As the District 11 Class 5A semifinal between Pocono Mountain East and Bangor wrapped up a playoff baseball tripleheader Saturday night, dark clouds were looming on the horizon at DeSales University’s Weiland Park.
Soon after the buses cleared the parking lot, it began to rain.
Fortunately for them and those who worry about rain delays, the Cardinals made relatively quick work of the Slaters with a 10-0, 5-inning rout that ensured a return trip to DeSales for the championship game Tuesday night.
They will face Whitehall at 7 p.m. in the second game of a championship doubleheader that will open at 3:30 p.m. with the 3A finals between Salisbury and Saucon Valley.
Pocono East outhit Bangor 11-3 and had four players with two hits or more led by sophom*ore third baseman Bobby Ehrmann who was 3-for-4. Jayden Martinez, Nate Meinweiser and Alexander Stirr had two hits apiece and Meinweiser and Stirr combined for five RBIs.
“We came here with a game plan and we trusted the kids to execute what we coached them to do and they did it to a ‘T’ today,” said Cardinals coach Matt DelGuidice. “From pitching to our offense to our defense, it was a complete game today. So I am proud of the kids and the effort they gave. But they know the job is not done. They know they have to keep it rolling into the district finals.”
The best news for Pocono East is that Cardinals ace Adam Horvath, a James Madison commit, threw just 64 pitches. That means he only has to sit out two days before he can pitch again according to PIAA pitch-count rules. So, he can get the ball against Whitehall in the title game. Saturday’s game marked Horvath’s 24th career victory.
“For a kid that has achieved so much over the last four years, Adam has never had the opportunity to pitch in the district finals,” DelGuidice said. “But he has always gotten us there. We’ve gotten on his back the last three years and hopefully he’s healthy enough on Tuesday night to take the ball again and gets the chance to go out a champion in his senior year.”
In his three-hitter, Horvath struck out three and walked two. Of his 64 pitches, 41 were for strikes. He only gave up two hits in one inning, the fifth, but worked out of it thanks in part to a strikeout.
“I was trying to throw strikes today,” he said. “I missed a couple, but I didn’t give up any runs and we just had to five innings. Our offense is heating and we got hot, it’s scary.”
All-conference selection Rocco DelGuidice, the coach’s son and a junior, scored three runs and said it was important to get off to a good start.
“We came out in the first inning and put the pressure on right away with five runs and then Adam just went out there and did what he does,” the younger DelGuidice said.
As for representing Monroe County and the EPC North well, DelGuidice said: “Most teams in the North just go to compete against the teams in the other part of the area. We want to beat them. We had the first seed in the EPC tournament and didn’t have the game we wanted to have against Liberty in the semifinals. We’ve got to stay hot on offense and with Adam on the mound we can compete with any team. We just have to play our game on Tuesday night.”
Meanwhile, Bangor’s season ended in the district semifinals for the second straight year. The Slaters finished 11-11.
“Our team was playing better baseball toward the end of the season, but we’ve running hot and cold all year,” Bangor coach Anthony Martino said. “There were games where we were able to hang with the best teams around and then there were days when we could lose to any team in the league. The biggest thing for us moving forward into next year is that we need to be more consistent with competing hard every day. I’m proud of our seniors and our kids, but in order to win championships you have to play your best baseball all the time and we didn’t do that today.”
Martino, who was The Morning Call’s coach of the year in 2023, said he will lose eight seniors.
“They won a Colonial League championship last year and made it to four straight four district finals,” Martino said. “We wanted to reroute Bangor baseball and make it a program that’s respected not only in the Colonial League, but also in the Lehigh Valley. I think this group that’s graduating did that.”
