Section 2 ® Wednesday, May 25 1994 By DAVE KONOPKI ‘Sports Writer Even while watching his team play one of their worst innings of the season, Dallas baseball coach Jack Wolensky never lost hope. Even though he was watching his best pitcher, and perhaps the best pitcher in the league, take a pounding, his confi- J dence never waivered. And even though he saw a 3-0 lead for his team quickly evaporate into a 7-3 deficit, his faith in his team never aban- doned him. If confidence came with a monetary value, Wolensky would be a very rich man right now. But the Dallas High School baseball team rewarded its coach with something you can never puta price tag on - a thrilling win. And now, a teamrich in character and Pvith a wealth of talent is going to the playoffs. The Mountaineers posted an impres- sive 8-7 win over Tunkhannock Monday at Artillery Park. The two teams finished The Dallas Post SportsWeek the season with identical 12-6 records and had to race each other in a special game to decide the Wyoming Valley Conference second-seed in this week- end'’s District 2 Class AAA playoffs. With the win, Dallas advances to the District 2 Class AAA playoffs and will face Scranton Prep (12-2), the number one seed from the Lackawanna League, on Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be played at Valley View High School. Lake-Lehman, which captured the WVC Division II title last week with an impressive 13-1 record, will be the number one seed from the WVC in the District 2 Class AA playoffs. The Black Knights, under head coach Dwight Bar- bacci, will play Mid Valley (10-6) Friday at 5 p.m. at Hanover High School. “I just thought if we could stop them from scoring in that inning, we would stillhave a chance to win,” said Wolensky, who helplessly watched as Tunkhan- nock scored seven runs in the top of the second inning off Dallas pitching stand- outJeffKunkle. “I know our kids can hit, we've hit the ball well all year long. It was just a matter of stopping them from scoring in that inning.” The Mountaineers showed character by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second and cutting the Tiger margin to 7-5. Kunkle and Brian Brady each had RBI singles in the inning. Senior Jarred Cooney tied the contest in the third with a two-run double to make it 7-7. Dallas continued its offensive attack in the fourth, scoring the winning run in the fourth when Kunkle scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Rich Butcofski. And after the second inning, Kunkle was in total command on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out six in the final five innings. “I really thought he got stronger as the game went on,” said Wolensky, of his sophomore standout. “That's the sign of a good pitcher. He's done the job for us all year long and he rose to the occasion once again.” Wins over Tunkhannock are nothing new to Kunkle this season. The sopho- more righthander tossed a no-hitter against the Tigers in the first week of the season and then came back to beat them two weeks ago. Once again, the third time was the charm. “It's really a testament to Jeff,” said the veteran Dallas coach. “He's beat the defending district champions three times in one season. Tunkhannock has a fine baseball tradition and it's really hard to beat anyone three times in a year, let alone the defending champions.” Even though Kunkle struggled briefly in the contest, the Dallas bats stayed red-hot. The Mounts have scored runs in bunches this season and entered the game with a school-record 19 home runs. Junior Mike Viglone led off the game with the team’s 20th of the year. “I think our first six batters are as good as any in the area,” said Wolensky. “We've really hit the ball well this season, and we've really hit the ball hard. I feel we can hit with any other team around.” Now Dallas, which is one of the small- est Class AAA schools in the region, enters the triple-A playoff waters; un- chartered waters for Dallas in the past five seasons. And once again, Wolensky B® School news HM Classified Bl Calendar may turn the ball over to Kunkle. “Jeff has done the job for us all year. It's totally up to him. Ifhe wants the ball, he'll get it,” said Wolensky, who gave his _ team a day off on Tuesday. “I think it's a real honor to make the playoffs. Now, every game is a do-or-die situation.” If they're going to advance, the Moun- taineers must come ready to play - physi- cally and