Jamie McMynne\u2019s RBI single capped a two-run rally that sent Dunmore past the Chiefs, 2-1, in a Lackawanna League Division II baseball game at a cold and windy Schautz Stadium on Monday afternoon<\/a>.<\/p>\nMcMynne also threw out a Lakeland runner at home plate from center field for the final out of the top of the seventh inning to keep Dunmore\u2019s deficit at one.<\/p>\n
It was the veteran presence at the top of the Bucks lineup that sparked the comeback. It brought back memories of last year\u2019s District 2 Class 3A final against Riverside, when the Bucks rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the title, 4-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur top five (batters) are back from last year. They all batted in that seventh inning against Riverside,\u201d Dunmore coach Sid Hallinan said. \u201cThey have that championship DNA. They didn\u2019t blink. They knew exactly what they had to do there. I believe in that DNA. We\u2019ve been there before. Things like this become not easy, but easier, because they\u2019ve been there and seen it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin Yerka started it with a leadoff single and Nate Grochowski sacrificed him to second. Mason Stets followed with a double to left-center to score Yerka and tie the game at 1. After Evan Mizenko was intentionally walked, McMynne worked the count full before lining a single to left-center to score Stets with the winning run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was seeing it well the whole game,\u201d McMynne said. \u201cGoing into it, I had a lot of insight from my teammates. Fastball, curveball. Curveball didn\u2019t move a whole lot. Saw it a lot throughout the at-bat, got to 3-2. Saw my pitch and hit it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While McMynne\u2019s bat won the game, his defense in the top-half the seventh likely saved it.<\/p>\n
With two outs, David Naniewicz singled, then executed a perfect delayed steal of second. Jackson Pochas then lined a single to center field and Naniewicz tried to score. But McMynne unleashed a one-hop throw to the plate to catcher Mizenko in time to nail Naniewicz and keep it 1-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I had to come up firing,\u201d McMynne said. \u201cThe whole play was just come through it and throw as hard as I can and it worked out. Saw the ball coming to me, my eyes lit up and I threw hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
That play was the spark Dunmore\u2019s offense needed, Hallinan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat delayed steal was a great call to get him in scoring position. We didn\u2019t see that coming,\u201d Hallinan said. \u201cBut Jamie threw a BB to the plate. Not only did that get us out of the inning with them only with a one-run lead, but that injected life into our dugout. Almost in a weird way, if we get out on a fly ball or something, we might remain flatter. Instead, him throwing him out at the plate, the kids were going nuts. It just injected huge energy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before its comeback, Dunmore (2-1 league, 4-2 overall) scored only one run in its previous 17 innings dating back to its win over Mid Valley on March 30. Not that the Bucks didn\u2019t have their chances Monday.<\/p>\n
They put two on with two outs in the bottom of the first against Lakeland starter J.P. Malak, but Malak got a fly out to end the threat. With two outs in the bottom of the second, an error and two walks loaded the bases. But Malak induced a groundout to end that threat. In the fourth, Dunmore put runners at second and third with one out. But Malak got a fielder\u2019s choice with the runner being thrown out at the plate, then struck out the next batter to again deny the Bucks. Mizenko doubled with two outs in the fifth, but Malak stranded him by getting McMynne to ground out.<\/p>\n
Dylan Loomis relieved Malak to begin the sixth, and Jackson Cady greeted him with a leadoff triple. But Loomis got the next three batters to pop out and keep Cady at third base.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to give credit to Malak. He had us guessing,\u201d Hallinan said. \u201cHe throws that off-speed, slow curveball that we haven\u2019t seen yet. We\u2019ve seen the harder curveballs, so when he threw that softer one, our guys buckled. He threw well and they played great defense. With the wind up here today, their shortstop (Ryan McGrane) and second baseman (Mason Finegan) made three or four plays (on pop-ups). That\u2019s hard to do in high school, so all credit to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pressing at the plate. I think we\u2019re overthinking. Everybody cares and they\u2019re trying, but I think they\u2019re trying too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lakeland (2-1, 4-1) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second off McMynne, Dunmore\u2019s starter. Kody Miller led off with a single. With one out, Loomis doubled to put runners at second and third. Ty Sokoloski followed with a single to right to score courtesy runner Evan Lonzinski.<\/p>\n
That run held up for six innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cJ.P. pitched a great game for us,\u201d Lakeland coach Larry Piccini said. \u201cUnfortunately, his pitch count ran up; he ran into some trouble in the early innings and we had to pull him after five. Dylan came in and threw strikes. Dunmore just made a couple more plays than we did when they had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the loss, Lakeland showed it will be a factor in Lackawanna Division II after a couple of down seasons. With only two seniors on the roster, the Chiefs boast a talented group of juniors and sophomores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re definitely playing better baseball,\u201d Piccini said. \u201cWe expect to be competitive in every game we play. That\u2019s the standard we\u2019ve set and look to uphold this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got off to a good start. We know this week the competition was definitely going to be a step up with the gauntlet of our schedule with Dunmore, Mid Valley and Riverside back-to-back-to-back. We have to elevate and be ready to compete with these higher-level teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hallinan believes the Chiefs are a dangerous team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this team can make a run with us and Riverside and other teams in (District 2 Class) Triple-A,\u201d Hallinan said. \u201cThey\u2019re young, but they\u2019ve also got a couple older kids mixed in. Those young kids can play baseball. Lakeland\u2019s back and when Lakeland\u2019s back, we all have a problem. Those kids are so tough, strong and well-coached. They know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dunmore\u2019s Jamie McMynne prepares to pitch against Lakeland during the baseball game at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-160148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Dunmore\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-08.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Lakeland\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-04.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dunmore\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-03.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lakeland\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-02.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dunmore\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-06.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dunmore\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-01.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lakeland\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/STT-L-DUNLAKEBASEBALL-040626-05.jpg?w=620\")
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