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Pittston Area girls persevere to win key track meet at Hazleton Area

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Lottery Numbers for Thursday, April 13

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; After a hot start to the season, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders first baseman Ji-Man Choi had cooled off over the last two games &#8212; going 1-for-7 with a pair of runs scored, a walk and a hit by pitch.</p><p>But things changed Thursday night with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth.</p><p>Facing a 1-2 count, Choi drilled a fly ball into deep left field. Lehigh Valley left fielder Cameron Perkins caught the ball, but Choi did his job. The 25-year-old&#8217;s sacrifice fly drove in right fielder Rob Refsnyder, who worked a one-out walk, to seal the RailRiders&#8217; first walk-off win of the season &#8212; a 2-1 victory over the IronPigs.</p><p>&#8220;I just try to focus on every at-bat so I can help win games for the team. I did it tonight so I feel really good,&#8221; Choi said through an interpreter. &#8220;When I came up to bat, I was trying to finish the game. I had previously stuck out against this pitcher, but I had faced him a couple times, so I (was used to him) and didn&#8217;t have any difficulties this time.&#8221;</p><p>Choi&#8217;s game-winning sacrifice fly wasn&#8217;t the only time he made noise with his bat. He was 2 for 3 with a pair of singles and an RBI.</p><p>Batting seventh, it was Choi&#8217;s first multi-hit game of the season.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s been swinging the bat well. He&#8217;s been real close,&#8221; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;Most of the fastballs that he&#8217;s gone after he&#8217;s been very close. He got a sharp base hit to right field, if I&#8217;m not mistaken he hit it hard. That one at-bat with the bases loaded, he hung in there and got a good pitch to hit a fly ball.&#8221;</p><p>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was able to hang around thanks to a strong spot start from Caleb Smith, who was promoted from Double-A Trenton earlier in the day.</p><p>The 25-year-old went five innings strong and allowed just one hit &#8212; a third-inning solo shot from Perkins &#8212; and stuck out five IronPigs.</p><p>Joe Mantiply and Chasen Shreve shut the door in relief. The pair combined for four innings of one-hit baseball with five strikeouts.</p><p>&#8220;Everything was really working for me tonight. It was just one of those nights,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;Fastball command was there &#8212; I could elevate whenever I wanted. Slider was working well. Changeup, yeah, that one changeup I left up and I paid for it, but other than that everything was working well.</p><p>&#8220;I was feeling it pretty much from the first inning until the last inning.&#8221;</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t until the sixth inning when the RailRiders scratched their first run across the board.</p><p>Tyler Wade led off the inning with a infield single that ricocheted off Lehigh Valley starter Ricardo Pinto, and third baseman Hector Gomez fired the baseball past first baseman Rhys Williams. Wade was able to speed around second base and slide into third to set up a perfect opportunity for Clint Frazier.</p><p>The 22-year-old outfielder delivered. Frazier hit a first-pitch RBI ground out to Lehigh Valley shortstop J.P. Crawford.</p><p>With Mantiply and Shreve pitching so well, it set up the perfect opportunity for Choi.</p><p>&#8220;They came in, threw strikes, went after hitters, kept the tempo of the game going. That&#8217;s huge for the defense,&#8221; Pedrique said.</p><p>Like Choi, outfielders Mason Williams and Refsnyder rebounded from a couple of cool outings at the plate.</p><p>Refsnyder was 2 for 3 with a run scored and a walk while Williams was 2 for 4 with a double. The pair got things going in the bottom of the ninth.</p><p>After Refsnyder&#8217;s one-out walk, Williams doubled to move the fellow outfielder to third.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody tonight gave us quality at-bats,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;It&#8217;s nice to see both kids come through in a big inning for us.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Webb sent down</strong></p><p>Clearing room for Smith, Wednesday&#8217;s star Tyler Webb was transferred to Double-A Trenton.</p><p>However, Webb was in the clubhouse before Thursday&#8217;s game and was still there after the win.