emotionally. Five of Dallas’s 12 wins this season came against the top two teams in the conference (Tunkhan- nock three times and Class AAA number one seed Wyoming Valley West twice). But there have been times this year when Dallas has had trouble getting emotionally ready to play. “We haven't been up for some of our games,” admitted Wolensky. “Butl think our kids carried an attitude this season that they can beat anyone. It's been a very exciting year. This is a great group of kids and they really play hard. We'll just have to go out and see what happens in the playoffs. I do know one thing, however — our kids will come ready to Major League Girl's Softball | ® League League Overall Standings Record Record Red Sox 5-0 8-0 Dodgers 4-1 8-1 Phillies 3-2 4-2 . Cardinals 1-2 3-2 A’s 0-3 1-5 0-5 0-8 White Sox ) @ Games played the week of May 15: RED SOX 8 - PHILLIES 4 Maria Wright struck out 12 and allowed only four hits to keep the Red Sox undefeated by downing the Phillies 8-4. The Red Sox took control in the third inning when Courtney Bouthot led off with a dD double. Maria Wright smacked a double scoring Bouthot to take a 2-1 lead. Singles by Amanda Stolarick, April Naugle and Sarah Armand along with aggressive base running by the Red Sox raised the score 6-1. The Phillies tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth with hits by Scooter Perlis, Amy Bendy and Jolene Mintzer, but with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Red $ third baseman Jen Noon smothered a ground ball and fired to first baseman April Naugle to end the rally. DODGERS 17 - WHITE SOX 8 Jesse Tarity homered and Sta- cey Amann tripled and singled to keep the Dodgers in second place with a win over the White Sox. Christy Hiller got the win for the ¢ @ Dodgers and had two hits along y with Kourtney Koslosky and Melo- nie Sappe. Carrie Strasser, Katie Guntli, Norah Krakosky and Re- gina Sutton each came up with two hits apiece for the White Sox. HORLACHER YANKEES 21 - WHITE SOX 18 Denise Kovalesky went four for four including a homerun and a ™) @ rirle to get the Yankees in a close one past the White Sox 21-18. Lauren Miller and Denise Kov- elesky shared in the win for the Yankees. Lindsey Faux and Shelley Farber also had two hits each for the Yankees. The White Sox top hitters were Abby Ahmad with a double and a single and Carrie Strasser with two singles. . DODGERS 23 - © WHORLACHER A'S 7 Megan Daney got the win and helped her own cause with astand up triple to beat the Horlacher A's 23-7. Monica Latosek, April Adelson, Kourtney Koslosky, Christy Hiller and Stacey Amann all had two hits each for the Dodgers. Angela Harris had a homerun and a double for the A's and Laura Wasloski and Tiffany Huttes added two hits apiece for v 9. A's. RED SOX 27 - HORLACHER A'S 7 Amanda Stolarick belted out five hits and Julia Chiampi smacked three hits, including a triple to lead the Red Sox past the Horlacher A's. Megan Tribendis, Sarah Stolarick, Maria Wright, | a and Jennifer Noon all had three ¢ hits each. Sarah Stolarick got the | win for the Red Sox. Katie Boice and Laura Makowski had hits for the A's. Safe! POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK An Oriole base runner slid into second a little too late in his team's game against the Dodgers in Back Mountain Little League Major League action Saturday. The Dodgers won 13-8 and are in second place in the National League. BMT Little League Giants, Rangers in top spots MattJackson belted his league- leading fifth home run and the Rangers won their 30th consecu- tive regular-season contest to highlight major league action last week in Back Mountain Baseball. The Rangers, 10-0, remained the lone unbeaten as Back Moun- tain Baseball, Inc. reached the midway point of the season in major league baseball action. The Rangers posted a perfect 20-0 regular season mark last year. In the American League, the Rangers now have a four-game lead over the second-place Tigers, 6-4. The Red Sox 5-5, are the only other AL team to be playing .500 baseball. In the National League, the Giants created some distance between themselves and the rest of the league with a record of 7-2. The Dodgers are just 1/2 game behind at 7-3 while the Phillies, who were within a run of finishing the week with three wins, are two games back at 5-4. All home team managers are reminded to call in their game results to the voicemail box within 24 hours upon completion of their