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North Penn baseball claims third state title

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Rain and lightning, along with two late rallies by Wyoming Valley West, could not stop North Penn from claiming state gold.

In the PIAA Class AAAA Baseball Final, Jake Schuster, left, of North
Penn is congratulated by teammate Mike Christy after scoring in the
2nd inning at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on June 12, 2015. This gave
North Penn a 2-0 lead over Wyoming Valley.   (Charles Fox/ Staff
Photographer)
In the PIAA Class AAAA Baseball Final, Jake Schuster, left, of North Penn is congratulated by teammate Mike Christy after scoring in the 2nd inning at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on June 12, 2015. This gave North Penn a 2-0 lead over Wyoming Valley. (Charles Fox/ Staff Photographer)Read more

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Rain and lightning, along with two late rallies by Wyoming Valley West, could not stop North Penn from claiming state gold.

After a delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes in the PIAA Class AAAA final Friday night, the Knights, buoyed by another workmanlike effort from pitcher James Witner, held off the Spartans, 4-3, in eight innings at Penn State's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Pinch-runner Ryan Bealer scored the decisive run, racing home from second on the throwing error by reliever Tyler Yankosky that followed Anthony Cameron's check-swing single in front of the mound.

In raising his season record to 8-1, Witner, a little-used hurler last season, tossed an eight-hitter with three strikeouts.

"This was a crazy one, but, oh my gosh, we just gutted it out," North Penn coach Kevin Manero said. "James did an awesome job. Really never gave any indication that he wanted to come out of this game. We kept him warm during the rain delay and he just pitched his heart out."

Valley West (17-2), which came in averaging 6.3 runs per game, fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. The District 2 champions forced extra play on Justin Vought's two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

North Penn (23-4), which won four straight after bowing to Council Rock North in the District 1 final, captured its second state championship in three seasons and third overall.

With the Knights up by 2-0, the game was stopped in the bottom of the fifth. When play resumed with the bases loaded and two out, the Spartans evened things on Witner's errant pickoff throw to first.

North Penn went back in front in the sixth. Jake Schuster's RBI single to left scored Jared Melone (leadoff single to right-center) from third.

The Knights grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. Leadoff man Mike Christy doubled to left-center, moved to second on Alex Peterson's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Mason Nadeau's fielder's choice groundout.

North Penn's second-inning tally was courtesy of a fielding error. Jake Schuster reached base on the third baseman's bobble and late throw, and scored on Matt Marino's fielder's choice.

A huge fourth-inning defensive play denied the Spartans a run. Courtesy runner Dillon Yuhas, trying to score from second on Mark Baron's two-out single to right, was scratched on a relay throw from Zach Zeigler to first baseman Douglas Apple to catcher Matt Marino.

Melone was a major catalyst down the stretch. The La Salle recruit batted .456 with 35 RBIs.

Wyoming Valley West 000 020 10 - 3 8 2

North Penn 110 001 01 - 4 8 1

WP: James Witner. LP: Tyler Yankosky. 2B: NP-Mike Christy. 3B: NP-Jared Melone.

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