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Swoyersville defeats Greater Pittston 10-5

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SWB RailRiders 3B Miguel Andujar salvages split against Norfolk Tides

SCRANTON &#8211; Kingston/Forty Fort&#8217;s batting order worked precisely as planned Tuesday night.Philip Evan worked the walks to get on base as the leadoff hitter. Akira Kopec both got on base and moved runners along in the second spot. Mason Sgarlat and John McLaughlin drove in runs from the power positions that followed.&#8220;That&#8217;s kind of our recipe,&#8221; Kingston/Forty Fort manager Joe Evan said after his team scored 10 times in the first four innings on the way to a 12-8 victory over Plains for the Section 5 Little League Major Baseball title at Green Ridge. &#8220;Get the leadoff guy on and get a smash somewhere.&#8221;Kingston/Forty Fort did just that while remaining undefeated &#8211; getting a total of four extra-base hits from Kopec, Sgarlat and McLaughlin.The District 31 champions had two chances to beat Plains for the title and a spot in the state tournament, which begins Sunday at Christy Mathewson Little League Field in Benton. KFF opens state play at noon Sunday against the Section 4 champion.Sgarlat made sure one was enough by hitting his eighth homer in nine tournament games while earning the win on the mound. He allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out nine in 4 1/3 innings.&#8220;Mason&#8217;s been amazing through the whole tournament &#8211; through pool play, the district semifinals and finals, and then here, with his pitching and hitting,&#8221; Joe Evan said. &#8220;His pitching has really come around. He has learned how to command his pitches and control his emotions.&#8220;That strikeout/walk ratio, in Little League Baseball, is everything,&#8221;Kingston/Forty Fort had to slightly rework its lineup with top pitcher and one of the usual top-of-the-order threats, Jake Griffin, away in Fort Myers, Florida, playing with the Beast United from Commack, New York, in the Perfect Game Super 25 12-Under National Championships.Philip Evan was 0 for 2, but he drew three walks, one with the bases loaded, drove in another run with a groundout, and scored twice.Kopec took over the second spot, which Griffin had occupied during the district final and first two sectional games. All she did was get on base five straight times with two doubles, two walks and a hit batter.&#8220;I thought she hit the ball terrific,&#8221; Joe Evan said of Kopec, who scored three times, drove in a run and narrowly missed her second homer in three sectional tournament games on a long foul ball.Sgarlat drove in the first run, then brought in two more with a second-inning homer just to the right of straightaway center field.McLaughlin singled in the first run and brought in the last run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, helping break up a late rally in which Plains scored seven times over the final two innings. He finished 2 for 3 and reached another time when he was hit by a pitch.Kingston/Forty Fort will go after the first state title on the Major Baseball level, which advances teams to the Little League&#8217;s most famous event, the World Series in South Williamsport a month from now. It will be trying to win the program&#8217;s second state championship of the summer after the Kingston/Forty Fort girls took the junior softball championship.Plains, which won the District 16 title, had its season end despite some big offensive efforts. Sean Monahan went 3 for 4 with a double, homer, three runs scored and two RBI. Jason Prudente smashed a fifth-inning grand slam to start the comeback from a 10-1 deficit.&#8220;It was a great run,&#8221; Plains manager Bill Cook said. &#8220;Not everybody can win. I&#8217;m really proud of these kids.&#8220;A lot of these kids we&#8217;ve been around since they were 7 or 8 years old.