DANVILLE - Shamokin-Mount Carmel's Cinderella run through the Susquehanna Valley American Legion League playoffs ended Sunday, but not without one final effort.
Four days after upsetting top-seeded Danville 1-0 in the first round of the tournament, Shamokin-Mount Carmel dropped a 9-5 decision to the same team, but for a team which was 3-13 in the regular season, going 2-2 in this tournament was an achievement. It took a pair of three-run homers, one in the seventh inning and another in the ninth, to beat them in their other loss.
To the end, Shamokin-Mount Carmel battled. Trailing 9-1 going into the final inning, the losers scored four runs on three hits, including a two-run double by Brett Przekop. That rally finally chased Danville winning pitcher Scott Heeter, who was more efficient than spectacular, giving up six hits, striking out one and walking three.
Shamokin starting pitcher John Rimokaitis, who shut out Danville last Wednesday, got the start again but wasn't as sharp. He worked three innings, gave up six hits and three runs, two earned, but left trailing only 3-1.
"Rimo wasn't as sharp as he was the other day," said Shamokin-Coal Township Manager Joe Varano. "We had to use him for two-thirds of an inning the other night up in Berwick (a 12-8 win) too."
Danville (13-4-1), which plays Selinsgrove tonight for a chance to play Sunbury-Norry, which is 2-0 in the tournament, took control of the game with a five-run fourth inning. Anthony Renz, who was one of five Danville players with multiple hits, had the big hit of the frame, a three-run home run, which scored Cody Herman and Andrew Andreychik ahead of him. Herman, Andreychik, Jeff Ross and Kevin Hahn joind Renz, who also drove in a run with a single, in the multiple hit club.
Hahn was 3-for-4.
"We had a stretch of three or four games where we didn't hit much," said Danville Manager Harold Albertson. "It kind of all came back in one day today. It was good to have Renz back in the lineup. That was a big plus for us."
Shamokin-Coal Township took a 1-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly by Brody Young, which scored Ryan Burns, who singled. But Heeter held the team in check until the final inning. Young led that inning off with a walk, and Mike Shinskie also walked. Paul Gurba was safe on a fielder's choice, and after a flyout by Corey Langton, Przekop, batting for the first time, hit a two-run double to left. Austin Fry walked, and Theo Deptula and Burns followed with run-scoring singles.
That prompted Albertson to bring in Cody Cooper to close the game out for Heeter, which he did by striking out pinchhitter Tyler Spears.
"It was a little too late," said Varano. "But I'm really proud of these kids. We had three or four games in the regular season that we could have won except for a bad inning here and there. They're good kids and they play the game the right way."
SHAMOKIN-COAL TOWNSHIP (AB-R-H-BI) - Malett 0-0-0-0, Kosmer 3-0-0-0, Langton 1-0-0-0, Grinaway 3-0-0-0, Przekop 1-1-1-2, Fry 2-1-0-0, Deptula 4-0-3-1, Burns 4-1-2-1, Rimokaitis 2-0-0-0, Spears 1-0-0-0, Young 0-1-0-1, Bressi 2-0-0-0, Shinskie 0-0-0-0, Gurba 3-1-0-0. Total 26-5-6-5.
DANVILLE (AB-R-H-BI) - Herman 4-2-2-0, Andreychik 4-1-2-1, Renz 4-2-2-4, Cooper 2-2-1-0, Ross 2-0-2-1, Lupini 1-0-0-0, Gallagher 4-1-1-1, Hahn 4-0-3-0, Jenkins 1-1-0-0, Heeter 0-0-0-0, Creasy 3-0-0-0. Total 29-9-13-7.
Shamokin-Coal Twp, 010 000 4 - 5 6 1
Danville 012 501 x - 9 13 1
2B: Przekop; Cooper, Hahn. HR: Renz, Gallagher.
IP H R ER BB K
Shamokin-C.T.
Rimokaitis (L) 3 6 3 2 2 2
Fry .1 4 5 5 3 0
Burns 2.2 3 1 1 1 4
Danville
Heeter (W) 6.2 6 5 5 3 1
Cooper .1 0 0 0 0 1