LLEWELLYN - Branch Maroon has appeared to be in trouble during the late innings of its first two games of the Schuylkill County Teener League Senior Division playoffs.
The trouble, however, hasn't led to losses. Instead, Branch Maroon is two victories away from a championship.
Chris Leshko drove in Dylan Stephen with the game-winning run to cap a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh during Branch Maroon's 5-4 victory over Frackville in a winners' bracket semifinal Monday.
One batter earlier, it appeared Stephen was going to be the game's final out when he sent a fly ball to right field off Frackville reliever Bobby Wagner. But the ball was dropped and Shane Hoffman, who walked with one out, came in to score the tying run. Stephen then stole second with Leshko at the plate.
One a 3-1 pitch, Leshko hit a sharp grounder up the middle. The ball was deflected by Frackville second baseman Scott Grigas as it rolled into short center field. Stephen never stopped running and slid across home plate with the winning run.
Leshko pumped his fist in the air before he even reached first and was hugged by first-base coach Jon Marazas. Stephen was mobbed by his teammates after he crossed the plate as everybody then celebrated in front of Branch Maroon's dugout.
"I can't even describe it," Leshko said. "It is unbelievable."
The walk-off hit was Leshko's second of the playoffs. He knocked in Nolan Hoffman with the game-winning run during Branch Maroon's 5-4 win over Hegins on Saturday. At one point in that game, Branch Maroon trailed 4-1 before scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh.
Branch Maroon trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh Monday.
"They don't panic," Branch Maroon manager Jim Kramer said. "They just have a great approach. We always talk about having quality at-bats, getting people on, moving them along and they did just that."
Branch Maroon (19-1), the top seed, will now host No. 2 Schuylkill Haven (19-1) in the winners' bracket final at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Schuylkill Haven beat No. 3 DeAngelo's 6-2 in the other winners' bracket semifinal Monday.
Branch Maroon edged Schuylkill Haven 6-5 during the regular season. The June 15 loss was Schuylkill Haven's only one of the year.
In elimination games this evening, No. 4 Frackville (16-4) hosts No. 6 Shenandoah (11-9) at 5:30 p.m., while No. 5 Pine Grove (11-9) travels to No. 3 DeAngelo's (16-4) at 7 p.m.
Leshko finished the night 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. He drove in Stephen with a double down the left-field line in the third inning to give Branch Maroon a 2-1 lead. In the fifth, he knocked in Steele Fekette with a single to make it 3-1.
Both hits were to the opposite field for the left-handed hitting Leshko, who was the starting shortstop for Minersville during the high school baseball season in the spring.
"I do it all the time," Leshko said. "Coaches tell me all the time, go opposite field, so that is all I do."
All he wanted to do during his last at-bat of the game was put the ball in play. Ahead in the count, he got the pitch he was expecting from Wagner.
"I knew he was going to give me a strike, 3-1 count," Leshko said. "He put one right down the middle. I was just trying to put the ball in play, go opposite field, anything like that."
It wasn't all that surprising that Leshko was ahead in the count during his at-bat.
Both Frackville starter Tevin Murray and Wagner, who came on one batter into the fifth, struggled at times finding the strike zone. Of the 137 pitches the two combined to throw, 64 were balls. The two combined to walk six, while Murray hit two batters. Two of the walks and one hit batter came in to score.
Joe Nahas and Wagner had two hits apiece for Frackville, which went ahead with a three-run sixth. Major Jordan hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line to drive in Wagner, who walked to lead off the inning. Austin Dietz knocked Nahas in on a groundout, while Grigas drove home Jordan with a double off the left-center field fence to make it 4-3.
Stephen went the distance to get the win, with a 28-pitch sixth his only bad inning. Stephen allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked only one. Of his 102 pitches, 70 were strikes.
Schuylkill Haven 6 DeAngelo's 2
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Riley White's two-run double during a three-run fifth inning lifted Schuylkill Haven to a victory over DeAngelo's in a winners' bracket game at Schuylkill Haven High School.
White finished with three RBIs for Schuylkill Haven, while Cole Handling added a triple.
Ethan Conage scattered six hits in picking up the victory.
Aiden Liptok and Donte Yeastadt had two hits apiece for DeAngelo's, with Yeastadt hitting a double.
Game Summary