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Heavy rain washes away WVC senior game

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Lawsuit: Plymouth protecting cop who allegedly slammed teen to ground

RICE TWP. &#8211; Swoyersville is the defending American Legion baseball champion for a reason.The team fully displayed those strengths during the Region 5 Tournament.Post 644 hit and pitched well, ran the bases aggressively, and took advantage of mistakes made by opposing teams.That was the case throughout the whole tournament, and it really stood out on Thursday as Swoyersville defeated Shamokin/Mount Carmel 9-0 at Mountain Post to claim its third regional title in four years.&#8220;This speaks volumes about the kids. They&#8217;re dedicated and they come to work every day and come to play hard,&#8221; Swoyersville manager Sean Toole said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been a total team effort.&#8221;Eric Raitter pitched a gem, allowing two hits over eight shutout innings. The offense pounded out seven hits, stole 10 bases and took advantage of erratic SMC starter Jacob Wolfe to advance to the state tournament, which starts on Tuesday at Ephrata.The only two hits Raitter allowed were soft liners. The first was an infield single in the third inning. After that, the righty didn&#8217;t give up another one until the eighth inning when a ball hit up the middle reached the outfield. He also struck out 13 and only walked two on 109 pitches.&#8220;I was in a zone out there. It was just easy going out there, getting in a groove,&#8221; Raitter said. &#8220;Just going with the game. We got a lead early and we just kept taking it to them. Being able to hit spots helps out a lot when you&#8217;re on your game.&#8221;Meanwhile, the Swoyersville hitters were being patient against Wolfe, who threw hard but had control issues and struck out 10 in five innings. But the lefty walked six, hit two batters and uncorked five wild pitches, three of which allowed Swoyersville to plate a runs as the team took a 5-0 lead after five innings. The Shamokin catcher also had problems, committing a pair of passed balls.&#8220;He had good velocity on the fastball and good curveball he had, but being erratic plays into our favor of being aggressive on the bases and putting pressure on,&#8221; Toole added. &#8220;He was wildly effective. In the zone, out of the zone, up, down. He kept our hitters off balance for a good amount of time.&#8221;That was all the support Raitter needed. The post-grad got in a groove, striking out the side three times and only allowing the ball to leave the infield in the air three times on fly outs. He mixed pitches well with curveball and fastball and kept opposing batters off balance leading, the squad back to the state tournament as Swoyersville will try to win its third state title in four years.&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot more work to get done now. This is the state tournament coming up,&#8221; Raitter said. &#8220;We got to swing the sticks a lot more, make sure our defense is up to par. It&#8217;s a big stage we&#8217;re going to be on. We just got to out there and work.&#8221;With 12 players back from last year&#8217;s title winning club, there&#8217;s plenty of confidence going forward.&#8220;They&#8217;ve been there, they know what to expect, the whole atmosphere, everything,&#8221; Toole said. &#8220;The guys know what to expect and know what kind of competition is going to be down there.&#8221;Dom Bayo led the Swoyersville offense, going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Zach Kobusky was 2 for 4 with two runs scored.Swoyersville 9, Shamokin/Mount Carmel 0Swoyersville`AB`R`H`BISott rf`3`2`0`0Ruff lf `4`1`1`1Bayo dh` 4`3`3`2Packer c`4`0`0`0Flanley 3b`2`0`0`0Montalvo cf`3`1`0`0Sienkiewicz ss`5`0`1`1Kobusky 1b`4`2`2`0Banas c`4`0`0`0Totals`33`9`7`4SMC`AB`R`H`BIWilliams ss`3`0`1`0Reed rf `3`0`0`0Haupt rf`1`0`0`0Fenix lf` 2`0`0`0Wetzel lf`1`0`0`0McDonald 1b`4`0`0`0Wagner dh`4`0`0`0Hoover cf`3`0`0`0Gurba 2b`3`0`0`0Rollman 3b`3`0`0`0Rachau c`2`0`0`0Miller c`1`0`1`0Totals`30`0`2`02B: KobuskySwoyersville`101`121`003` &#8212;`9Shamokin/MC`000`000`000`&#8212;`0Swoyersville`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SORaitter (W)`8.0`2`0`0`2`13Adamski `0.2`0`0`0`0`1McCue`0.1`0`0`0`0`0SMC `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOWolfe (L)`5.0`1`5`2`6`10Wagner `4.0`6`4`3`2`3<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave RosengrantFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

Raitter, Swoyersville roll to Region 5 Legion championship