Laurel Lakes road repair takes center stage at Rice Township Supervisors meeting

web1_softball2_faa-1-.jpg

Tigers find Hope in opener

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; The major showdown would have to wait for another day.</p><p>Not that Wednesday&#8217;s meeting of WVC baseball powers wasn&#8217;t an entertaining start to the league season. Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s battle-tested lineup earned a 10-3 win over Hazleton Area as the heroes from the Spartans&#8217; run to the state finals last year all came through.</p><p>But the much-anticipated matchup between Valley West and Cougars ace Dante Biasi won&#8217;t be happening until May. The hard-throwing lefty was dealing with a &#8220;minor tweak&#8221; and was held out for precautionary measures.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a serious thing,&#8221; Cougars coach Gino Cara said. &#8220;He could have gone today. He&#8217;s medically cleared. But we&#8217;re not going to take a chance. &#8230; We&#8217;re going to stay cautious, especially in the cold weather.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re a different team without Biasi. We know that,&#8221; Valley West coach John Milius said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a different ballgame (facing Biasi) &#8212; you&#8217;re playing for one run.&#8221;</p><p>The Spartans &#8212; who beat Hazleton Area three times last season, including in the district title game &#8212; leaned on their veterans to pick up another win in the series.</p><p>Justin Montalvo went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBI. Ryan Hogan tripled and drove in two runs. Justin Vought brought home two more on a pair of sacrifice flies. Tyler Yankosky, Dave McCue and Mike Pollick all had two hits apiece.</p><p>As it was, the Spartans had five hitters from last year&#8217;s postseason in the lineup on Wednesday. Without Biasi, the Cougars had zero.</p><p>Not that Hazleton Area doesn&#8217;t have talent. Livan Reinoso went 2 for 3. Adan Reinoso drove in two runs. Adrian Valerio had an RBI and combined with Jordi Arias and Randy Pineda to make a handful of sparkling plays in the infield.</p><p>But the Cougars struggled to put a big inning together against Yankosky, who surrendered just one run on three singles in five innings of work. The towering right-hander struck out six and didn&#8217;t issue a walk, retiring the final nine batters he faced.</p><p>Hazleton Area went with promising sophomore Scott Shamany, who worked out of a jam in the first inning with two big strikeouts against the heart of the order. But the Spartans did the most damage in the second as they drew three walks in the frame, including two with the bases loaded.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we were real disciplined at the plate,&#8221; Milius said. &#8220;The emotions were flying. You&#8217;re playing Hazleton, it&#8217;s a big rivalry. And I was so proud of our kids. They just sat back and (waited to get) something in the strike zone. It showed.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wyo. Valley West 10, Hazleton Area 3</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Klein cf`4`0`1`0</p><p>Pineda 2b`4`0`0`0</p><p>Arias ss`4`1`1`0</p><p>LReinoso rf-p`3`2`2`0</p><p>Reynoso 1b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Shamany p`0`0`0`0</p><p>Stauffer p`0`0`0`0</p><p>DReinoso dh`1`0`0`0</p><p>Perkowski rf`0`0`0`0</p><p>AReinoso c`2`0`1`2</p><p>Valerio 3b`2`0`1`1</p><p>Heim lf`2`0`0`0</p><p>Landron ph`1`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`25`3`6`3</strong></p><p><strong>Valley West`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Montalvo cf`4`2`2`3</p><p>Popson ss`2`2`1`0</p><p>Hogan rf`3`1`1`2</p><p>Vought c`2`0`0`2</p><p>Yankosky p-1b`2`1`2`0</p><p>Bayo lf`3`0`0`1</p><p>Powell p`0`0`0`0</p><p>Raitter 1b-lf`4`0`0`0</p><p>McCue 3b`3`1`2`0</p><p>Sott pr`0`1`0`0</p><p>Yuhas 2b`0`0`0`0</p><p>Pollick dh`3`1`2`0</p><p>Ruff pr`0`1`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`26`10`10`8</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`010`002`0`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>Valley West`140`122`x`&#8212;`10</strong></p><p><strong>2B</strong> &#8212; Montalvo; <strong>3B</strong> &#8212; Hogan</p><p><strong>Hazleton`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Shamany (L)`2+`5`5`5`4`2</p><p>Stauffer`3.0`3`3`2`2`2</p><p>LReinoso`1.0`2`2`2`2`1</p><p><strong>Valley West`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Yankosky (W)`5.0`3`1`1`0`6</p><p>Powell`2.0`3`2`2`1`2</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Valley West senior Justin Montalvo (left) drove in three runs and opened the scoring on Wednesday by racing home from third on a wild pitch. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Valley West senior Justin Montalvo (left) drove in three runs and opened the scoring on Wednesday by racing home from third on a wild pitch. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tyler Yankosky pitched five strong innings for the Spartans, allowing just three hits and striking out six. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tyler Yankosky pitched five strong innings for the Spartans, allowing just three hits and striking out six. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area sophomore Scott Shamany made his first varsity start on Wednesday against Valley West. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area sophomore Scott Shamany made his first varsity start on Wednesday against Valley West. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area first baseman Jose Reynoso (29) dives for a ball as Valley West&#8217;s David McCue returns to the bag. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_WVW-Hazleton-BBB-4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hazleton Area first baseman Jose Reynoso (29) dives for a ball as Valley West&#8217;s David McCue returns to the bag. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WVC baseball: Wyoming Valley West takes down Hazleton Area in opener