D2 BASEBALL: Stone pitches Susquehanna to Class 1A title
May 29—MOOSIC — Susquehanna threw up a Stone wall against MMI Prep.
Junior Colton Stone tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout to lead the No. 2-seeded Sabers to an 8-3 victory over the No. 1-seeded Preppers in the District 2 Class 1A final at PNC Field on Monday.
William Marcy drove in both runs for Susquehanna (5-14), which claimed its first District 2 title to advance to the PIAA tournament. It will face District 4 champion Northeast Bradford in Monday's first round at a site and time to be determined.
"I'm so proud of this group. The kids are great," Susquehanna coach Matt Orner said. "This is the potential. This is the team we knew that could play. We finally came together and it's working."
Stone, certainly, was working. He did not allow a hit — and just three base runners — after the second inning. He threw 95 pitches, walked three and struck out eight. Nine outs were in the air and just four were on the ground.
"I was trying to elevate the fastball, make them get under it and pop up," Stone said. "Keep the curveball in the dirt, get it low. Hanging curveballs are never good.
"I had to come into the game confident because nerves don't do any good. I trust my teammates, I trust my defense. I think we played a great game."
MMI Prep coach Cory Rogers said Stone was spotting his pitches well.
"He was throwing a lot of fastballs. He was all around the corners and didn't waste pitches," Rogers said. "He just threw a lot of strikes and we had a hard time finding the holes. We hit it right at them."
Seeking their third straight district title and fourth in five seasons, the Preppers (7-14) had some chances to break through against Stone.
Andrew Burns opened the bottom of the first for MMI Prep by reaching second on a single and an error. One out later, Joshua Witner walked. But Stone retired the next two batters on a fly out and a strikeout to end the inning.
John Drobnock walked with one out in the bottom of the second and Nick Pantages singled with two outs. But Stone got a foul out to first to squash that threat.
"First couple of innings, we could have done a better job of moving runners over. Maybe get a bunt down and create more scoring opportunities for ourselves," Rogers said. "I thought we played well defensively and the guys on the mound pitched well. Today just wasn't our day at the plate."
Burns led off the MMI Prep fifth with a walk, stole second and was sacrificed to third by Mikie Kranyak. But Stone bore down and struck out the Nos. 3 and 4 batters to deny the Preppers again.
"That was fantastic," Orner said. "That saves a run that could swing the game and put the momentum on their side. But he fought."
Susquehanna was held hitless for the first four-plus innings by Burns, MMI Prep's starter, but still took a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
With one out, Drew Hennessey walked, but was erased on a fielder's choice by Alexander Bishop. Tyler Rockwell reached on an error and Nathan Oropallo walked to load the bases. Marcy then walked on a 3-2 pitch to force home a run.
"It made me feel a lot better that we had one run," Stone said. "I just had to go out and do my job and I feel like that's what I did."
Rockwell's two-out single in the top of the fifth was the Sabers' first hit off Burns. Oropallo was hit by a pitch and Marcy followed with a RBI single to left to make it 2-0.
"Tyler did a great job getting into scoring position," Marcy said. "I just tried to stay within myself and do what I could. Tyler's fast, so I knew when I put the ball in play that he was going to get there.
"After that, everyone was up. The team just thrived after that."
That was more than enough offense for Stone, who retired the Preppers in order in the sixth and seventh innings to close out the victory and send the Sabers to the state tournament for the first time.
"It feels great to be a part of that," Marcy said. "The team has come a long way. We're young and it's hard to be young in the game of baseball. But we're coming around. We came into the playoffs saying it's a brand new season. We knew it was going to be tough and had to play some good teams. But we're playing the best we've played all year."
Susquehanna 2, MMI Prep 0
Susquehanna 001 010 0 — 2
MMI Prep 000 000 0 — 0
WP: Colton Stone 7IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 8SO
LP: Andrew Burns 5IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 7SO
Pitches: SUS: Stone 95; MMI: Burns 95, Drobnock 23
Records: SUS 5-14; MMI 7-14
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