® shut out § Section 2 Wednesday, May 29, 1996 Diefienbacher “leaps to elite level By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer JACKSON TOWNSHIP - Brad Dieffenbacher had dreams of be- ing a runner when he first joined the Lake-Lehman junior high track and field team in seventh grade. That didn't exactly work out; his speed didn’t quite match up to the other sprinters on the roster. He did not get discouraged, however, Brad felt all along that he could make a significant con- tribution to the track squad. At one practice session he decided to tag along after another teammate mentioned he was going to be working on some jumping. It was then that Brad figured out how he could really help the Black Knights program as well as make a name for himself. With some encour- agement from the coaching staff, he began his career as a jumper. “I really like jumping,” said Dieffenbacher, a member of the junior class, “but it wasn't like I planned on being a jumper.” His legs may not possess world class speed, but they certainly do have a lot of spring to them. The move to becoming a jumper has paid off and then some. This past weekend, Bran won the state sil- ver medal in the high jump. He recorded a jump of 6'7” at the AA level to finish behind Brian Rich- ard of Palisades High School. Af- ter finishing second each of the nights Igers By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer e After making sure the Lady Knights went out as winners in their final AAA game with her arm and bat, Kim Spencer pitched them to their final AAA-North championship. Spencer flirted with a no-hitter through six and a third, settling for a one-hit shutout as Lehman took the division with a 2-0 Me- morial Day victory over Tunkhannock. The two schools split a pair of games during the regular season and finished tied for first at 12-4. The win allowed the Lady Knights the opportunity to battle Lackawanna League champion Abington Heights (13-1) in a Dis- trict 2, AAA semi-final at Dunmore's Schautz Stadium yes- terday. Results were unavailable at press time. Spencer struck out four and allowed just two Tiger base run- ners, a second inning walk and Ryan Purdy’s bloop single in the seventh. “Kim established her fastball almost immediately,” head coach Flossie Finn said. That was evident as Tunkhannock has a hard time pulling the ball, usually ground- ing out to Spencer or the right side. Spencer picked up six as- sists while second baseman Jen Johnstone recorded five more as Lehman played a flawless game defensively. “Today they played as well as | wanted them to play,” Finn said. “We've overcome injuries and there was some dignity on the line for this game. We were winning the whole season, but it came down to this. The girls rose to the occa- sion.” Lehman managed just four hits themselves. Darby Wolfe knocked home Ziomek with a single through the left side of the infield in the sixth. Kim Spencer scored from second later in the inning when Diane Alters dumped a 2- and-2 pitch toleft. Ziomek was 2- for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice. last two years, Richard won the competition with a jump of 6’ 8". “I was happy for him, finally winning as. a “senior,” Dieffenbacher said. “He's a real good jumper and may have been able to get 6’ 10." Besides going laterally over the high bar, Brad, the son of Scott and Pat Dieffenbacher of Jackson Township, thrives on the triple jump. Brad also came to the aid of the Black Knight club by par- ticipating in the long jump on two occasions this spring. Before the year began Brad owned a junior high district silver medal for his efforts in the high jump and picked up a bronze at the varsity level after a very suc- cessful sophomore season last year. With a personal best of 6’ 2" coming into the spring, Brad was focused on beating the school record of 6’ 3", by about three inches or so. He was also shoot- ing for a first at districts and placing in the triple jump. See DIEFFENBACHER, pg 10 RFE 3% The Dallas Post ’ [RE Segre POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Brad Dieffenbacher sported the silver medal he won in the high jump at the state championship track meet. SportsWeek Playoff roundup —— By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer The thoughts of most folks Fri- day afternoon centered around the three day holiday weekend and how to enjoy the extra time away from work. But athletes and coaches from Dallas and Lake-Lehman were busy focusing their talents on how to get more work. Games were still to be played in six of the seven spring sports. Whether qualifiers, the end of the regular season, or district playoff action, a loss in every case meant something no one wanted - an extended vaca- tion until next spring. Baseball Lake-Lehman 15, Riverside 2 The Lehman baseball team got a jump on the weekend with a Friday afternoon 15-2 win over Riverside at Artillery Park in Kingston. The District 2, Class AA semi-final game was called after five innings due to the 10- run rule employed by high school baseball. Led by three apiece from senior co-captains John Oliver and Mike Adamshick, the Black Knights banged out twelve hits and put the game away with a nine-run fourth. | Adamshick knocked home six runs, half of those courtesy of a three-run blow during the fourth inning rally. Oliver went 3-for-3 atthe plate and scored four times. Third baseman Tom Fostock also had a perfect afternoon at the plate and finished with 3 ribbies. Junior hurler Geoff Engle picked up the win with four in- nings of work. He allowed two - runs on five hits while fanning six Riverside batters. The Knights (15-2) will battle