs while Marc Lobitz pitched a three-hitter for the win.
The fifth-seeded Preppers advanced to the semifinals against No. 1 Forest City. That game will also serve as the District 2 Class A championship to be played at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at PNC Field as the first game of a tripleheader.
District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals
Holy Redeemer 10, Lake-Lehman 0
Lake-Lehman`AB`R`H`BI
Sincavage 2b`1`0`0`0
Weston ss`2`0`0`0
Hadsall 3b-p`1`0`0`0
Sikora c`2`0`0`0
Wesley 1b`2`0`0`0
Magdalinski p`0`0`0`0
MJames p`0`0`0`0
JJames dh-3b`2`0`0`0
Gorski cf`2`0`0`0
Cercone rf`2`0`0`0
Sokolowski lf`1`0`0`0
Kurtz ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`16`0`0`0
Holy Redeemer`AB`R`H`BI
Ell ss`3`1`1`2
Cavanaugh 2b`3`2`1`0
Borum c`1`1`0`1
Flanley 3b`2`0`1`1
McClay cf`2`0`0`0
Choman p`3`1`2`1
Molitoris rf`3`0`0`0
Bozentka 1b`1`3`1`1
Wills lf`2`2`1`0
Totals`20`10`7`6
Lake-Lehman` `000`00`—`0
Holy Redeemer` `234`1x`—`10
2B — Ell
Lehman`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Mgdlnski (L)`1+`3`4`4`1`3
Hadsall`2.1`4`6`3`5`1
MJames`0.2`0`0`0`0`0
Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Choman (W)`5.0`0`0`0`2`3
District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals
Meyers 5, GAR 1
GAR`AB`R`H`BI
Shinal c`2`0`0`0
Peter ss`3`0`1`0
Peralta rf`2`0`0`1
Lake 3b`3`0`1`0
Marte lf`3`0`0`0
Peguero cf`0`0`0`0
Edwards dh`2`0`1`0
Yellnd p-2b-1b`3`0`0`0
Kolativa 1b-p`2`1`0`0
ODay 2b-p`3`0`0`0
Totals`23`1`3`1
Meyers`AB`R`H`BI
Pasone cf`4`0`3`1
JNargoski c`3`1`1`0
Gilgallon p`2`2`2`2
Bottger 1b`3`0`0`0
AMacko ss`4`0`1`1
Ostrowski rf`1`2`1`0
DNargoski 2b`2`0`1`0
Pugh 3b`0`0`0`0
KMacko dh`2`0`1`0
Strobel lf`3`0`1`1
Totals`24`5`11`5
GAR`001`000`0`—`1
Meyers`211`010`x`—`5
2B — Gilgallon, AMacko; HR — Gilgallon
GAR`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Yelland (L)`2.0`6`3`3`1`2
ODay`3.1`5`2`2`5`2
Kolativa`0.2`0`0`0`0`0
Meyers`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Gilgallon (W)`7.0`3`1`0`4`2
District 2-4 Class 6A quarterfinal
Scranton 4, Hazleton Area 1
Scranton`AB`R`H`BI
McAndrew ss`3`1`1`0
Cobley rf`4`1`2`0
Karp lf`3`0`1`1
Mullen 3b`4`0`0`0
Kelly p`0`0`0`0
Santorsa dh`3`1`1`0
Zanghi 2b`2`0`1`0
Montoro c`2`1`0`1
McDonald 1b`3`0`1`0
Stankowski cf`2`0`0`0
Totals`26`4`7`2
Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI
Lombardo c`0`0`0`0
Gentile c`0`0`0`0
Amentler dh`2`1`2`0
Heim lf`2`0`1`0
LReinoso rf`3`0`0`0
Klein cf`3`0`0`0
DeGaetano 3b`2`0`0`0
Pietrzyk 1b`3`0`0`0
Harry 2b`3`0`0`0
Stauffer p`2`0`0`0
Sakusky ph`1`0`0`0
Vozar ss`3`0`1`0
Totals`24`1`4`0
Scranton`011`100`1`—`4
Hazleton Area`100`000`0`—`1
2B — Santorsa, McDonald, Heim
Scranton`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Kelly (W)`6.2`4`1`0`2`12
Santorsa`0.1`0`0`0`0`0
Hazleton`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Stauffer (L)`7.0`7`4`2`3`2
District 2-11 Class A quarterfinals
MMI Prep 15, Lincoln Academy 2
MMI Prep`AB`R`H`BI
Patel cf`4`2`2`2
Young lf`3`3`2`0
Palermo ss`3`3`2`2
Smith 1b`3`2`1`2
Kassick rf`2`1`0`1
Book 3b`4`1`3`2
Lobitz p`0`0`0`0
Antolick dh`3`2`1`1
Yamulla 2b`3`1`1`3
Jordan c`4`0`2`1
Totals`29`15`14`14
Lincoln`AB`R`H`BI
Montanez 1b`3`0`1`0
Montero ss-p`1`1`0`0
Lovera p-c`1`0`1`1
Cruz 2b`3`0`1`1
Nuner c-p`2`0`0`0
Dian rf`2`0`0`0
Garcia cf`2`0`0`0
Arunjo 3b`1`1`0`0
Prisial rf`2`0`0`0
Totals`17`2`3`2
MMI Prep` `302`28`—`15
Lincoln` `002`00`—`2
2B — Patel, Palermo
MMI Prep`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Lobitz (W)`5.0`3`2`2`4`3
Lincoln`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Lovera (L)`4.0`8`7`6`5`2
Nuner`0.2`5`8`8`3`0
Montero`0.1`1`0`0`0`0