&#8221;STATES8-10 SOFTBALLBack Mountain 15,Indiana 0Nina Barrouk struck out 10 and pitched a three-hitter as Back Mountain opened the state tournament with a five-inning victory.Allison Vitanovec (double) and Kirsten Finarelli each both had three hits while Barrouk and Abby Cruz each finished with two hits, including a double. Carolin Comitz, Sophia Maier and Sophia Lenza added a hit apiece.Back Mountain advances to face Plymouth Meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Wellsboro Little League.SECTION 58-10 BASEBALLBack Mtn. National 16,Duryea 8Brady Zapoticky finished 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBI as National outslugged Duryea. Kyle Chesman and Jack Leandri both finished with two hits and three runs scored while Connor Healey added an RBI tripleDom Innomorati doubled for Duryea, Paul Salvo singled and Tony Rusincouitch drove in a run with a base hit.LOCAL TOURNAMENTSSouth Wilkes-Barre 19,Back Mtn. American 5Aidan McFarlane (double), Kamden Flecknoe (double) and Logan Schneikart all finished with three hits in a Swoyersville 12U Tournament victory. John Barker (two doubles), Myles Dewey (double), Isaiah Parker, Mark Atherton and Cael Ropietski all had two hits.Justin Moss led American with three hits while Ryan Borton, Dustin Shaver and Liam Hite had two apiece.Jenkins Township 15,Plains 14Drew Cisney amd Jake Aftewicz had two hits apiece to lead Jenkins Township in the Tommy&#8217;s Pizza Corner 9-10 tournament. Paul Jordan McGarry scored three times and Aiden Lynn had a strong relief appearance.Nate Fritz starred in center field for Plains. Joe Egidio added a double.Kingston/Forty Fort 12, Plains 8KFF`AB`R`H`BIEvan 2b-rf`2`2`0`2AKopec ss-2b`2`3`2`1Sgarlat p-ss`4`1`2`3McLaughin c`3`1`2`2AKopec p-2b`2`1`1`2Buss 1b`4`1`1`1LKopec 3b`3`0`1`0Motyka cf-lf`1`1`1`2Zekus lf`1`2`0`0Matello lf-p`1`0`0`0Bowen rf`2`0`0`0Matlowski rf`1`0`0`0Lopuhovsky cf`1`1`0`0Totals`25`12`9`11Plains`AB`R`H`BICook cf`3`2`1`0Monahan ss-p`4`3`3`2Nowakowski 3b`4`1`1`2Kozerski p-2b`3`0`1`0Prudente 2b-ss`2`1`1`4Menendez c`3`0`0`0Simonson rf`1`0`0`0Kenzakowski rf`2`0`0`0Meager 1b`2`0`0`0Wychock ph`1`0`0`0Hunter lf`1`1`0`0Senape ph`1`0`0`0Blight ph`0`0`0`0Totals`27`8`7`8Kingston/FF` `422`202`&#8212;`12Plains` `100`043`&#8212;`82B &#8211; AKopec 2, McLaughlin, Monahan. HR &#8211; Sgarlat, Monahan, Prudente.Kingston/FF`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOSgarlat (W)`4.1`3`3`1`1`9Matello`1.2`4`5`3`1`3Plains`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOKozerski (L)`3.1`7`10`9`4`1Monahan`2.2`2`2`1`5`1<style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-1-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mason Sgarlat notched a win under his belt as Kingston/Forty Fort clinches a trip to states by defeating Plains in the Section 5 Major Baseball championship game Tuesday. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-1-CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mason Sgarlat notched a win under his belt as Kingston/Forty Fort clinches a trip to states by defeating Plains in the Section 5 Major Baseball championship game Tuesday. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-2-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kingston/Forty Fort&#8217;s John McLaughlin slides safely into third base on a passed ball. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-2-CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Kingston/Forty Fort&#8217;s John McLaughlin slides safely into third base on a passed ball. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-4-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kingston/Forty Fort&#8217;s Mason Sgarlat rounds third and is congratulated by third base coach and dad, Jamie Sgarlat , after hitting a two-run homer. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Kingston-FF-Plains-LL-4-CMYK.jpg</photo2><caption2>Kingston/Forty Fort&#8217;s Mason Sgarlat rounds third and is congratulated by third base coach and dad, Jamie Sgarlat , after hitting a two-run homer. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

Kingston/Forty Fort wins Section 5 Little League Major Baseball title over Plains