RICE TWP. – The mighty wind coming from the Hazleton Area dugout was more of a collective exhale than anything.
After Berwick and Wyoming Valley West put up crooked numbers against the Cougars in the first inning of their previous two games, they faced a potentially similar situation against Crestwood at the Ameircan Legion Mountain Post 781 field on Friday.
Trailing 2-0, the Comets loaded the bases against Hazleton Area starter Jack Esposito with one out in the bottom of the first on an error, Connor Wagaman’s single and a walk. However, Esposito retired Bobby Reed on a foul popup on a full-count pitch and then got Avery Brace to fly out to right field on the very next pitch to escape the jam.
Instead of having to battle from behind like they successfully did against the Bulldogs and Spartans, the Cougars never trailed against Crestwood. They went on to score four runs in the second inning and added another four in the fourth to cruise to a 10-1 victory.
“It’s great pitching with a lead,” said Esposito, who teamed with LD Ventra and Leo Severino on a three-hitter. “You just could go out there and do your own thing and not worry about putting base runners on and giving up some runs. Obviously, it’s in the back of your mind and you worry about that a little bit, but it’s pretty simple most of the time. You can go out there and throw your game. You throw strikes, get ahead in counts and get outs.”
Especially when the other team is threatening.
“This game teeter-tottered in that first inning,” Crestwood head coach Sean Foley said. “If we had answered their (two) runs, it would have been 2-2, and now the game is a little bit different. Everyone in here would have had a different attitude and a different mindset. It didn’t happen, but you still can’t give in – you can’t quit.”
Hazleton Area scored all the runs that Esposito and his mound buddies needed in the top of the first without a base hit. In fact, the Cougars finished with only four hits all game.
Logan Hearity led off with a four-pitch walk, stole second and third on consecutive pitches, stayed put on a hit batsman and another walk and came home when an Avery Brace pitch plunked Mason Rinker. Jeudi Hidalgo followed with a sacrifice fly make it 2-0.
After Esposito survived his high wire act in the home first, Chris Peters was hit by a pitch starting the second inning, swiped second for one of the Cougars’ 11 successful stolen bases on the afternoon, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Hearity’s solid single to right.
Hustling all the way around the bases, Hearity sped to second when his hit was bobbled in the outfield. And when an errant pickoff attempt skipped into centerfield, Hearity didn’t stop at third. He raced home with his team’s fourth run.
Following two more Crestwood errors, Hidalgo delivered a two-run single to extend the Cougars’ lead to 6-0.
“Our situational hitting was good and so (was) our being in good offensive counts. We didn’t chase a lot of bad pitches, which hurt us against Valley West,” Hazleton Area head coach Russ Canzler said. “I also thought our base running was good. We swiped a lot of bags and we took extra bases when we needed to (take) them.”
Esposito set the Comets (3-5-1, 2-3) down in order in the second and shook off Jack Rodgers’ leadoff single and a Cougar errors in the third, thanks mainly to catcher Chris Knelly cutting down Rodgers on an attempted stolen base.
“Jack, LD and Leo all did a fantastic job on the mound,” Canzler said. “They commanded the strike zone and they commanded their off-speed stuff for strikes. That’s what we haven’t been doing consistently, and it’s been hurting us a little bit. …I’m just proud of the way all three of them battled. Them getting us off the field also helps our offense because when you’re standing out in the field for those long innings, you’re handcuffed.”
Hazleton Area tacked on its final four runs in the fourth on only one hit. Knelly and Mason Eckert each walked and eventually pulled off a double steal; Dom Marino’s infield single plated Knelly; an error off Hidalgo’s bat brought in both Eckert and Marino and Ventra drilled a sacrifice fly for a 10-0 lead for the visitors.
“Unfortunately, we were walking too many people in the beginning of the game and then our gloves went a little sideways in that third inning,” Foley said. “Hazleton’s such a well-coached team that they’re going to take extra bases and make you pay for those all the time. That puts too much stress on our pitchers and on our defense. Before you know it, you’re down by a bunch.”
Canzler called on Ventra to pitch the next two innings. The junior worked around two errors in the fourth, and getting an assist from Mason Rinker’s diving catch for the inning-ender.
The Comets finally broke through with an unearned run one inning later. Rodgers reached second on a throwing error, stole third and came home on a wild pitch, but Ventra kept them at bay.
On in relief in the sixth, Severino ran into two-out trouble, but he emerged unscathed after getting Rodgers to fly out. Severino then pitched a 1-2-3 seven to seal the Cougars’ fourth straight win, but only the second in which they’ve led from start to finish.
“It’s an emotional thing being able to settle into a game,” Caznler said. “We try to talk to to these guys about focusing on the little things and the big things will care of themselves. Sometimes you want to make that great first impression and have that big first inning. You try to do too much and it comes back to bite you a little bit. It’s all part of the learning process with these guys.”
With the win, the Cougars improved to 6-1 overall, 3-1 in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1. They are locked in four-way tie with Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area and Valley West for the division lead.
“We’ve played great at times and we haven’t played great (at times),” Canzler said. “But we’re finding ways to win games when we’re not playing well. That’s always a good sign for me.”
Outside the Crestwood dugout, Foley was trying to find signs that his Comets can snap out of a mini-funk that has now stretched to three games.
“I’m proud of our guys. They didn’t quit. They kept plugging,” he said. “We put a lot of guys into the game, guys who haven’t gotten much action. … So there were some goof things from a team perspective. But, again, you can’t give a team like Hazleton extra outs (and) extra at-bats. That’s not a good elixir to beat them.”
Particularly when the Cougars are playing with a lead.
Hazleton Area will play at Dallas on Tuesday. Crestwood visits Wyoming Valley West on Thursday.