Michael Vanness took the mound for the Meteors in the home opener against Mt. View. PHOTO BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Blue Ridge first baseman Evan Aldrich has the ball securely in his glove in a throw from shortstop Jake Decker as the Lackawanna Trail runner is called safe. STAFF PHOTO/STACI WILSON
Nick Henry beats the tag at the plate by Mountain View’s Ed Bognatz in the Montrose home opener on Tuesday, April 14. PHOTO BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
BY HEIDI ZENEFSKI
Sports Correspondent
The Montrose baseball team started the season strong last week, collecting three Division IV wins last week.
In the opener at Elk Lake, Montrose scored nine of its 16 runs in the sixth inning. The game was called in the sixth for the 10-run rule.
RJ Arnold doubled into left field in the third; with Andreas Mittman following with a single, and Benninger reaching first on a fielding error.
A triple by Hunter Traver drove in the three and put the first runs on the board. Traver then scored on a sacrifice by Nick Henry.
Chris Lee scored in the fourth for Montrose on a RJ Arnold hit.
Ty Moon replaced Zach Groover on the mound for the Warriors in the fifth.
Henry hit a long double to left field to bring in Jerauld for the RBI. Stankiewicz got on base with an error; and Lee hit a single to left field and then advanced to second and earned an RBI when Henry scored.
At bat for Elk Lake, Moon singled in the fifth inning.
Montrose exploded in the 6th.
With Mittman on base with a single, and Benninger on a walk, Traver came to bat. Both runners scored off a throwing error.
With Bryden Jerauld and Traver on base, Henry singled to load the bases. Ethan Stankiewicz followed at the plate, and drew a walk, sending Traver home for the score.
Lee singled into deep to left field and earned two RBI’s as both Henry and Stankiewicz crossed home plate.
Caleb Ely took over the pitching duty for Elk Lake with two runners on base and one out.
Watkins hit a single and brought home Stankiewicz and Lee.
RJ Arnold and Austin Davis drew walks, loading the bases as Benninger came to the plate. His single scored Watkins, but he was tagged out at second as he tried for the steal.
Another single by Traver brought his sixth RBI of the game when RJ Arnold crossed home plate.
Benninger pitched 5 innings, had 12 strike outs, 1 hit and 2 walks. Lee pitched 1 inning, had 2 strike outs, no hits, and no walks for the Meteors.
Groover pitched 4 innings, had four strike outs, 3 hits, 3 walks, and allowed 5 runs. Moon pitched 1-1/3 innings, had 0 strike outs, 5 hits, 5 walks, and allowed 9 runs. Ely pitched 2/3 of an inning, had 0 strikeouts, 3 hits, 2 walks, and allowed 2 runs for the Warriors.
At home Tuesday, April 14, the Meteors faced Mountain View. Montrose scored four runs in the 6th inning to secure the 7-1 win over the Eagles.
A two-run double by RJ Arnold, an RBI single by Hunter Traver, and a RBI double by Andreas Mittman in the 6th added to the early lead taken by the Meteors in the bottom of the second when Matt Benninger scored on a hit by Arnold.
The Eagles tied the game in the top of the fourth when Ed Bognatz scored, but the Meteors took back the lead in the bottom of the inning when Benninger and Mike Vanness both scored runs.
Ed Bognatz had two hits for Mountain View.
Mike Vanness pitched 6 innings, had 8 strikeouts, 4 hits, 3 walks and allowed 1 run. Chris Lee pitched 1 innings, had 1 strike out,1 hit, and 1 walk for Montrose
Chris White took the loss for Mt. View. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, had 6 strike outs, 7 hits, 6 walks, and allowed 7 runs. Sean Flannery pitched 2/3 of an inning. He had 1 strike out, 2 hits, and 0 walks.
At Montrose, winning pitcher Kyle Watkins threw a one-hitter with five strikeouts and helped his cause with three hits to lead the Meteors to the 10-0 Division IV win over Elk Lake.
Andreas Mittmann went 4 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs, Nick Henry had two hits and drove in two and R.J. Arnold also added two hits for the winners.
In other baseball play action last week, Elk Lake, Forest City, Blue Ridge and Susquehanna all picked up wins.
At Elk Lake, Brandon Traver had two hits, two runs and three RBIs to back winning pitcher Blake Chew, who also had two hits — including a double — and drove in three to lead Elk Lake, 9-8, over Susquehanna.
Griffin Arnold had two RBIs and Ben Townsend had two hits and scored three runs for the Warriors.
Austin Felter drove in two runs and scored three times for Susquehanna.
At Forest City, Dylan O’Dell had two RBIs and scored the game-winning run as the Foresters rallied to score three runs in the seventh and post the Division IV victory over Mountain View, 10-9.
Mitchell Blake went 3 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, Kyle Shema had two hits and two RBIs and Adam Kowalewski drove in two runs for the winners.
Zeb Feduchak doubled and drove in a run and Chris White had two hits and an RBI for Mountain View.
Chris White hit a walk-off two-run double to score Ryan Lavin and Sam Flannery and give Mountain View a 4-3 win over Forest City in a Lackawanna League Division IV baseball game Saturday.
Deon Faramelli doubled for the Eagles and Zeb Feduchak had a hit and an RBI.
Mitchell Blake homered for Forest City.
At Susquehanna, Kalieb Scheideler and Nick Folk had RBI singles in the seventh inning to give Blue Ridge a Division IV, 2-0, win over the Sabers.
Jake Decker tossed a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts to earn the win for the Raiders.
Austin Felter doubled for Susquehanna.
At Blue Ridge, Kasey Burdick had three hits, including a double, and drove in two runs to lead Susquehanna, 8-5, over the Raiders.
Winning pitcher Christian Miller also had two RBIs for the Sabers.
Tre Hillard had a single and a double and two RBIs for Blue Ridge.
Blue Ridge also fell to Lackawanna Trail, 9-3, on Friday.
At Blue Ridge, Tyler Baltrusaitis had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two to lead Lackawanna Trail.
Derek Stento had three hits for Blue Ridge.
Times-Shamrock staff writers contributed to this report.
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