Wyoming Seminary’s Alex Weinberger bats during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Elk Lake’s Brayden Miller pitches during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Wyoming Seminary’s Ryan Finlay slides into third during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Wyoming Seminary’s Caleb Aponick celebrates with his teammates during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Wyoming Seminary’s George Rolland heads toward third during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Elk Lake’s Cohen Orlandini bats during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Elk Lake players celebrate during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Wyoming Seminary’s Alex Weinberger bats during the District 2 Class 2A baseball championship game Friday at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. REBECCA PARTICKA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SCRANTON — Baseball has been played at Wyoming Seminary since 1866 — the first official Major League Baseball game hadn’t been played yet — and this group of Blue Knights accomplished something no one in the program had before them: winning a district title.
It definitely won’t go down as the prettiest baseball game ever played, as No. 4 Wyoming Seminary took advantage of 21 walks, four errors and two hit batters to top No. 2 Elk Lake, 21-4, in the District 2 Class 2A championship game Friday afternoon at the University of Scranton’s Volpe Field. Wyoming Seminary advances to play District 11 champion Marian Catholic in the PIAA Class 2A first round Monday at 4 p.m. at Marian Catholic.
The Blue Knights scored in every inning but one, including five in the first inning on only one hit and nine in the seventh — also on one hit. Its 21 runs came on seven hits.
“Our gameplan right from the beginning was to take pitches and work the count and the kids did that tremendously,” Wyoming Seminary coach Kevin Miller said. “I always tell the kids to grind, that’s our process. We only have 11 kids on our roster and they’re all tough. To get the first district title for Sem, I’m proud of that and all these kids are super proud of that, as well.”
The Blue Knights didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard in the first. George Rolland led off the game with a four-pitch walk, and Tennessee commit Leo Nockley hammered a pitch into the right-center field gap that turned into an inside-the-park home run and a 2-0 lead. It was the only time Nockley swung the bat, as he walked in his five other plate appearances — four of them intentional free passes.
“Setting the tone is always big for me and that was a great way to start it,” Nockley said. “Those walks matter a lot. We were able to get a lot of runs across the scoreboard, and that’s what matters. Whenever I get on base, I trust the middle of the lineup to drive me in and that’s what they did.”
After Nockley’s home run, four walks and a throwing error allowed three more runs to score and give the Blue Knights a 5-0 lead.
Elk Lake responded in the bottom of the first when two walks and an error allowed Stephen Newhart to rip an RBI single to left and cut the deficit to 5-2.
After that, Blue Knights starting pitcher Caleb Aponick settled down, allowing only two unearned runs after the first inning and giving Sem six solid innings with seven strikeouts.
“I just had to calm myself down,” Aponick said. “My offense took a lot of pressure off me, so I just started pitching. In the fourth and fifth innings, I got a second wind and started throwing a little better and it was fun out there. There’s so much history in sports at this school, so to be able to get the first baseball title here is a huge deal for us.”
Wyoming Seminary kept adding on, scoring one in the second, one in the fourth, three in the fifth — including two on an RBI double by Nico Ravaioli — two in the sixth on a Ryan Finlay RBI single and a nine-run seventh inning when the Blue Knights had 17 at-bats, drew nine walks and had two hit batters.
“Our pitchers had a tough day today, we made a couple of mistakes in big spots, but overall I think our season was a success and we overachieved a little bit,” Elk Lake coach Tony Rezykowski said. “I told the guys that getting to this game is very difficult and winning it is even harder. The seniors on this team were able to get here three out of four years, and I told the young guys if they want to get this bad taste out of their mouths, they have to work harder.”
Finlay came on in relief of Aponick in the bottom of the seventh to pitch a 1-2-3 inning and send off a wild celebration knowing this group of 11 Blue Knights made history.
“Today was the first time a lot of these guys were in a championship setting so the nerves were there, but they all settled down,” Miller said. “We’re a small team and these kids show a lot of resiliency. They bought in to everything the staff has been teaching them, and this is a fantastic step forward for the future of Sem baseball.”
“We’ve been underdogs all year long,” Nockley said. “Everyone on this team is used to facing adversity, it brings us closer together. We can’t wait to get ready to play in the state tournament here in a couple days.”