games. The voicemail telephone number is 696-9645. No game results will be accepted after 10 p.m. on Sundays. YANKEES 14 - ASTROS 8 The Yankees who trailed by as many as five runs in the contest, scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning to post a come-from- behind win over the Astros. Brad Fellecialed the Yankees with three hits, including a double and triple. Matt Zinn (triple), Robbie Werner (double), Bob Bradbury (double), and Sean Likon had two hits apiece STANDINGS American National League League Rangers 10-0 Giants 7-2 Tigers 6-4 Dodgers 7-3 Red Sox 5-5 Phillies 5-4 A's 4-6 Reds 5-5 Indians 4-6 Astros 3-7 Orioles 2-8 Cardinals 3-7 Yankees 2-8 Pirates 3-7 for the winners. Kevin Yurko picked up the win, striking out five in going the distance. Mike Stanislow led a balanced Astro attack with two hits while Greg Stanislow and Damien Temper- ine each added a double. ATHLETICS 16 - CARDINALS 13 Matt Jackson belted his fifth home run of the year as the A's held off a furious comeback by the Cardinals. Jackson had two hits while Lloyd Droppers (two doubles), Al Pisaneschi and C.J. Adamchik also had a pair of hits for the winners. Pisaneschi picked up the mound win in relief. Steve Liparella and Mike Tan- ner led the Cardinals, who trailed 11-1 after one inning, with three singles apiece. Pitcavage added a double and single for the Cards while Matt Metz added a pair of singles. RED SOX 5 - REDS 4 Dan Lukasavage had two hits, including a double, as the Red Sox posted an exciting win over the Reds. Dave Spurlin also had two hits for the Red Sox while Luke Miller added a double and Andrew Lohin picked up the mound win. J.C. DeRojas and Dan = hana Laurenzi had two hits apiece for the Red, who left 11 runners on base. Jon Habrack struck out six and allowed no hits in two innings of relief. RANGERS 9 - ASTROS 5 Mike Faneck struck out 14 batters in six innings to lift the Rangers over the Astros. Faneck also had a big day at the plate, banging out two singles and a triple. Darrell Evans added two hits for the Rangers while Matt Wycallis had a double. Lorne Trapani had an outstanding day at the plate for the Astros, collect- ing three of his team’s five hits, including a double. REDS 5 - TIGERS 1 Dan Laurenzi picked up the mound win and Jon Habrack struck out eight batters in three innings to lead the Reds. Blake Saba led the Reds’ offense with two hits while Joey Latosek added a double. Sarah Rogers led a balanced Tiger offense with a double. PIRATES 14 - INDIANS 5 Mike Kashnicki struck out 11 batters in four innings as the Pirates beat the Indians. Dan Fauerbach had adouble and triple to lead the Pirate offense while Adam Pelak had the only other two hits. for the winners. Jesse Stolarcyk, John Nackley, and John Martin had the only hits for the Indians. DODGERS 13 - ORIOLES 8 Colin McHale picked up the mound win and had three hits at the plate to lead the Dodgers. McHale struck out five batters in three innings. Ben Brown had three singles for the Dodgers while See LITTLE LEAGUE, pg 10 play on Friday.” Mounts send ten to state track meet | 7 J By DAVE KONOPKI Sports Writer He paused for a moment, giv- ing careful consideration to each and every word which would fol- low. With the success he's attained over the past nine years, you may think the words would come eas- ily to Bill Kvashay. But now, just a few days after watching his team win their third consecutive District 2 Class AA championship, and just seconds after being asked to describe his feelings for the team, the Dallas High School track and field head coach chose his words with the same precision and professional- ism which has become his coach- ing trademark. “This is a very special group of athletes and this is probably the best overall track team I've ever coached,” said Kvashay, deliver- ing the single sentence thought- fully, slowing, and with genuine feeling. “I've coached other indi- viduals who may have been bet- ter, but as a team, they are the best overall. They work well to- gether and train well together. I've enjoyed every minute of it.” The Mountaineers, 15-0, capped off their first unbeaten season under Kvashay by domi- nating the district championships last week at North Pocono High School. GAR finished a distant second, nearly 35 points behind the Mountaineers, while Meyers finished third. Although it may have been the first time they've finished the season unbeaten, it was the