DISTRICT 2 BASEBALL: Pittston Area topples Abington Heights in 5A semis

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — Pittston Area seized momentum immediately in the District 2-4 Class 5A Baseball subregional semifinals and Abington Heights never recovered.

Chase Montigney's grand slam capped a five-run first inning and Silvio Giardina threw a one-hit shutout as the Patriots beat the Comets, 10-0, in five innings Friday afternoon at Abington Heights High School.

Third-seeded Pittston Area (18-4) advances to the final Tuesday at 6 p.m. at PNC Field against top-seeded Selinsgrove (18-2), which defeated Wallenpaupack in the other semifinal, 10-4. It is a rematch of last year's subregional final, which the Seals won in eight innings, 5-3.

Abington Heights, the No. 2 seed, ends its season at 18-4.

"We knew who we were facing, we knew what we had to do and we were prepared for it," Pittston Area coach Paul Zaffuto said. "Our guys had quality swings. Our objective was to put the ball in play and not strike out, not hit lazy fly balls. Extend the innings and that's exactly what we did."

Things started well for Abington Heights as starting pitcher Nick Bradley retired the first two hitters.

But, Giardina walked on a 3-2 pitch. Elijah Barr walked and, after a wild pitch advanced Giardina to third, Jake Aftewicz singled to score Giardina to make it 1-0.

Beau Widdick walked to load the bases and bring up Montigney. He rocketed a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field fence for a grand slam and a 5-0 Patriots lead.

"First pitch I saw was a ball," Montigney said. "After their mound visit, I knew he would try to attack me. I thank my coaches for the preparation going up to the box knowing he had to attack me with the bases loaded and two outs. I got my fastball and just tried not to miss it."

Bradley said he just wasn't able to get ahead in the count that inning.

"It stinks, but that's baseball," Bradley said. "Just have to keep strong and get back next year.

"It was awesome playing with everybody this year. The seniors really brought us together. It was probably one of the most special groups I've played with. Everybody supports you and everybody wants it just as bad as you do, which was pretty awesome. It was a pretty good accomplishment getting to this point."

Montigney didn't think he would be playing this season. The junior had Tommy John surgery in January and Friday was just his third game back.

"It's a great feeling," Montigeny said. "I thank my teammates and coaches for believing in me and helping me prepare to get back. This year, I didn't think I'd be able to play at all. But with hard work and grinding through physical therapy, I was able to get back."

Giardina certainly was glad Montigney was back. He had a five-run cushion before even taking the mound.

"That meant the world. My teammates came through," Giardina said. "They had some really good at-bats, hit the ball well. Pitching with the team means a lot. A lot better than pitching down."

In the top of the third, Pittston Area extended its lead to 7-0. With one out, Montigney singled and Richard Tonte walked. A wild pitch advanced the runners one base and Drew DeLucca brought them home with a two-out single.

Bradley pitched three innings and allowed seven runs on five hits with five walks and two strikeouts.

"Nick competes every pitch out there. I'd take 100 of him," Abington Heights coach Bill Zalewski said. "In baseball, you're going to have days where you just don't have your best stuff. Today just happened to be one of those days."

Reese Zalewski relieved and Pittston Area got three more runs in the top of the fourth. Two hit batsmen and an error on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases. With one out, Montigney walked to force home a run. Tonte had an RBI single and Elijah Mead had a run-scoring fielder's choice to make it 10-0.

Jake Lenahan singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth for Abington Heights' first hit. However, after a fielder's choice, Giardina got an inning-ending double play. He then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth to finish off the victory.

"I just listened to my pitching coach, coach (John) Richards. He knows everything," Giardina said. "Whatever he calls, I throw. Fastball was hitting, slider was on, knuckleball was mixing in. Everything was there."

Getting to the final is special for Giardina, who missed last year's championship game with a knee injury.

"It was a personal goal of mine," Giardina said. "We got there last year and came up short. This year, we're looking to do a little something different."

Pittston Area 10, Abington Heights 0

Pittston Area 502 300 0 — 10

Abington Heights 000 000 0 — 0

WP: Silvio Giardina 5IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 3SO

LP: Nick Bradley 3IP, 5H, 7R, 7ER, 5BB, 2SO

HR: Chase Montigney (PA).

Records: PA 18-4; AH 18-4

Pitches: PA: Giardina 52; AH: Bradley 81, Zalewski 24, Weinberg 18