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PIAA baseball: Holy Redeemer, Dallas cap off historic week for WVC

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Dorrance Twp. not interested in buying lot

MOOSIC &#8211; Mason Williams was having a relatively quiet night as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outfielder strolled to the plate in the eighth inningHe was hitless in three at-bats, but had the golden opportunity with the RailRiders down by one run and the bases loaded.Staring down at a 3-2 count, Williams delivered. He snuck a ball just inside the right-field line, plating two runs as the RailRiders scored a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Rochester on Wednesday night at PNC Field.Joe Mantiply and J.R. Graham combined for a perfect ninth inning to seal the victory, the RailRiders&#8217; sixth over the Red Wings this season.As a matter of fact, the RailRiders have won six of eight against the Minnesota Twins&#8217; Triple-A team this season, including three straight.&#8220;I have to give credit to Higgy (Kyle Higashioka) because he gave me an opportunity to get up when he drew that walk to load up the bases,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;I was just looking for something over the plate that I could put a good swing on.&#8221;Rochester took the lead in the seventh, as a two-run single by Matt Hague barely skipped over the first-base bag.And it was another matter of inches in the eighth &#8211; but this time, going in favor of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.Greg Bird drew a five-pitch walk to open the frame, and Tyler Austin&#8217;s broken-bat single to center set up SWB with two on and no outs.Rochester reliever Michael Tonkin got the next two outs, but he issued a six-pitch walk to Higashioka, who was 3-for-3 entering the at-bat.Up stepped Williams, and with the chance to play the hero, the center fielder obliged.He drilled an inside pitch down the right-field line as the ball just hugged inside the line. Both Bird and Austin scored as the RailRiders grabbed the lead, 6-5.&#8220;Mason has been working real hard, trying to figure out his swing and help the team get some wins,&#8221; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;That was a big at-bat for him. That was his best at-bat of the year so far, and we are hoping that builds his confidence up. Now, he can relax a little bit and enjoy the game more.&#8221;Mantiply, who earned the win in relief, forced two grounders for the opening outs of the ninth before J.R. Graham struck out Hague to preserve the victory. That was Graham&#8217;s first save of the 2017 campaign.Down 3-1 entering the fourth, the RailRiders grabbed their first lead as Gleyber Torres drilled a ball to deep center, just over the outstretched arm of Zack Granite, for a two-run triple to knot the game at 3-3. Two pitches later, Higashioka roped his second hit to left for a 4-3 edge.&#8220;Higgy lost some time due to injuries, but you can tell that he is getting better each time he goes out,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;He&#8217;s been getting good pitches to hit. He&#8217;s been patient. When he gets a fastball or breaking ball, his hands are working nice and he&#8217;s driving the ball with authority now.&#8220;And you can see that Torres is starting to feel comfortable in Triple-A,&#8221; Pedrique continued. &#8220;He has a better idea of how he is getting pitched. As long as he keeps fighting every at bat, he&#8217;s going to do a lot. He&#8217;s going to be special.&#8221;Starter Brady Lail left with a no decision for the RailRiders, after giving up 10 hits and five runs in six innings. Third baseman Tyler Wade extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a leadoff single in the first.RailRiders 6, Rochester 5Rochester `AB`R`H`BIGranite c`5`2`3`1Shuck lf `5`1`1`1Hague dh `3`0`1`2Field 3b `4`0`1`0Goodrum rf `4`0`1`1Park 1b `4`0`0`0Murphy c `4`1`2`0Gonzalez 2b`4`0`2`0Vielma ss `4`1`2`0Totals `37`5`13`5RailRiders `AB`R`H`BIWade 3b `4`0`1`0Fowler lf `3`0`0`0Bird 1b `3`1`0`0Austin dh `4`2`2`0Frazier rf `3`1`1`0Torres ss `4`1`1`2Higashioka c `3`1`3`2Williams cf` 4`0`1`2Solano 2b `4`0`1`0Totals `32`6`10`6Rochester `002 `100 `200 &#8211; 5RailRiders `001 `300 `020 &#8211; 6E: none. DP: Rochester 1, Railriders 0. LOB: Rochester 7, RailRiders 6. 2B: Granite 2 (11), Shuck (13), Goodrum (15), Austin (9), Williams (5). 3B: Torres (1). HR: Higashioka (2). CS: Vielma (3)Rochester `IP `H`R`ER`BB`SOHurlbut `5`7`4`4`1`5Rucinski `2`1`0`0`0`0Tonkin (L, 1-2) `1`2`2`2`2`1RailRiders `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOLial `6`10`5`5`1`5Webb `1`2`0`0`0`0Mantiply (W, 3-3) `1.2`1`0`0`0`1Graham (S, 1) `0.1`0`0`0`0`1HBP: none. Umpires: HP: Brian Peterson. 1B: Alex Tosi. 3B: Eric Gillam. T: 2:59. Att: 4,253<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Williams </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Mason-Williams.jpg</photo0><caption0>Williams </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom FoxFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

Williams keys late rally as RailRiders come back to beat Rochester