Mountain Lions hold senior day in double header against Schuylkill
On Friday, Apr. 19, the Penn State Wilkes-Barre baseball team played on their home field in a double header against Penn State Schuylkill at 2 p.m.
Before starting, the Mountain Lions celebrated their two seniors, #26 Joey Polanowski and #19 Matthew Mager. Polanowski, who plays short stop, will graduate with a degree in electrical engineering technology, and Mager, who pitches and plays first base, will have one in supply chain management.
Game One
The top of the first started with Joey Polanowski scooping a grounder at short stop, then throwing it to #39 freshman Kevin Rivera, who stretched to catch the ball at first. The second out came from the infield fly rule, and the last from a play made by Matthew Mager—who pitched the entire game—at the mound, with a final throw to Rivera at first.
In both the bottom of the first and second innings, the Mountain Lions did not successfully make any runs, but that did not stop them from making plays.
In the top of the second, Polanowski dove into the dirt to field a ball and deliver it to second for the out. Then #9 sophomore Walter Ninotti caught a fly ball in left field, securing the second out. #11 sophomore Andrew Mentzer made a throw down to second, earning Wilkes-Barre its third out for the inning.
Outfielders #12 freshman Michael Volker and #24 Jakob Baltrusaitis contributed to two of the outs in the top of the third, each catching a pop fly in the outfield. #10 freshman Travis Jones fielded a ground ball at third, with a throw to first for another out.
Michael Volker made the first run for the Mountain Lions in the bottom of the third, sliding into home plate. It would be the only run for the inning, but only the start for Wilkes-Barre.
At the top of the fourth, Walter Ninotti got the outs started, catching a fly ball in left field. After getting a ball at short, Joey Polanowski threw the ball to #4 sophomore Enai Fernandez, who tagged second for the out. After getting the overthrow to first from Fernandez, #5 Ethan Bechel sent the ball back to second on a Schuylkill runner trying to steal. Fernandez tagged the runner out in a double play for the third out.
The bottom of the fourth and fifth innings did not result in any runs for Wilkes-Barre.
In the top of the fifth, #6 freshman Jay Shemanski got a ball in the outfield and quickly threw it home to #11 Andrew Mentzer, who tagged the runner out at home plate for the first out. Joey Polanowski got a ground ball to Enai Fernandez at second base for the second out. For the third out, Walter Ninotti caught a pop fly just before it reached the ground, his glove hitting the grass.
Sixth inning's outs started with Travis Jones, who collected the ball between first and the mound, throwing it to first base. Jakob Baltrusaitis made the remaining two outs by catching pop flies in center field.
The majority of the runs for the Mountain Lions would be made in the bottom of the sixth, starting with Andrew Mentzer's hit over second base, securing him safe at first base. Mentzer then slid into second on a steal. Travis Jones got walked, and after the catcher on Schuylkill's team missed a ball, both he and Mentzer stole a base.
Ethan Bechel got an RBI, bringing Andrew Mentzer in for the second run of the game. When Enai Fernandez hit a ground ball and became safe at first, Travis Jones got a chance to make it home for the third run. Walter Ninotti got walked, advancing Fernandez to second. Jakob Baltrusaitis hit to right field, sending Fernandez home. Baltrusaitis ended up stealing second base, and Ninotti confused the catcher and third baseman from tagging him out, resulting in the last run for Wilkes-Barre.
Matthew Mager made the first out in the top of the seventh, getting a grounder on the mound and throwing to Ethan Bechel at first. Walter Ninotti then caught a fly ball in left, and the last out came from Travis Jones, who gathered a grounder at third and made the throw to first. Norunners made it on base for the inning.
Down three runs, the final score was 8-5 Schuylkill. Runs were made by Michael Volker, Andrew Mentzer, Travis Jones, Enai Fernandez, and Walter Ninotti, all with one.
Game Two
Joey Polanowski started with the outs in the first inning after getting a ground ball and throwing it to first. #21 freshman Chris Coyne, the first pitcher in the second game, scooped a bunt and successfully delivered it to Kevin Rivera at first for the second out. Coyne also got the third out by striking out a batter.
No runs would be made for the Mountain Lions until the bottom of the fifth.
At the top of the second, Enai Fernandez got a grounder and threw it to Kevin Rivera for the first out. The second was made by Ethan Bechel, who was the second pitcher of the game, gathering the ball at the mound and thrown to Rivera at first. Jakob Baltrusaitis made the final out on a caught fly ball to center field.
In the top of the third, Michael Volker secured two of the three outs after catching pop flies in right field. After a runner struck out, Andrew Mentzer threw the ball down to first to complete the play and the last out.
The fourth inning started with a strikeout from Ethan Bechel. Kevin Rivera then ran up on a grounder and hustled to meet the runner with a tag before he reached first base. Michael Volker got the last out on a fly ball to right field.
Enai Fernandez would contribute to all the outs for the top of the fifth, starting with getting the ball to second base. Fernandez then caught a fly ball where infield meets outfield at the grass for the second out. In the final out, Fernandez scooped the ball and threw it to #13 freshman Zachary Chamberlain at second.
Freshman Cody Belles was then brought in as a pinch runner for Kevin Rivera after his hit in the grass near the third base line. Belles quickly stole second, eager to get a run for the team. Travis Jones hit a fly ball to center, giving Belles the chance to make it to third and Jones to first. Enai Fernandez got an RBI, bringing Belles in for the only run for the Mountain Lions.
The game was called early, and the final score was 21-1 Schuylkill. The Mountain Lions will play their last two games at home on April 23 at noon and 2 p.m.
Written by Kyler Burke