Abington Heights’ Greyson Locker pitches during the baseball game against Scranton at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Cody Brown gets Scranton’s Adrian Hernandez out a second on a stolen base attempt during the baseball game at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Noah Kayal bats during the baseball game against Scranton at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Johnny Montoro bats during the baseball game at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Adrian Hernandez throws the ball to first base during the baseball game at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Cody Brown bats during the baseball game against Scranton at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton third baseman Erick Guerrero throws the ball to first during the baseball game at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Adrian Hernandez waits for the ball as Abington Heights’ Evan Gonzalez slides safely into second with a stolen base during the baseball game at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Abington Heights’ Greyson Locker pitches during the baseball game against Scranton at Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — When locked in a pitchers’ duel, it is especially important to do the little things.
Abington Heights did just that and capitalized on several Scranton mistakes to earn a 2-0 victory in a key Lackawanna League Division I baseball game on a sunny, windy Thursday afternoon at Abington Heights High School.
“You’re doing whatever you can to scrape a run across,” Abington Heights coach Bill Zalewski said. “You’re waiting for them to make a mistake and they did at the end and we took advantage of that. You’re trying to get guys in scoring position, so bunting guys over and giving guys a swing at driving a run in. We just happened to do it a couple times today.”
Sophomore Greyson Locker outdueled Scranton senior Johnny Montoro on the mound as the Comets (9-4 overall, 6-2 league) won their fifth straight and remain tied for first place in the tight Division I race with Wallenpaupack, which defeated West Scranton on Thursday, 6-4.
“This was a huge win. We knew we had to come in with a huge impact in this game,” Locker said. “We’ve just got to keep winning.”
Locker tossed a complete-game five-hitter with three walks and six strikeouts. He threw 84 pitches, 52 for strikes. He said his most effective pitch was his slider and he used it particularly when he had two strikes on the batter. Four of his six strikeouts were looking.
“I just went out there to try to keep the runs low, step up, do my job and give my team a chance to win,” Locker said.
“My slider was working really well. It kept them off-balance and got a lot of ground balls. A lot of two-strike counts, I’d throw the slider to keep them off-balance. That’s a confident pitch I have and I’m going to continue to be confident with it.”
After going down in order in the top of the first, Scranton put runners at the corners in the top of the second with two outs. But Locker got out of the inning with a fly out. He retired the Knights in order in the third, then worked around a two-out single in the fourth.
To open the Scranton fifth, Locker issued a leadoff walk. But he got the next batter to line out to Finn Goldberg in right, who threw to first base to double off the runner.
In the top of the sixth, Adrian Hernandez reached on an error, but was caught stealing on a great throw by Comets catcher Cooper Cottell. Brady Donahue followed with a walk and Connor Thomas singled. But Locker bore down and got the next two batters on a flyout and a strikeout to squelch that threat.
“A lot of credit to my catcher. He’s a great guy back there, got a great arm, keeps guys off the bases,” Locker said. “And I’ve got to give credit to my defense. They did a hell of a job going to get every ball, making all the plays they can.”
Montoro, meanwhile, was just as good as Locker. He went six innings and allowed just two hits, two runs (one earned), two walks and one strikeout. He threw 65 pitchers, 40 for strikes.
“He (Montoro) kept us off-balance, chasing pitches, hitting his spots and threw well,” Zalewski said. “Greyson has been throwing great for us all year. For only being a sophomore, I’m watching him blossom right in front of my eyes, which is a great thing. He just keeps getting stronger and stronger each time out. He’s learned a lot, he’s focused a lot more and he’s becoming one of the veterans right in front of us.”
One of the hits Montoro allowed was a single to Evan Gonzalez leading off the bottom of the second. Gonzalez stole second and, after Goldberg walked, Noah Kayal sacrificed them to third and second, respectively. Cottell then scored Gonzalez with a groundout.
Cottell led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and courtesy runner Liam Moran advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a fly out. But Montoro left him there by getting an inning-ending groundout.
“John’s such a smart baseball player who understands his assignment when he gets the ball,” Scranton coach Jamie Higgins said. “He’s not going to mow guys down, but he’s going to keep them off-balance and I thought he did a fantastic job. Abington, one through nine, is a good lineup. There’s a lot of guys that can hurt you. I thought he pitched fantastic. That’s what he gives us every time out. He was the right guy to have the ball today.”
Three two-out errors by Scranton in the bottom of the sixth allowed Abington Heights to tack on an insurance run. Gonzalez reached on an error, stole second, went to third when the throw went into center field and scored when a ball hit by Goldberg was mishandled for an error.
Still, the Knights threatened in the top of the seventh. Drew Leonori and Erick Guerrero led off with consecutive singles. Montoro then attempted to put down a sacrifice bunt, but had the ball hit when he was out of the batter’s box for an out.
Then, miscommunication on the basepaths led to both runners being tagged out for a game-ending double play.
“He (Locker) kept us off-balance. I thought we could have been a little more aggressive early in counts and we weren’t for whatever reason,” Higgins said. “It’s something that we preach, especially when you get down in the order, be aggressive. We had guys on base at a time to be aggressive and we weren’t. That’s the difference. You win games when you hit with guys on base. We certainly had our opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize. But that’s baseball.”