Plains North catcher Blake Dunsmuir tags out Abington’s Gavin Shay in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s Section 5 Little League Major Baseball game at Dunmore Little League. Shay was trying to score from first on a double.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Plains North right fielder Ronnie Faatz makes a catch in the third inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Plains North center fielder Omar Contreras watches a home run by Abington’s Ryan Repshis fly out of the park in the fifth inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Plains North’s Jordan Yuhas celebrates scoring a run with on-deck batter Donny Stark in the fourth inning.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Jake Fisne is congratulated by his Abington teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the first inning against Plains North.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
DUNMORE — The first two batters were retired rather easily Tuesday.
Then came a barrage of hits that was too much for Plains North to overcome.
Abington carried over its offensive surge from the District 17 tournament, banging out three homers, four doubles and 13 hits in all in a 9-2 victory over Plains North in a Section 5 Little League Major Baseball game.
District 16 champion Plains North plays in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Abington plays at 7:30 p.m. in the winners bracket finals. All sectional games are being played at the Dunmore Little League. District 31 champ Back Mountain National and District 32 champ Mid Valley played in the nightcap Tuesday.
Plains North lost for the first time in the postseason.
“These kids here, they’ll come back and play the game the way they know how to play it,” Plains North manager Don Stark said. “I feel confident these guys are going to come out hungry tomorrow.”
If Abington’s hitting wasn’t enough to handle, Plains North had to deal with fireball-throwing righty Nathaniel Kayal. Kayal pitched 3.1 innings, struck out nine and allowed one hit, a single up the middle by Jordan Yuhas to start the fourth inning. Until then, Plains North put only one other ball in play — a comebacker to Kayal in the second. Plains North’s only base runner to that point was Ronnie Faatz, who was hit by a pitch in the second.
“The first pitcher was fantastic,” Stark said. “He came right at us and we didn’t answer the bell. He came down on the knees. He threw very, very well.”
Kayal’s official pitch count was 48, meaning he can throw again in Friday’s possible championship game provided Abington gets that far.
After Abington’s first two batters of the game were retired, Kayal doubled off the left-field fence. Graham Kelly was then hit by a pitch and Jack Fisne followed with a three-run homer to left-center for a 3-0 lead.
“Sometimes being the away team helps out when you can put some runs on the board,” Abington manager Chris Davis said. “And then having a horse on your shelf coming in in the next inning. Nathaniel threw a great game.”
The lead swelled to 7-0 in the third. Jack Johnson led off with a homer. Abington then used four consecutive hits — RBI doubles by Kayal and Matthew Georgia and an RBI single by Kelly — to score the other runs.
Johnson, who bats 11th in the order, had an RBI single in the fourth to increase the Abington lead to 8-0. Little League changed postseason batting rules this year and everyone on the roster is in the batting order.
Ryan Repshis led off the fifth with a solo homer for Abington’s final run.
“Everybody on this team can hit a home run,” said Davis, whose team scored 101 runs in its eight previous games. “All 12 hitters can hit home runs. I think the whole team has been hitting above .500 for the whole season.”
Plains got on the board in the fourth. Yuhas singled and scored from first on a throwing error on a bunt by Omar Contreras.
Blake Dunsmuir drove in the other Plains North run in the fifth. Reilly Hossage walked with two outs and moved to second on a single by Braedon Hollingshead. Hossage scored on Dunsmuir’s single to left.
Section 5 Major Baseball
Abington 9, Plains North 2
Abington`AB`R`H`BI
Repshis cf`3`1`1`1
Davis ss`3`0`0`0
Kayal p`3`2`2`1
Kelly c`2`2`2`1
Fisne 2b`3`1`3`3
Georgia rf`3`0`2`1
Vazquez 3b`3`0`0`0
Shay eh`2`0`0`0
Shimko 1b`3`0`0`0
Lyons lf`2`1`1`0
Johnson eh`2`1`2`2
Coslett eh`2`1`0`0
Totals`31`9`13`9
Plains North`AB`R`H`BI
Contreras cf`2`0`0`0
Stark p`2`0`0`0
Franchella ss`2`0`0`0
Faatz rf`1`0`0`0
Hossage lf`1`1`0`0
Hollingshead 1b`2`0`1`0
Dunsmuir c`2`0`1`1
Regan eh`2`0`0`0
McKeown 3b`2`0`0`0
Tarnalicki eh`1`0`0`0
Yuhas 2b`2`1`1`0
Ewis eh`2`0`0`0
Totals`21`2`3`1
Abington`304`110 — 9
Plains North`000`110 — 2
2B — Kayal 2, Georgia, Lyons. HR — Repshis, Fisne, Johnson.
Abington`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Kayal (W)`3.1`1`1`0`0`9
Lyons`1.2`2`1`1`1`3
Johnson`1.0`0`0`0`1`0
Plains North`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Stark (L)`2.2`4`4`3`0`4
Franchella`0.1`4`3`0`0`0
Hollingshead`2.1`5`2`2`1`2
Yuhas`0.2`0`0`0`0`1
