GLENBURN TWP. — Abington American defeated Moosic, 7-4, to win the District 17 8-10 year-old Little League baseball championship July 10 at Ackerly Fields.
Reese Zalewski had two singles and Seamus Kelly had a single and double for Abington in a game that had a 50-minute rain delay. Winning pitcher Evan Gonzalez also had a single for Abington.
Chris Graff had a double, and Jose Sosa and Mikey Schimelfenig each had a single for Moosic.
Abington American will move on to the Section 5 Tournament hosted by District 16 in Wilkes Barre.
Abington American 13
Dunmore 7
MOOSIC — Abington American faced an early deficit, but rallied to defeat Dunmore, 13-7, in the District 17 8-10 year-old Little League baseball winners’ bracket final July 7.
Abington scored one run in the top of the first inning when Evan Gonzalez, who finished with two hits and two RBIs, singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Seamus Kelly.
Dunmore answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Jamie McMynne, who had two hits, drove in two runs with a single, and Lucas Grecco and Carter Sload each knocked in a run.
Abington responded by scoring four runs in the top of the second.
Reese Zalewski, who finished with three hits, had a two-run single, and Gonzalez and Harshal Patel each added an RBI.
Abington American head coach Bill Zalewski was confident his group would be able to overcome the shaky start.
“The first time we played (Dunmore), they did the same thing,” he said. “We went down early, then we battled back and they beat us late. The guys knew that we could come back. Dunmore is a very good, well-coached team. We were just trying to stay focused and luckily our kids kept battling the whole game.”
Abington struck for eight runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Patel drove in three with a double and Kelly drove in one with a double. Raphael Thomas and Chase Durkin each had RBI singles, and two more runs scored when Nick Marturano and Gonzalez walked with the bases loaded.
“Hitting is contagious, even when they are young,” Bill Zalewski said. “When one kid starts hitting, it keeps going through the whole lineup. The first six guys have been hitting really well for us this year. Today, the bottom of the order was getting on base which is a huge plus for us.”
Dunmore pushed across a run in the bottom of the fourth when Evan Mizenko walked and scored on a single by Cody Gierulsky.
Patel, Kelly, and Matt Boyd limited Dunmore to three runs over the final five innings.
“Harshal’s been lights out for us and he battled today,” Bill Zalewski said. “Some days you don’t have your best stuff, but you battle through it and he did that. Seamus came in, Matt Boyd threw great for us, giving us 20 pitches, and we closed it out with Reese.”
