COVINGTON TWP. – Abington Heights shook off a late-season, four-game losing streak, regained its division lead and kept going right through Tuesday’s District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional baseball championship game.
The Comets jumped on top in the first inning, then added home runs by Michael Show and John Deibert on the way to a 9-1 victory over North Pocono in a battle of Lackawanna League divisional champions.
North Pocono had handed Abington Heights its most recent defeat, 6-2, May 12.
The Comets recovered to win the final three games of the regular season to take back the Division 1 lead and ultimately the championship by beating the other contenders, West Scranton twice and Valley View once.
Abington Heights (13-6) could not, however, rebuild a strong enough district playoff rating and went into the subregional seeded sixth.
The Comets responded by beating the third, second and first seeds in succession on the road.
Tuesday’s victory was the latest, handing Division 2 champion North Pocono (16-4) its only loss by more than one run this season.
Scott Gilbert and Gabe Patryka singled in runs in the top of the first and Abington Heights never trailed.
Gilbert got a strikeout to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning.
North Pocono closed to within 2-1 in the fourth but Show’s two-run homer made it 4-1 in the fifth.
Deibert capped a five-run top of the seventh with a three-run shot.
Gilbert threw a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and just two walks when Abington Heights went to District 4’s Shikellamy and won, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
Matt Show, the only player in the game with two hits, drove in the only run.
Abington Heights avenged losses in each of the last two rounds, beating Wallenpaupack, 8-5, in the semifinals.
