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Wilkes-Barre retirees use their free time to volunteer at library, kitchen

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Teacher contract is hot topic at Pittston Area board meeting

<p>MOOSIC &#8211; Ronald Acuna was a one-man wrecking crew. And the RailRiders won&#8217;t be sad to watch the Gwinnett center fielder leave town Thursday night.</p><p>The Brave brought a hot bat out of the dugout Wednesday, dropping a three-run homer into the Railhouse in right to break a 1-1 tie as Gwinnett left PNC Field with a 4-1 victory.</p><p>In the completion of Tuesday&#8217;s suspended contest, the Braves scored four runs in the eighth inning to break open a 5-2 game en route to 9-4 victory.</p><p>The two teams meet 7:05 p.m. Thursday to wrap up a three-game set. Although Gwinnett has already won this series, SWB is currently up 3-2 in the season matchups, and still holds a comfortable lead in the division.</p><p>&#8220;We put ourselves in some bad situations by working behind in the count,&#8221; SWB manager Al Pedrique said. &#8220;We walked the bottom part of their lineup, and it gave a chance to their big hitters. I thought that we beat ourselves in both games.&#8221;</p><p>After going 2 for 3 in his at-bats in the suspended game, Acuna was a total menace in the regularly-scheduled contest.</p><p>He ripped a single to center to score Gwinnett&#8217;s first run of the game. The center fielder was even better in his next plate appearance.</p><p>With Kade Schivicque and Luis Valenzuela on base and only one out, Acuna took the first three pitches he saw from Chance Adams. With the green light to swing away, he drove the belt-high, 3-0 offering opposite field for the three-run shot and a 4-1 Brave lead.</p><p>Adams, who hit almost 100 pitches through five innings, fell to 9-4 on the year.</p><p>&#8220;Chance started off well, but got in trouble with the bottom part of their lineup,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;Those No. 8 and No. 9 hitters got on base, and Acuna is swinging well right now.&#8221;</p><p>The RailRiders&#8217; bat never caught fire in seven innings against a pair of former Atlanta Braves.</p><p>Josh Collmenter, who just came off the DL Wednesday, wasn&#8217;t overpowering &#8211; using an 85 mph fastball and a sharp breaking pitch &#8211; but was surely effective.</p><p>He held SWB to just four hits and stuck out six. He retired 12 of the 16 batters he faced, and only ran into one trouble spot. That was the second where Mason Williams&#8217; double set up Jonathan Diaz, who ripped a two-out RBI single to knot the game 1-1.</p><p>The problem for the RailRiders? Well, they were two of the team&#8217;s five hits for the entire game, while striking out 10 times.</p><p>&#8220;Their guy kept the change-up down, and mixed in a slow breaking ball. He just kept our hitters off-balance,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;We just kept chasing pitches away in the zone. We just couldn&#8217;t figure out their pitcher tonight.&#8221;</p><p>Wisler, the other former Atlanta Brave, and Evan Phillips retired 12 of the final 13 batters. The only blemish was a sixth-inning single by Billy Fleming, who entered for Greg Bird in the fifth. Bird, making his first rehab start, was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and grounder to second. He&#8217;s scheduled to be the RailRiders&#8217; designated hitter in the series finale with Gwinnett.</p><p><strong>Suspended Game</strong></p><p><strong>Gwinnett 9, RailRiders 4</strong></p><p>The Braves&#8217; bats certainly didn&#8217;t cool from Tuesday night.</p><p>Gwinnett racked up a total of 16 hits, and padded to an already 5-2 lead with a four-run eighth en route to a 9-4 victory in a suspended game that started in the bottom of the fifth.</p><p>SWB had a good chance to get back in it, putting two runners on in both the sixth and seventh innings but pushing no runs across the dish.</p><p>The RailRiders scored in the eighth on Tyler Austin&#8217;s seventh home run of the season, and added another in the ninth on a Miguel Andujar&#8217;s broken-bat RBI single. They had two runners on base in the ninth, but Gwinnett&#8217;s fifth pitcher of the night, Jason Hursh, struck out Austin to seal the victory.</p><p>SWB got the bats going late, finishing with 13 hits &#8211; eight of them over the final four innings &#8211; as every starter contributed with at least one hit. The team left nine on base and was just 3 of 11 with runners in scoring position.</p><p>Gwinnett had six players with at least two or more hits, led by Rio Ruiz&#8217;s three-hit, three-RBI night.</p><p>Domingo German, who started Tuesday&#8217;s game, dropped his record to 4-2 after allowing five runs (four earned) in five innings. Dan Winkler, at Gwinnett on a rehab assignment, earned a victory after one inning of work.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Gwinnett&#8217;s Ronald Acuna attempts to take out RailRiders shortstop Cito Culver to bust up a double play in the first game Wednesday night at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-1.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Gwinnett&#8217;s Ronald Acuna attempts to take out RailRiders shortstop Cito Culver to bust up a double play in the first game Wednesday night at PNC Field. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-1.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Mason Williams rounds third base and scores for the RailRiders in the second inning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-1.jpeg</photo1><caption1>Mason Williams rounds third base and scores for the RailRiders in the second inning. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">RailRiders first baseman Greg Bird fields a ball at first against the Gwinnett Braves. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-2.jpeg</photo2><caption2>RailRiders first baseman Greg Bird fields a ball at first against the Gwinnett Braves. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-3.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">RailRiders first baseman Greg Bird holds Gwinnett&#8217;s Matt Tuiasosopo at first base. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2-3.jpeg</photo3><caption3>RailRiders first baseman Greg Bird holds Gwinnett&#8217;s Matt Tuiasosopo at first base. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Tyler Austin is greeted by RailRider manager Al Pedrique after smacking a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Railriders-Braves-Gm-2.jpeg</photo4><caption4>Tyler Austin is greeted by RailRider manager Al Pedrique after smacking a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. </caption4><photoCredit4>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders drop a pair to the Gwinnett Braves