fourth title for the Mountaineers since Kvashay took over the program nine years ago. In addition to the district title, 10 Dallas athletes qualified for this weekend's PIAA Track and Field State Champion- ships in Shippensburg. Making the trip will be the Mounts’ 4x800relay team of Brian Crispell, John Crispell, Mike To- masura and Bill Appel. Also, Sean Callahan (triple jump/100-meter dash), Adam Hoover (pole vault), Dave Townsend (shot put /discus) and Jason Pieczynski (high jump) each earned a trip to state's. On the girls’ side, twin sisters Robin and Stacey Suda will represent the Dallas girls’ team in State College. Robin, a sophomore, captured the district gold in the high jump while Stacey will com- pete in the 800-meter run. It was a team performance by the Mountaineers in the district championships, highlighted by Hoover's performance in the pole vault. The junior broke the dis- trict record with avault of 13'41/ 2", beating the previous mark of 13-3. “It was a solid team perform- ance,” said Kvashay, of his team's showing at districts. “The kids rose to the occasion and we came through in places where it was kind of sunexpected. Jason (Pieczynski) finished third in the long jump and Buddy (Dallas junior Buddy Rhodes) finished fourth in the high jump. Those events are not their strongest, but they still did very well in them and gave us more team points. “I thought Adam stole the show,” said the Dallas coach of Hoover's record-setting vault. . the event. “And Dave Townsend did a great job for us. I think we still would have had a good season, but I don't think we could have been undefeated if it wasn't for guys like Dave.” In addition to Hoover and Townsend, Kvashay was quick to praise the efforts of Dallas ath- letes who were strong all season. “Sean Callahan was our MVP in terms of points scored,” said Kvashay of the versatile junior who competed in relays, triple jump, long jump and sprints. “He's a total team player and one of the most unselfish kids I've ever coached.” es Kvashay, who also coaches Dallas’ cross-country team and who built the Dallas indoor track program from scratch into one of the most repsected in the state, also heaped adulation on the team’s motivational leader - Greg Hodne. “We really benefited from the leadership of Greg Hodne,” said Kvashay of the junior, an out- standing sprinter who missed qualifying for the state meet in the 100-meter dash by one-tenth of a second. Hodne will serve as an alternate for the Mountaineers on the relay team at the state meet. “He assumed a leadership role during the season and took over the role of motivating the team and bringing the kids closer to- gether. Every successful team needs a person like Greg Hodne.” The only dark cloud on an otherwise bright day during dis- tricts was the outcome of the Dallas 4x100 relay team. The team, consisting of Hodne, Bob Lorah, Joe Ankenbrand and Cal- lahan, established itself as one of the best in the state during the indoor track season and at the Shippensburg Invitational Track meet last month. But Anken- brand, an outstanding athlete in many events, suffered a hamstring pull and wasn't close to 100 per- cent for the district meet. Still, the junior displayed a gutsy, courageous performance and, with his leg heavily taped, ran in Despite the obvious injury, the relay team missed qualifying for the state champion- ships by just one-tenth of a sec- ond and Ankenbrand came away from the district competition with two silver medals. The Mountaineers now have their sights set on State College and bringing home some hard- ware. “Our goal is to go to states and come back with some medals,” said Kvashay. The top six finish- ers in each event will earn a medal. “I think we have a better than even chance of winning some medals. The pressure was on us all season. I think everyone, in- cluding myself, was expecting us to go undefeated. I'm really happy with this team. You don't get a mixture of talent like we have this year very often, especially at this (Class AA) level. You can't expect a school of this size to produce track teams like this year in and year out. But then again, thisis a very special group of athletes.” Lake-Lehman will be repre- sented at states by Amy Comly, who had an outstanding regular season. She qualified for both the 200 and 400 meter dash. | For Dallas, three wins and they're in pla yoffs
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