SHAMOKIN - Shamokin-Mount Carmel entered Monday on a five-game losing streak
By the end of the day, the team had a winning streak of two, defeating Line Mountain 5-4 in the completion of a suspended game from earlier in the season, then scoring an 8-3 decision over the same team in a regularly scheduled game.
To start off the day, S-MC and Line Mountain completed a game that was suspended by darkness in a 4-4 tie after nine innings on June 20. It didn't take long to find a winner the second time as Zach Tocylosky scored on a Paul Gurba hit and the defense held on in the bottom of the 10th.
The second game started much slower for Shamokin-Mount Carmel. The team fell behind 1-0 in the
top of the first, started to put together some offense in the bottom of the second, but could only muster one run.
However, in the third, the offense found ways to score. Six runs were put on the board by S-MC, starting off with an inside-the-park home run by Bret Williams. From there the team followed William's lead.
"We built up our confidence. We were sitting and waiting and finally it just exploded," coach Rob Sopko said. "Guys were confident. They were following the leader."
After Williams' run to give S-MC the lead, four of the next five hitters reached base and all scored runs. Austin Joraskie, Paul Gurba and Josiah Miller all recorded RBIs.
The team kept the inning alive long enough to bat around the order, and Williams recorded an RBI on his second visit to the plate in the third. Line Mountain got the rally stopped when Austin Fry popped out after Williams' second at-bat.
From there, S-MC stayed the course on defense, allowing only two runs in the final four innings. Brady Michael cut the lead to 7-2 when he knocked in Austin Snyder in the fourth.
In the sixth, Fry scored on a single from Jake Jones to give Shamokin-Mount Carmel its eighth run.
Heading into the seventh, Tyler Thompson, after taking over for Tocyloski on the mound in the third, had pitched the previous four innings. Thompson faced the first five batters in the seventh, but Sopko decided to make a switch on the mound, putting Jones in for the final out.
"[Thomspon] was high in the pitch count. These are important games. You don't want to risk him getting hurt," Sopko said. "He did his job. [Tocyloski] pitched well. They all did the job they needed to do."
Jones gave up one run before Shamokin-Mount Carmel recorded an out and won its second game of the day.
With two games left in the regular season, S-MC now changes its focus from making playoffs, to seeding within playoffs, which start Thursday.
Sopko believes with how Monday went for the team, there's plenty of positives to focus on in the tail end of the season.
"We need to build on the momentum of tonight and keep fighting, which we always do," Sopko said. "This is a good way to start."