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CENTER VALLEY – Stroudsburg and William Allen competed in one of the most memorable district championship games in recent history, but the Mountaineers couldn’t quite overcome a bad start, losing to the Canaries 7-5 in the 6A title game.
The first three innings couldn’t have gone much worse for Stroudsburg – while being held scoreless in the first two innings, Allen quickly scored three runs in the first inning, then added another in the second after a wild throw from pitcher Brian Kitchell allowed the runner to advance to second base and ultimately score on an RBI double from Emmanuel Herrera.
Stroudsburg does find some offense in the top of the third after Jack Hiscott’s deep ball to right field is misplayed and gets past the right fielder, allowing Hiscott to leg out a triple. Damian Budhai then gets him home on a productive groundout. Later in the inning, Ryan Pacitti brings home Kitchell on an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2.
More: Stroudsburg softball duo to continue softball careers at Division I level
Then disaster struck.
In the bottom of the third, Stroudsburg catches Herrera in a pickle on the third-base line. Third baseman Will Ferguson tried to make the next throw but couldn’t get it out of his glove. Ferguson couldn’t run him down and Herrera scored, making it 5-2.
Allen soon had two runners on with two outs, and a dropped third strike allowed the batter to advance and the runner on third to score. But amid Stroudsburg trying to gather themselves, the second runner makes a break for home and scores as well.
The batter tried to advance to second base and was thrown out, but the damage was done, a 7-2 deficit for the Mounties after 3 innings.
But the game was far from over as the Mounties completely turned the tide after that.
First, Stroudsburg shut out the Canaries in the final three innings. Neither Kitchell nor Hiscott, who came on after Kitchell reached his limit, allowed a run. Offensively, the bats came to life, starting with RBI singles from Matteo Maccarone and Alex Feliciano in the fourth inning.
More: Rath's OT winner lifts Pleasant Valley girls lacrosse to 3rd straight district title
In the fifth inning, Stroudsburg was able to load the bases with two outs but couldn’t capitalize as Collin O’Connor struck out to end the inning.
The Mounties added another run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly, making the score 7-5 going into the final inning.
Unfortunately, the rally fell short as Allen closer Daifer Moreta retired the side, in order, to end the game.
While the ending isn’t what Stroudsburg wanted, the run they had to reach the district championship, winning the last five regular season games, then upsetting 2-seed Liberty and 3-seed Nazareth as a 7-seed. Interim coach AJ Denny and the Mounties have made the most of a situation many teams couldn’t come close to doing.
“I'm proud of them. I mean, it's a two-run ball game in the district championship after everybody counted us out in the beginning of this year, so of course I'm proud,” Denny said. “Didn't end up the way we wanted it to end up, but we'll be back. We got a state game to play, and we just got to go into that game with a lot of confidence. I'm confident William Allen is one of the best teams in the state. So, if we can hang with them, we can hang with anybody.”
Stroudsburg’s state playoff opener will be against the runner-up from District 1. That game will take place on June 1.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Stroudsburg baseball loses 2026 district championshp to William Allen
Continue reading...
The first three innings couldn’t have gone much worse for Stroudsburg – while being held scoreless in the first two innings, Allen quickly scored three runs in the first inning, then added another in the second after a wild throw from pitcher Brian Kitchell allowed the runner to advance to second base and ultimately score on an RBI double from Emmanuel Herrera.
Stroudsburg does find some offense in the top of the third after Jack Hiscott’s deep ball to right field is misplayed and gets past the right fielder, allowing Hiscott to leg out a triple. Damian Budhai then gets him home on a productive groundout. Later in the inning, Ryan Pacitti brings home Kitchell on an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2.
More: Stroudsburg softball duo to continue softball careers at Division I level
Then disaster struck.
In the bottom of the third, Stroudsburg catches Herrera in a pickle on the third-base line. Third baseman Will Ferguson tried to make the next throw but couldn’t get it out of his glove. Ferguson couldn’t run him down and Herrera scored, making it 5-2.
Allen soon had two runners on with two outs, and a dropped third strike allowed the batter to advance and the runner on third to score. But amid Stroudsburg trying to gather themselves, the second runner makes a break for home and scores as well.
The batter tried to advance to second base and was thrown out, but the damage was done, a 7-2 deficit for the Mounties after 3 innings.
But the game was far from over as the Mounties completely turned the tide after that.
First, Stroudsburg shut out the Canaries in the final three innings. Neither Kitchell nor Hiscott, who came on after Kitchell reached his limit, allowed a run. Offensively, the bats came to life, starting with RBI singles from Matteo Maccarone and Alex Feliciano in the fourth inning.
More: Rath's OT winner lifts Pleasant Valley girls lacrosse to 3rd straight district title
In the fifth inning, Stroudsburg was able to load the bases with two outs but couldn’t capitalize as Collin O’Connor struck out to end the inning.
The Mounties added another run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly, making the score 7-5 going into the final inning.
Unfortunately, the rally fell short as Allen closer Daifer Moreta retired the side, in order, to end the game.
While the ending isn’t what Stroudsburg wanted, the run they had to reach the district championship, winning the last five regular season games, then upsetting 2-seed Liberty and 3-seed Nazareth as a 7-seed. Interim coach AJ Denny and the Mounties have made the most of a situation many teams couldn’t come close to doing.
“I'm proud of them. I mean, it's a two-run ball game in the district championship after everybody counted us out in the beginning of this year, so of course I'm proud,” Denny said. “Didn't end up the way we wanted it to end up, but we'll be back. We got a state game to play, and we just got to go into that game with a lot of confidence. I'm confident William Allen is one of the best teams in the state. So, if we can hang with them, we can hang with anybody.”
Stroudsburg’s state playoff opener will be against the runner-up from District 1. That game will take place on June 1.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Stroudsburg baseball loses 2026 district championshp to William Allen
Continue reading...
