Hazleton Area’s Mike Joseph hopes to keep boys basketball position

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H.S. Softball: Berwick falls to Abington Heights, 10-1

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; The plan was to turn the heat against Williamsport&#8217;s fireballer.</p><p>If Wyoming Valley West couldn&#8217;t find a way to get a good piece of Evan Steele&#8217;s fastball, the Spartans were going to make him throw it over and over again. And again. And again.</p><p>On perhaps the hottest, most humid day of the spring, it made a difference.</p><p>Valley West only managed two hits against the Williamsport ace in Wednesday&#8217;s District 2-4 Class 4A semifinals. But the team drew seven walks against him in four-plus innings, running up his pitch count and knocking him out of the game early in a 6-3 victory at Spartan Stadium.</p><p>The win put Valley West in the district finals for the seventh time in the last 10 years, where they will face off against No. 1 Delaware Valley on Monday at PNC Field. The Warriors outlasted West Scranton 6-5 in eight innings in the other 4A semifinal.</p><p>In all, the second-seeded Spartans drew nine walks against three Millionaires pitchers and brought home their first five runs without a hit &#8212; four sac flies and a bases-loaded walk. Valley West finished the game with six runs on four hits.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we had to be patient,&#8221; Spartans coach John Milius said. &#8220;I was preaching all week about it. And the kids answered the bell. They took a lot of pitches, we ran the count and before you know it, it was the fourth inning and he was over 100 pitches.&#8221;</p><p>Valley West&#8217;s Tyler Yankosky, meanwhile, went the distance on an economical 88 pitches, striking out five with just one walk in seven innings.</p><p>&#8220;I struggled early, I didn&#8217;t feel well early,&#8221; said Yankosky, who also had to shake off a comebacker that caught him in the wrist. &#8220;But once we got the lead and got a little bit of adrenaline going, I felt great. Felt back to my normal self.&#8221;</p><p>Yankosky and Steele will get to face off at the next level as well, as both hard-throwing right-handers are heading to PSAC East rivals Millersville and East Stroudsburg, respectively.</p><p>Steele worked his way out of a jam in the third inning, striking out two in the heart of the order to leave the bases loaded with the score tied 1-1. The District 4 Millionaires seemed to feed off of that, taking a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth, threatening to end Valley West&#8217;s postseason run early.</p><p>&#8220;They were getting frustrated,&#8221; Milius said of his players. &#8220;They were striking out. They were popping up. &#8230; We had to get (Steele&#8217;s) pitch count up. We had to turn him around, get him struggling because this heat and humidity was working against him, too.&#8221;</p><p>It came together in the bottom of the fourth.</p><p>Dominick Bayo reached on an error before Mike Pollick and Dave McCue drew walks against the tiring Steele. After an out, Justin Montalvo drew his third straight walk to bring home one run and Rich Sott tied it back up on a fly ball to center.</p><p>Steele kept it at 3-3 with an inning-ending strikeout, but the damage was done. The Spartans forced him to throw 35 pitches in the frame, putting him over 100 for the game. He pitched to just one more batter in the fifth, issuing another walk.</p><p>&#8220;The kid had a lot of guts,&#8221; Milius said. &#8220;He hung in there.&#8221;</p><p>Having gotten to Port&#8217;s bullpen, Bayo put the Spartans ahead for good with another sac fly and Eric Raitter added one of his own to make it 5-3. Ryan Hogan (two RBI) had Valley West&#8217;s best struck ball of the day, slamming a run-scoring double in the sixth for some insurance.</p><p>Hogan was also involved in two more key defensive plays at shortstop. After helping turn two double plays in Monday&#8217;s quarterfinal win over Scranton, he twice teamed up with second baseman Mark Popson with the game on the line.</p><p>The senior St. John&#8217;s recruit made a tough stop and flip to Popson at second for the final out of the fourth, keeping the Spartans within two runs. Then with the game tied in the fifth, he made the relay to first for a very close 4-6-3 double play, erasing a leadoff single.</p><p>Yankosky didn&#8217;t allow a baserunner from there, setting down he final eight batters he faced to give this group a shot at back-to-back district titles.