</p><p>He went 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball in Wednesday&#8217;s 10-6 win. The 6-foot-6 reliever struck out six batters while picking up the victory.</p><p><strong>Up Next</strong></p><p>The RailRiders open a three-game series with Buffalo coming to town Friday. Lefty Dietrech Enns (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will take on Bisons veteran righty Mat Latos (0-0, 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.</p><p>Lehigh Valley travels to Pawtucket Friday to start a three-game set in two days. The IronPigs will have Sunday and Monday off. Ben Lively (1-0, 1.50) will face Pawtucket&#8217;s Henry Owens (0-0, 1.80).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RailRiders 2, Lehigh Valley 1</strong></p><p><strong>Lehigh Valley`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Quinn cf`4`0`0`0</p><p>Crawford ss`4`0`0`0</p><p>Alfaro c`4`0`1`0</p><p>Cozens rf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Hoskins 1b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Williams dh`3`0`0`0</p><p>Perkins lf`3`1`1`1</p><p>Gomez 3b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Valentin 2b`3`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`29`1`2`1</strong></p><p><strong>RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Wade ss`4`1`1`0</p><p>Frazier dh`4`0`0`1</p><p>Payton lf`4`0`0`0</p><p>Refsnyder rf`3`1`2`0</p><p>Williams cf`4`0`2`0</p><p>Solano 3b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Choi 1b`3`0`2`1</p><p>Rodriguez c`3`0`0`0</p><p>Culver 3b`2`0`1`0</p><p><strong>Totals`30`2`8`2</strong></p><p>E: Gomez (3, throw). LOB: IronPigs 2, RailRiders 6. 2B: Williams, M. (1). SF: Choi. SB: Alfaro (1). HR: Perkins (1).</p><p><strong>Lehigh Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Pinto`7.0`6`1`0`1`5</p><p>Beato (L, 0-1)`1.2`2`1`1`3`6</p><p><strong>RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Smith`5.0`1`1`1`0`5</p><p>Mantiply`3.0`1`0`0`1`3</p><p>Shreve (W, 1-0)`1.0`0`0`0`2`0</p><p>WP: Shreve, Chasen</p><p>Umpires: Ryan Additon, HP; Jeremie Rehak, 1B; Adam Beck, 3B.</p><p>T: 2:13. Att: 3,153.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders center fielder Mason Williams makes a catch on a fly ball off of the bat of Lehigh Valley first baseman Rhys Hoskins at PNC Field in Moosic Thursday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders center fielder Mason Williams makes a catch on a fly ball off of the bat of Lehigh Valley first baseman Rhys Hoskins at PNC Field in Moosic Thursday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders second baseman Cito Culver gets under a high pop up by Lehigh Valley center fielder Roman Quinn in the third inning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders second baseman Cito Culver gets under a high pop up by Lehigh Valley center fielder Roman Quinn in the third inning. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders right fielder Rob Refsnyder takes a look over his shoulder after rounding second base to see where the ball hit by his teammate Mason Williams. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-4-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders right fielder Rob Refsnyder takes a look over his shoulder after rounding second base to see where the ball hit by his teammate Mason Williams. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders third baseman Donovan Solano sets up the make the catch as Lehigh Valley shortstop J.P. Crawford runs to first. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-5-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders third baseman Donovan Solano sets up the make the catch as Lehigh Valley shortstop J.P. Crawford runs to first. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting pitcher Caleb Smith delivers a pitch against Lehigh Valley Thursday </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_RR-LV-1-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders starting pitcher Caleb Smith delivers a pitch against Lehigh Valley Thursday </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Choi hits sac fly to seal a 2-1 victory</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PODCAST</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">Check out the latest Times Leader Sports Report for up-to-date information on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Visit tlgets.me/kkj to listen to the latest podcast.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ji-Man Choi, RailRiders beat Lehigh Valley IronPigs in walk-off fashion