DUNMORE — Abington American had only practiced twice in the last month, but that didn’t stop the team from picking up a 7-2 win over Dunmore in a quarterfinal game in the county bracket of the District 17/32 City-County baseball tournament Friday, Aug. 5
The squad, sponsored by South Abington Police, scored three runs in the top of the first inning. That turned out to be all the offense they would need as three pitchers, Gavin LaCoe, Xander Davis and Garrett Pietryka, combined to limit Dunmore to two runs on three hits while striking out 13 batters.
“They’ve done a phenomenal job all year,” Abington American head coach Gray-Paul Bossi said of the trio. “They’re definitely strong pitchers with great control. They are a huge asset to have on this team.”
LaCoe started the scoring with a RBI double, driving in Pietryka, who singled to lead off the game, and Jason Thiel followed with a two-run home run over the fence in right-center field to give American a 3-0 lead.
“We wanted to get up on them early and keep the lead all the way through,” Thiel said.
Pietryka and Cole Kroptavich each drove in a run with singles in the top of the second to stretch Abington’s lead to 5-0.
“You could tell we were a little rusty, because we hadn’t played (a game) since June,” Bossi said. “A lot of guys have been playing with All-Star teams, but everybody has been coming up this year with some solid hits.”
Dunmore, sponsored by Champion Granite, recorded its first hits and runs in the bottom of the third inning. After a single from Jack Costanzi and a double from Dom Temperino, Jaden Argust drove in two runs with a double to deep center field off Davis.
Abington scored its sixth run of the game in the top of fifth when Davis walked and stole home later in the inning.
Pietryka drove in Abington’s final run in the top of the sixth with an RBI single to shallow left field.
Abington American will play at Throop at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal game.
Abington National defeated Carbondale, 6-0, in another quarterfinal game on Aug. 5 and will play at North Pocono in the semis at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
