SHAMOKIN - Shamokin-Mount Carmel's American Legion season ended in rough fashion Wednesday.
Playing with only nine players for the second straight night in the Susquehanna Valley League playoffs, and with several players out of position defensively, Shamokin-Mount Carmel committed eight errors, six in the the first three innings, and dropped a 15-10 decision to West Snyder, for their second loss in the double elimination tournament.
Shamokin-Mount Carmel dropped an 11-1 decision to Danville on Tuesday in a game in which the team started with nine players but had to finish with eight after an injury sidelined outfielder Cory Langton.
"It's disappointing considering what we did in the playoffs last year, and the fact that we were only playing with nine players," said Shamokin-Mount Carmel coach Joe Varano. "I don't begrudge kids going on vacation but we also had some kids who just didn't show up. We had a few kids who were at every game, and that's it. I feel bad for those kids because when we had everybody, we were as good as any team in the league.
"What happened tonight was we had kids out of position. I pitched (Zach) Tocyloski because he was our best pitcher all year and you don't get beat in the playoffs without pitching your best. But pitching him hurt us defensively, and once we made
a couple of errors early, we started to play scared a little. What makes it bad is that we beat this team twice."
Amazingly, Tocylosky gave up 10 runs in three innings, not one of which was earned. Of West Snyder's 15 runs, only three were earned.
To be fair, West Snyder only dressed nine players as well, but got a gritty, if not pretty, pitching performance from Zach Mast. Mast worked into the sixth inning and only gave up five hits, but he walked eight batters and was hurt by some errors from his team, too. His 15-5 lead going into the sixth dwindled to 15-10 but relievers Eli Stem and Ryan Combs combined to snuff the rally out.
"We could have given up after it was what, 12-5, but we fought back," said Varano. "But it was a sloppy game."
Shamokin-Mount Carmel committed four errors in the second inning as West Snyder scored five runs, then committed two more in the next inning, leading to five more runs. The winners scored two runs on suicide squeezes, and Mast had a three-run triple to help himself in the third, then scored on a single by Nick Lorenz. Lorenz was 3-for-5, scored two runs and drove in three, and Mast was 2-for-4, scored two and drove in four.
Nobody had more than one hit for Shamokin-Mount Carmel, but seven different players drove in runs, with Ryan Burns, who pitched in relief of Tocyloski, driving in two. Jake Jones and Brody Young each hit doubles.
"Our plan was to get Zach a lead and then bring in Ryan, but it didn't work out that way," Varano said.
Shamokin-Mount Carmel finished the season 7-13 overall. West Snyder plays at Catawissa tonight.
Game Summary
WEST SNYDER (AB-R-H-BI) - Lorenz 5-2-3-3, Combs 5-0-1-0, Conahan 4-1-1-1, Zimmerman 4-2-1-1, Lesh 3-2-1-1, Snook 4-2-1-0, Eberle 3-1-0-1, Stem 3-3-1-1, Mast 4-2-2-4. Totals 35-15-11-12.
SHAMOKIN-MOUNT CARMEL (AB-R-H-BI) - Deptula 4-1-0-0, Pupo 3-2-1-1, Burns 5-1-1-2, Lesko 3-1-0-1, Jones 4-0-1-0, Young 3-1-1-1, Tocyloski 1-1-0-1, Rodarmel 2-1-0-1, Craft 3-2-1-1. Totals 28-10-5-8.
WS 055 113 0 - 15 11 6
S-MC 140 005 0 - 10 5 8
Extra-base hits: 2B - Snook; Young, Jones. 3B - Mast.
IP H R ER BB K
WS
Mast (W) 5 5 10 8 8 3
Stem .1 0 0 0 1 1
Combs 1.2 0 0 0 0 1
S-MC
Tocyloski (L) 3 5 10 0 2 2
Burns 4 6 5 3 6 3