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JCC event to recall Jewish refugee boat that was turned away in 1939

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RailRiders, Bisons split double header

<p>HUGHESTOWN &#8211; The Hazleton Area baseball team has been living on the edge lately with three straight come-from-behind, late-inning victories.</p><p>The Cougars followed the same formula on Monday in a PIAA Class 6A first-round playoff game at the Pittston Area Primary Center.</p><p>It worked for a little bit as the team erased a four-run deficit, but things eventually fell apart in one wild inning as Hazleton Area was defeated by Downingtown East 11-5 in a game that lasted nearly three hours.</p><p>&#8220;These guys never cease to amaze me with the heart they display. Coming into a game like this with the type of pitcher we saw and to get down and tie it and then tie it again. I love these guys. They&#8217;re such a resilient group,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Russ Canzler said. &#8220;They love each other. They&#8217;re playing for each other and we just came up short today.&#8221;</p><p>In the top of the fifth in which Downingtown sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs to break a 5-5 tie, Canzler was ejected and home plate umpire Frank Galicki was in the middle of the controversy.</p><p>With Albert Choi batting in the frame with the bases loaded and having two strikes in the count, two straight pitches that were close to being in the zone from Chick DeGaetano were called balls to run the count to 3-2. The next pitch from DeGaetano was a fastball that Choi (3 for 5, 2 triples, 5 RBI) crushed to left field for a triple.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just trying to help my team win and put a hard ball in play,&#8221; Choi said. &#8220;I&#8217;m always trying to hit the ball hard. That&#8217;s the only thing you can control.&#8221;</p><p>With the next batter up, the ball was hit on the ground, the throw came home and Galicki signaled that the runner was out despite the catcher not touching the runner with the ball.</p><p>After a conference between the umpires, the call was reversed. And that led to Canzler being rung for his first ejection ever, including a 12-year career playing professionally. Canzler said that once the play was reversed he wanted to talk to the first base umpire, but was told by Galicki to go back in the dugout. And that&#8217;s when the shouting began.</p><p>&#8220;It was frustrating all in all. I think there were just some missed calls. And that happens. I understand those guys are human, and they&#8217;re not trying to miss calls,&#8221; Canzler said. &#8220;On the play at home, when their manager was able to go and have them change it, I wanted to talk to the first base guy and I couldn&#8217;t. He (Galicki) told me to get in the dugout. I just wanted to talk and was told immediately to go in the dugout.</p><p>&#8220;And again, guys miss calls. It happens. I know their job isn&#8217;t easy. And I felt at that point, the kids were starting to get a little emotional. So I had to be the one to go facilitate that and not let it be one of the kids.&#8221;</p><p>Downingtown East, which will face Neshaminy in Thursday&#8217;s quarterfinals, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after an inning and half. It resembled Hazleton Area&#8217;s last game when it trailed Williamsport 5-0, but came back to win. A four-run rally by Hazleton Area highlighted by RBI singles from Gabe Colyer, Mike Kilker and Alex Amentler tied the game at 4-4.</p><p>After the DE Cougars went ahead in the top of the fourth, the Hazleton Area Cougars tied it up in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring double from Lance Book.</p><p>Even though Canzler&#8217;s team didn&#8217;t come through on Monday, it still started what could eventually be a successful run through the postseason. Starting pitcher Brady Antolick, DeGaetano and Amentler are the only three seniors who started the game.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been there the last four games and we were on the winning side of it and it&#8217;s a great experience since we&#8217;re a young team,&#8221; Canzler said. &#8220;We got a lot of sophomores in the mix and a lot of freshmen in the mix. We got a lot of juniors coming back. They&#8217;re an outstanding group of kids. It stings. It sucks. But I told them remember how it felt because we&#8217;ll have an opportunity to get back here.</p><p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;re trying what I set out to do in setting a new standard for the program. Where this is commonplace being in the state playoffs. I think they see it now, they believe in it and can do it.&#8221;</p><p>PIAA Class 6A First Round</p><p>Downingtown East 11,</p><p>Hazleton Area 5</p><p>Downingtown`AB`R`H`BI</p><p>Vincent 2b`5`3`3`1</p><p>Choi cf`5`3`3`5</p><p>Lynch c`3`1`1`0</p><p>Aijan 1b` 5`1`2`1</p><p>Burton 3b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Reichlin cf` 5`0`1`1</p><p>Giancatarino dh`4`1`1`0</p><p>Ferguson p`2`1`1`0</p><p>Owsik ss`2`1`1`0</p><p>Vitali lf`4`1`1`0</p><p>Totals`36`11`13`8</p><p>Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI</p><p>Amentler cf`4`0`1`1</p><p>Zientek rf `4`0`0`0</p><p>McGowan 2b`4`0`2`0</p><p>Antolick p`0`0`0`0</p><p>DeGaetano dh`4`1`1`0</p><p>Colyer 1b`4`1`2`1</p><p>Genao lf`3`1`0`0</p><p>Kilker 3b`2`2`2`1</p><p>Book c`3`0`1`1</p><p>Molinaro ss`2`0`0`0</p><p>Totals`30`5`7`4</p><p>2B: Owsik, DeGaetano, Book. 3B: Choi 2</p><p>Downingtown`130`150`1`&#8212;11</p><p>Hazleton Area`040`100`0` &#8212;`6</p><p>Downingtown`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</p><p>Ferguson (W) `4.0`7`5`5`1`7</p><p>Umberger`3.0`2`0`0`2`5</p><p>Hazleton Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</p><p>Antolick `1.2`4`4`4`2`1</p><p>DeGaetano (L)`3.1`7`6`6`4`5</p><p>McGowan`2.0`2`1`0`0`3</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Areas coach is ejected from the game after arguing with the umpire over a call. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll6-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hazleton Areas coach is ejected from the game after arguing with the umpire over a call. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Brady Antolick pitches againgst Downingtown East. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll5-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Brady Antolick pitches againgst Downingtown East. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Areas Gabe Colyer beats the throw to third. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hazleton Areas Gabe Colyer beats the throw to third. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area baseball players huddle up before taking the field after tying up the game Monday. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll2-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Hazleton Area baseball players huddle up before taking the field after tying up the game Monday. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gavin McGowan (29) and Mike Kilker (28) celebrate tying up the game. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll.jpg</photo5><caption5>Gavin McGowan (29) and Mike Kilker (28) celebrate tying up the game. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption5><photoCredit5></photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Areas Bryce Molinaro tags out Downington East Jake Keenan and throws the ball to first. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL060519HazBBAll1.jpg</photo6><caption6>Hazleton Areas Bryce Molinaro tags out Downington East Jake Keenan and throws the ball to first. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption6><photoCredit6></photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

PIAA Baseball: Hazleton Area rallies, then falls a bit short