the Lackawanna League's top seed Dunmore (14-1) for the district AA title and a state playoff berth, at Lackawanna County Multi-Pur- pose Stadium, 5 p.m. Thursday. Hazleton 3, Dallas 2 With seven seniors - two of whom will continue to play colle- giate baseball at the Division I level - leading the way, the Dallas baseball season wasn't supposed to end this early in the playoffs, not like this. Dallas, the first place team in AAA-II lost Friday's district qualifying game, 3-2, to Hazleton the second place team from AAA-I of the Wyoming Valley Conference. “We had a great season,” said Dallas coach Jack Wolensky. “We took the division championship; these kids have a lot to be proud of.” ] Despite sending 36 men to the plate over the course of seven innings, the Mountaineers only had two runs to show for their efforts as they left the bases loaded three times. While the Cougars were in- volved in their fourth game since Monday, Dallas was playing for the first time in eight days. Nev- ertheless Dallas was uptight, com- mitting several blunders on the base paths. “We couldn't pick up the big hit,” said Wolensky, “but our base running really hurt us.” Dallas tied the game at one in the third when Rich Klick scored More ROUNDUP, pg 10 POST PHOTOS/RON BARTIZEK Photos from the Lehman/ Tunkhannock game Monday, clockwise from top left: Winning pitcher Kim Spencer showed her joy at the end of Monday's game. Nikki Newell robbed Tunkhannock of a hit with a running grab in short center. Kacy Ziomek made it safely back to first base, then stole second on the next pitch. While it looked like she was out, she was called safe LITTLE LEAGUE RESULTS Yankees 6, A's 3 Yankees continue to control the American League Division by beat- ing the A's behind the strong pitch- ing of Bob Gebhardt. Gebhardt had 15 strike outs while giving up only 4 hits. The hits for the A's were by Adam Tkacayk and Bobby Zaruta. Hits collected by the Yan- kees were by Jeff Emanuel with a double and triple, John Pambianco a double, and Gebhardt with two hits including a double. Dodgers 13, Astros 3 The Dodgers expanded their lead in the National Division pick- ing up their ninth win with one loss handing the Astros their sixth loss. Josh Bryant and Eric Kowalek shared the win from the mound with 12 strike outs. Scott Lozo lead the Dodgers with two hits while Eric Kowalek hit a double in the fourth inning clear- ing the bases to open the lead to five runs exhausing the Astros pitching staff. Ricky Branco had a triple for the Astros while Justin Sayre was two for three at the plate. Indians 10, Reds 6 Dan Ungvarsky collected the win from the mound. Jim Jordan, Mike Yenason, and Mike Fehlinger, all had three hits for the winners with Ungvarsky and Josh Rice adding doubles. Mike English hit a double for the Reds. Dodgers 3, Red Sox 2 The game was decided in the sixth inning when Josh Bryant hit a triple into right field scoring two runs to place the Dodgers over the Red Sox. David Lohin and Luke Miller gave up only three hits to the Dodgers, Eric Kowalek, a double, and Bryant a single and triple. Luke Miller and Chris Haves had doubles for the Red Sox. Cardinals 13, Reds 12 Winning pitcher for the Cards was Ryan Kellager. Hitting to sup- port the win was Brian Downey with three hits including a homer, Andrew Dale, four hits, and Greg Mascioli. The Reds had four bat- ters with multiple hits, Jesse Danoff, Blake Saba, Mike English, and Chris Eckert. Neil Buchman added a hit with two RBI's in the game. Pirates 4, Giants 3 Jordan Kozlosky pitched the win for his team while getting two hits at the bat. Jordy Spencer assisted Kozlosky with a triple in the game. Jim Belles pitched 11 strikeouts but the Giants didn't hold off the scoring of their oppo- nents in the defeat. A’s 16, Tigers Paul Saxon pitched a complete game with 11 strike outs to collect the win. He also had three hits along with Adam Tkaczyk and Jeff Dixon. John Simonitis was 2- for-2 with a home run for the Tigers. Phillies 11, Pirates 5 The Phillies picked up the win behind the hitting and pitching of Joel Lesinski. Mark Kapitual as- sisted with two hits and John Pineno added a double for the Phillies. David Suszko had two hits for the Pirates. Rangers 13, Tigers 10 The Rangers built an 8-1 lead through the first three innings then held on to pick up their 7th win. Tim Faneck and Shawn Whalen each had a pair of hits to help Rangers’ starting pitcher Ryan MacMillian with the win. Matt Katyl lead the Tigers with a single and double, John Simonitis had a pair of hits, and Tommy Dougal added a double. Giants 8, Astros 11 Chip Harrison pitched four in- nings with six strike outs and Joe Yankoski picked up the save with four strike outs to hold off the Giants in five innings. Jim Belles was instrumental for the Giants in scoring five of the eight runs with a grand slam in the second inning and going 2-for-3 at the plate with another RBI. Jamie Rhodes led the continuous bat- ting attack from the Astros going 3-for-3 with a double. Wally Karl, Stephen Luksh and Joe Yankoski also went 2-for-3 with Harrison and Yankoski hitting doubles in the game. Indians 12, Rangers 6 The Indians erupted for sixruns in the seventh inning to garner their fifth win. Jimmy Jordan had a pair of hits and picked up the win in relief of starting pitcher John Shultz who struck out 10 in the first five innings. Jon Barbose had a home run for the winners. Ranger reliever Tim Faneck fanned 14 over the last 6 innings and also starred at the plate with 4 hits. Mike Darling had 2 hits and Ryan MacMillian added a double for the Rangers.
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