DISTRICT 2 BASEBALL: Peifer's gem leads Wallenpaupack past West Scranton in 9

SCRANTON — For eight innings, Wallenpaupack’s Eli Peifer and West Scranton’s A.J. Levandoski matched zeroes in a masterful pitching duel.

After the Invaders ‘ lone mistake allowed the Buckhorns to score in the top of the ninth, Peifer finished off his complete-game gem for a 2-0 victory in the District 2-4 Class 5A subregional quarterfinals Wednesday at Battaglia-Cawley Field.

Wallenpaupack (12-9), the No. 4 seed, advances to the semifinals Friday at 4:30 p.m. at top-seeded Selinsgrove (17-2).

“A.J. is a stud, we knew that coming in. He’s struck a lot of guys out this year,” Peifer said. “He came after us and I knew I had to match him and pitch better. I matched him.”

This was the third time this season Peifer faced West Scranton and Wallenpaupack won those three games, two in extra innings. Peifer’s combined numbers: 2-0 with a 0.32 ERA. In 22⅓ innings, he allowed three runs (one earned) and 10 hits with three walks and 25 strikeouts.

On Wednesday, he threw 95 pitches in nine innings, 61 for strikes. He allowed two singles, walked one, struck out 10 and hit one batter. He retired 21 of the final 22 hitters he faced.

“Coming into the game, I knew I had a couple pitches in my repertoire that I wanted to come after them with,” Peifer said. “This was the third time I’ve thrown against them and gone almost the whole way. I knew I had to change something, so I just tried to throw everything for a strike and attack them early.

“I just trusted my stuff, trusted my guys, trusted my coaches and especially trusted Jordan (Santiago) behind the plate. I’ve pitched with him since I was eight years old. He knows what I’m throwing before he even calls the pitch.”

After striking out the side in the bottom of the first, Peifer allowed a one-out single to Levandoski and a two-out single to John Grasso in the second. But he got a strikeout to end the inning.

Anderson Hidalgo worked a four-pitch walk to open the bottom of the third and was sacrificed to second by T.J. Giannetti. But Peifer struck out the next two hitters to squash that chance.

“I knew I had to strike the next guy out,” Peifer said. “I had to do a big thing there and strike the guy out and I did. I was very happy about that.”

The only West Scranton (13-8) batter to reach the rest of the game was Marc Russo, who was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the eighth.

“He just kept us off-balance, was in good command of his pitches and kept hitting his spots,” West Scranton coach Brian Minich said. “He made us chase balls, got us out of our gameplan a little bit and getting quick innings. We were putting the bat on the ball and they were making plays.

“We went to war with them three times and just fell short with it. Our boys battled and gave us everything. It’s a tough one, heartbreaking.”

Levandoski was doing just as well as Peifer. He allowed no runs and five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in eight innings. When he got Santiago looking to end the top of the first inning, it was his 200th career strikeout.

He also got help from his defense as the Invaders turned three double plays.

Logan Caruso drew a one-out walk in the top of the third, but Levandoski got Gannon Decker to ground into a 6-6-3 double play.

Mark Nilsen struck out to start the top of the fourth, but reached on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch advanced him to second. Jake Holbert then hit a fly ball to right that Russo caught, then made a perfect one-hop throw to third to nail Nilsen trying to tag up and advance.

In the top of the eighth, Peyton Toth led off with a double. Caruso attempted to bunt, but popped it up in foul territory. Catcher Samson Repshis made the catch, then threw to second to double up the pinch-runner.

Hidalgo also made a diving grab of a fly ball hit into shallow left by Toth in the fifth inning.

“I don’t feel like I had my best stuff today, to be honest with you,” Levandoski said. “Early on in the game, I couldn’t locate my off-speed stuff. Once I started settling in, the fastball command was there, the curveball command was there.

“My guys played electric defense behind me. Double plays are a pitcher’s best friend. I loved that. Our bats just didn’t work. But I couldn’t ask for anything more. These guys are my brothers, I love them for life.”

Reaching the 105-pitch limit after eight innings, Levandoski was relieved by Russo. He hit the first two batters he faced, Holbert and Santiago. Greg Van Gorder then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that he beat out for a base hit. When the throw to first was wild, Holbert and Santiago scored to make it 2-0.

That was all Peifer needed. He closed it out with a perfect ninth on nine pitches.

“He’s been unbelievable all year,” Wallenpaupack coach Todd Schmalzle said. “Every game he’s thrown for us, we know we’re going to be in the game.

“He always starts with his fastball and his slider is really tough. I think the biggest difference today was he was able to throw that changeup a couple times down in the zone and get guys to chase.”

Now, Wallenpaupack will try to get past Selinsgrove and make it to the championship game Tuesday at PNC Field in Moosic. The teams met March 25 with the Seals notching a 9-2 win.

“We played them early in the season and played absolutely terrible against them,” Schmalzle said. “It’s nice to have another shot. We didn’t hit well, we didn’t pitch well, we didn’t field well. It’s a little bit of a redemption game for us.”

Wallenpaupack 2, West Scranton 0

Wallenpaupack 2, West Scranton 0

Wallenpaupack 000 000 002 — 2

West Scranton 000 000 000 — 0

WP: Eli Peifer 9IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 10SO

LP: Marc Russo 1IP, 1H, 2R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO

2B: Peyton Toth (WAL).

Records: WAL 12-9; WS 13-8

Pitches: WAL: Peifer 95; WS: Levandoski 105, Russo 15