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Pittston Area strong in D2-3A baseball win over Lehman

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Tunkhannock takes Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 softball title

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Hanover Area managed to push across a run in the first inning. Once again, it was all the Hawkeyes would need.</p><p>It would be very difficult for the Hawks to top last postseason&#8217;s brilliance on the mound, using three straight shutouts to reach the district finals. But they&#8217;re on track so far after blanking GAR 2-0 in Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 2A opener at Coal Street Park.</p><p>Nothing new for Hanover Area starter Kyle Kowalski, who stretched his playoff scoreless streak to 23 innings by scattering four singles and striking out six against the Grenadiers.</p><p>&#8220;He battles even when he doesn&#8217;t have his best stuff,&#8221; Hawks coach Mike Zapotoski said. &#8220;He finds a way to not walk too many guys and pound the zone when he needs to. He made big pitches.&#8221;</p><p>That included the seventh inning when the No. 8 Grenadiers led off with an Austin Yelland single to bring the tying run to the plate. Kowalski retired the next two batters with three total pitches before getting one last strikeout to end the game and send the ninth-seeded Hawks into Tuesday&#8217;s quarterfinals against No. 1 Holy Redeemer.</p><p>In three career district tournament games, Kowalski is now 3-0 without allowing a run, giving up just 11 hits and five walks while striking out 19. In last year&#8217;s semifinals, he threw a nine-inning one-hitter against Mid Valley.</p><p>The junior said his approach doesn&#8217;t change from the regular season.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Last year, I had a great postseason,&#8221; Kowalski said. &#8220;This year, I&#8217;m bringing it again. It&#8217;s just something I look forward to every year. It&#8217;s always that competitive touch.&#8221;</p><p>Between Kowalski and fellow starter Kevin Rimmer, Hanover Area has allowed just one run in its last five postseason games &#8212; a span of 36 innings &#8212; for a microscopic 0.19 ERA. The lone loss was a 1-0 decision against Montrose in last year&#8217;s championship.</p><p>The flip side is that the bats haven&#8217;t provided much support. The Hawks have scored just seven runs in those five games.</p><p>On Friday it was one sacrifice fly from Kowalski in the first and another from John Morgan (2 for 2) in the second for the game&#8217;s only runs.</p><p>That was all they got against GAR&#8217;s Chris Kolativa, who settled down from some early control issues to pitch a complete game with five strikeouts.</p><p>Behind him, the Grenadiers defense shined. Left fielder Ben Marte threw out a runner at the plate, Gerson Peralta made a tough diving catch in right and Garry Kroll snagged a line drive out of the air at short before doubling off a runner at first.</p><p>GAR scored 14 runs against the Hawkeyes while splitting two games in the regular season but couldn&#8217;t get a runner past second base against Kowalski.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve gone toe-to-toe with them in three games this year,&#8221; GAR coach Vito Pasone said. &#8220;Which is a credit to our kids, our program and what we&#8217;ve been working toward.</p><p>&#8220;This was a well-played game. Defensively, we played a phenomenal game. We just didn&#8217;t hit. Kowalski did a great job pitching and kept our batters off-balance a little bit.&#8221;</p><p>Despite the loss, GAR turned a corner in 2016, posting its first winning record in WVC play in seven years, earning a home playoff game in front of a nice crowd.</p><p>&#8220;Our goal was to rebuild this program,&#8221; Pasone said. &#8220;And I think that we&#8217;ve done a very good job in doing that with our junior high and kids coming up through the ranks. That&#8217;s where it starts.&#8221;</p><p>As for the Hawkeyes, they now get ready for Holy Redeemer, facing the Royals in the playoffs for the third straight season. Hanover Area won both of those meetings en route to the district finals but were edged twice by the Royals in the regular season this year.</p><p>&#8220;The kids battled all year. Their attitudes are great,&#8221; Zapotoski said. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t have the greatest regular season, but the regular season just prepares you for the playoffs. We&#8217;ve got Redeemer, and we&#8217;re looking forward to it.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2 Class 2A first round</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hanover Area 2, GAR 0</strong></p><p><strong>Hanover`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Morgan cf`2`1`2`1</p><p>Clarke ss`3`0`2`0</p><p>Kowalski p`3`0`0`1</p><p>Rimmer 3b`3`0`1`0</p><p>Gately 1b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Piscotty rf`2`1`0`0</p><p>Peters c`1`0`0`0</p><p>Wasickanin lf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Flaim dh`2`0`0`0</p><p>Windt 2b`2`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`21`2`5`2</strong></p><p><strong>GAR`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Shinal c`2`0`0`0</p><p>Marte lf`3`0`1`0</p><p>Edwards 3b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Peguero cf`0`0`0`0</p><p>Erhardt dh`2`0`1`0</p><p>Kolativa p`3`0`0`0</p><p>Yelland 1b`3`0`1`0</p><p>Peralta rf`3`0`1`0</p><p>Peter 2b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Kroll ss`3`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`25`0`4`0</strong></p><p><strong>Hanover`110`000`0`&#8212;`2</strong></p><p><strong>GAR`000`000`0`&#8212;`0</strong></p><p><strong>Hanover`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Kwlski (W)`7.0`4`0`0`2`6</p><p><strong>GAR`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Koltva (L)`7.0`5`2`2`7`6</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area pitcher Kyle Kowalski pitched his third straight complete-game shutout in the postseason on Friday against GAR. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb07.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hanover Area pitcher Kyle Kowalski pitched his third straight complete-game shutout in the postseason on Friday against GAR. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb05.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR catcher Robbie Shinal (left) tags out Hanover Area&#8217;s John Morgan at the plate on a throw from Ben Marte in Friday&#8217;s district tournament game at Coal Street Park. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb05.jpg</photo1><caption1>GAR catcher Robbie Shinal (left) tags out Hanover Area&#8217;s John Morgan at the plate on a throw from Ben Marte in Friday&#8217;s district tournament game at Coal Street Park. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb08.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">GAR third baseman Noah Edwards fields a grounder in the fourth inning during Friday&#8217;s playoff game against Hanover Area. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb08.jpg</photo2><caption2>GAR third baseman Noah Edwards fields a grounder in the fourth inning during Friday&#8217;s playoff game against Hanover Area. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb06.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area third baseman Kevin Rimmer fields a grounder in the fifth inning during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 2A opener at GAR. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_garhanoverbb06.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hanover Area third baseman Kevin Rimmer fields a grounder in the fifth inning during Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 2A opener at GAR. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | 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>

Hanover Area baseball blanks GAR in District 2 opener