</p><p>&#8220;Super proud of these kids the way they came back,&#8221; Milius said. &#8220;It feels great.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 2-4 Class 4A semifinals</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Valley West 6, Williamsport 3</strong></p><p><strong>Williamsport`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Cornell lf-2b`4`0`1`0</p><p>Walker cf-lf`3`0`1`0</p><p>Steele p-cf`2`0`0`0</p><p>Stryker 1b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Esposito 2b`0`0`0`0</p><p>Jackson dh-p`3`2`2`0</p><p>Snyder p`0`0`0`0</p><p>Mankey 3b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Brown rf`3`1`1`1</p><p>Weber c`2`0`1`2</p><p>Geary ph`1`0`0`0</p><p>Luke ss`3`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`26`3`6`3</strong></p><p><strong>Valley West`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Montalvo cf`1`1`0`1</p><p>Sott rf`2`1`1`1</p><p>Hogan ss`3`0`1`2</p><p>Vought c`2`1`0`0</p><p>Yankosky p`4`1`1`0</p><p>Bayo lf`3`1`0`1</p><p>Yuhas 2b`0`0`0`0</p><p>Popson 2b`0`0`0`0</p><p>Pollick dh`1`0`0`0</p><p>Banas pr`0`1`0`0</p><p>McCue 3b`1`0`0`0</p><p>Raitter 1b`2`0`1`1</p><p><strong>Totals`19`6`4`6</strong></p><p><strong>Williamsport`010`200`0`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>Valley West`100`221`x`&#8212;`6</strong></p><p><strong>2B</strong> &#8212; Brown, Hogan</p><p><strong>Williamsport`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Steele (L)`4+`1`4`1`7`6</p><p>Jackson`1+`3`2`2`2`1</p><p>Snyder`1.0`0`0`0`0`2</p><p><strong>Valley West`IP`H`R`ER`BB`K</strong></p><p>Yanksky (W)`7.0`6`3`2`1`5</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mark Popson (left) gets the final out of the fourth inning for Valley West after a strong stop and flip from shortstop Ryan Hogan in Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal win. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mark Popson (left) gets the final out of the fourth inning for Valley West after a strong stop and flip from shortstop Ryan Hogan in Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal win. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Shortstop Ryan Hogan figured in on two key defensive plays for Valley West and also doubled and drove in two runs in the Spartans&#8217; semifinal victory. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Shortstop Ryan Hogan figured in on two key defensive plays for Valley West and also doubled and drove in two runs in the Spartans&#8217; semifinal victory. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport06-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Valley West ace Tyler Yankosky went the distance for the win in Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal against Williamsport. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport06-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Valley West ace Tyler Yankosky went the distance for the win in Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal against Williamsport. </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_wvwwilliamsport03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Williamsport&#8217;s Jalen Jackson (10) slides into third in the second inning of Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal. He would score on a groundout. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport03.jpg</photo3><caption3>Williamsport&#8217;s Jalen Jackson (10) slides into third in the second inning of Wednesday&#8217;s district semifinal. He would score on a groundout. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport04.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Valley West&#8217;s Justin Montalvo slides safely into third after a throwing error in the first inning. He would score the game&#8217;s first run on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvwwilliamsport04.jpg</photo4><caption4>Valley West&#8217;s Justin Montalvo slides safely into third after a throwing error in the first inning. He would score the game&#8217;s first run on Wednesday. </caption4><photoCredit4>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>WVW draws nine walks in semifinal victory</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>D2 BASEBALL SEMIS</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;">4:30 p.m. today</p><p><strong>Class 3A</strong></p><p>North Pocono at Wyoming Area</p><p>Crestwood at Valley View</p><p><strong>Class 2A</strong></p><p>Riverside at Hanover Area</p><p>Northwest at Holy Cross</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Patient Spartans headed back to the District 2 baseball finals