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RailRiders continue mastery of Buffalo with 3-1 victory

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Luzerne County preparing for main free-and-clear tax auction in August

<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; The Plains all-stars showed they too could score with two outs on Wednesday.</p><p>Plains tore open a close game with six runs in the fifth inning &#8212; all coming with two outs &#8212; as it defeated South Wilkes-Barre 13-6 in a District 16 Little League Major Baseball semifinal game.</p><p>Plains will play Pittston Township, which defeated Mountain Top 3-1, at 7:45 p.m. Monday at Pittston Township for the championship. Kingston/Forty Fort will face Back Mountain National at 5:45 p.m. for the D31 crown. Both games will be televised live on WQMY.</p><p>&#8220;They are pumped up,&#8221; Plains manager Bill Cook said. &#8220;The first thing they said after was we&#8217;re going to be on TV.&#8221;</p><p>A prime-time appearance hung in the balance going into the bottom of the fifth. Plains rallied to take a 7-6 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Jeffrey Kozerski and a three-run homer by Jason Prudente. All six SWB runs were scored with two outs, including five in the second inning.</p><p>Plains looked like it would head to the sixth with a one-run lead as SWB got two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth. But then Sean Monahan reached on a three-base error, setting the stage for a six-run outburst.</p><p>Ryan Novakowski followed with an RBI single, Kozerski doubled and Prudente chopped a two-run single up the middle where the ball struck second base and ricocheted into right field.</p><p>Drew Menendez, Jeremy Simonson and Braeden Cook also had single which contributed to Plains pushing its lead from 7-6 entering the inning to 13-6 exiting it.</p><p>Prudente pitched the final two outs of the fifth and struck out three in the sixth to pick up the save. Novakowski threw the first 4.1 innings for the victory. He was roughed up for two hits and five runs in the second, but didn&#8217;t allow a hit until yielding to Prudente.</p><p>&#8220;We got a little wild from maybe the second to the third inning,&#8221; Cook said of Novakowski, who walked five in those two frames. &#8220;But then he got back on track, righted the ship and was throwing hard. He was getting the kids out.&#8221;</p><p>SWB&#8217;s Josh Bottger had a two-run single and Eli Ropietski added a two-run double as part of their team&#8217;s five-run second. Josh Barker also pushed a run across with a bases-loaded walk.</p><p>Plains cut the deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the second when Monahan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Novakowski bounced an RBI single up the middle.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we had a good game,&#8221; SWB manager Jay Bottger said. &#8220;We were up early. It was important that we hold that lead, but unfortunately Plains came out and hit the ball well late in the game. Our pitching was good early, but the third time through the lineup they started hitting the ball off our pitcher Kam (Flecknoe).&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>District 16 Major Baseball</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Semifinal</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Plains 13, South Wilkes-Barre 6</strong></p><p><strong>South W-B`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Barker c`3`1`1`1</p><p>Bottger 1b`4`1`1`2</p><p>ERopietski 2b`3`0`1`2</p><p>McFarlane cf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Flecknoe p`3`0`0`0</p><p>CRopietski ss`2`1`0`0</p><p>Dewey lf`0`2`0`0</p><p>CMaciejczyk lf`1`0`0`0</p><p>MMaciejczyk 3b`0`1`0`0</p><p>Schneikart 3b`1`0`0`0</p><p>Parker rf`2`0`0`0</p><p>Atherton rf`0`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`22`6`3`5</strong></p><p><strong>Plains`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Cook cf`4`0`2`1</p><p>Monahan ss`3`2`0`1</p><p>Novakowski p`4`2`4`2</p><p>Kozerski 3b`4`0`2`1</p><p>Prudente 2b`4`2`2`5</p><p>Menendez c`3`3`3`1</p><p>Simonson rf`3`2`2`0</p><p>Kenzakoski ph`1`1`0`0</p><p>Meager 1b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Wychock ph`0`1`0`0</p><p>Hunter lf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Senape ph`1`0`0`0</p><p>Wallace ph`1`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`33`13`15`11</strong></p><p><strong>South W-B`051`000`&#8212;`6</strong></p><p><strong>Plains`021`46x`&#8212;`13</strong></p><p>2B: E.Ropietski, Kozerski. HR: Prudente.</p><p><strong>South W-B`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Flecknoe (L)`4.1`9`7`7`3`3</p><p>CRopietski`0.1`6`6`0`1`0</p><p>McFarlane`0.1`0`0`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Plains`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Novakowski (W)`4.1`3`6`0`5`7</p><p>Prudente (S)`1.2`0`0`0`1`4</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Plains&#8217; Jason Prudente winds up for a pitch against South Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday in the District 16 Little League Major Baseball semifinals. Prudente got the final five outs for the save and added a home run at the plate. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Plains&#8217; Jason Prudente winds up for a pitch against South Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday in the District 16 Little League Major Baseball semifinals. Prudente got the final five outs for the save and added a home run at the plate. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Plains third baseman Jeffrey Kozerski fields a ground ball against South Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Plains third baseman Jeffrey Kozerski fields a ground ball against South Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Plains&#8217; Drew Menendez slides into second base while South Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Eli Ropietski waits for the throw. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Plains&#8217; Drew Menendez slides into second base while South Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Eli Ropietski waits for the throw. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">South Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Aidan McFarlane slides into second base after losing his batting helmet. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>South Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Aidan McFarlane slides into second base after losing his batting helmet. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Plains&#8217; Joey Meager connects with the ball against South Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL070617LittleLeague5-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Plains&#8217; Joey Meager connects with the ball against South Wilkes-Barre. </caption4><photoCredit4>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Plains Little League outslugs South Wilkes-Barre in district semifinal