H.S. BASEBALL: Schuylkill League playoffs get underway Sunday

With the regular season officially in the books, local baseball teams will turn their attention to the Schuylkill League Playoffs, which begin Sunday afternoon at Pine Grove’s Stump Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field.

Tri-Valley went 10-2 in league play to claim the Schuylkill League Division I regular season crown, and Marian Catholic posted a 12-2 league record to finish atop the Division II standings.

Sunday’s quarterfinal matchups are now set after some shuffling in the standings over the final days of the regular season.

Blue Mountain (16-4, 9-3) and Schuylkill Haven (12-8, 10-4) will go head-to-head at 4:30 p.m., followed by Williams Valley (13-7, 11-3) against Pottsville (13-6, 8-4) at 7 p.m.

Stump Stadium will host both the semifinals on Monday and the championship game on Wednesday.

Ticket prices for all playoff games are $6 for adults and senior citizens, and $3 for students.

Blue Mountain vs. Schuylkill Haven – Sunday, 4:30 p.m.

The Eagles won four of their final five games to secure second place in the Division I standings.

Schuylkill Haven won four of its last six games for a third-place finish in Division II.

Blue Mountain was led by a solid core of pitchers, which allowed just 42 runs all season and posted six shutout wins.

Evan Setlock is at the front of that pitching staff, while Riley Sebastian and Ryan Clemas have also eaten solid innings.

Schuylkill Haven, on the other hand, showed off its prowess at the plate this season, scoring nine or more runs in eight games. Alan Evans, Lane Yoder and Landon Trostle have all beefed up the middle of the Hurricanes lineup.

The Eagles defeated Pine Grove 4-3 to close out the regular season. Aiden Finn led the offense with two hits, while Brady Strause, Sonny Amato, Evan Setlock and Josh Hoover all had one hit. Sebastian got the win, working 4.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight.

Schuylkill Haven fell to Shenandoah Valley 3-2 in the regular season finale. The Blue Devils scored two runs in the fifth inning for the comeback win.

Williams Valley vs. Pottsville – Sunday, 7 p.m.

Williams Valley finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak to place second in the Division II standings. Pottsville won three of its final four games to place third in Division I.

Pottsville is locked in on bringing out the bats this postseason as four Crimson Tide batters are batting over .300 with over 45 at bats.

Dominic Rynard leads the lineup with a .391 batting average and 27 hits, Landon Trout has a .324 batting average and has scored a team-high 18 runs, while Max Clews is hitting .321 and Brody Hess is currently batting .311

Williams Valley also trots out a lethal lineup, led by sophomore Fletcher Thompson who is currently batting .433 with 26 hits. He is joined by Cadyn Witmer, who is hitting .353 and John Rautzahn who is batting .290 with 18 hits.

Pottsville fell to Tri-Valley, 1-0, in extra innings in the regular season finale. Clews shut down the Bulldogs for 4.2 innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.

The Vikings defeated Nativity 4-3 in the regular season finale. Thompson led the way with three hits.

Tri-Valley and Marian Catholic – No. 1 seeds, first round byes

Tri-Valley is on an eight-game winning streak heading into the postseason, locking up the top seed with the win over Pottsville.

Marian Catholic ended the regular season winning 10 consecutive games, including an 8-7 win against Minersville in the regular season finale.

The top-seeded teams received a bye to the semifinals on Monday.

Tri-Valley will take on the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Williams Valley and Pottsville, and Marian Catholic will face Blue Mountain or Schuylkill Haven.