By: Drew Kiesendahl
With the playoffs on the horizon, the Buckhorns aren’t in an ideal position, but they’re still alive. A tough week set them back to 4th place in their conference, and 5th place in class 5A. Therefore, if the playoffs were to start today, we would be away at West Scranton, who we’ve beaten twice this season already.
The boys started their week by traveling to Clarks Summit to play the number one seeded Abington Heights Comets. They were looking for some redemption, as the Buckhorns took a devastating and embarrassing 16-4 loss earlier in the year at home to the Comets. Although Abington looked strong as they came into the game with a three-game win streak and scoring 35 runs from their last three games alone. A high scoring game was anticipated, although the tough Paupack defense, and excellent pitching from senior Eli Piefer, caused the unstoppable Comets not to tally a single hit for the entirety of the long game. This remained true until the seventh inning when a couple of errors in the field by Paupack caused Abington’s Sophomore Nick Bradley to sneak with the winning run breaking the 0-0 tie. Unfortunately, the Buckhorns’ offense couldn’t produce in a tough battle leading to a 1-0 defeat with just two hits on the game.
After suffering the tough loss the night before, the Bucks were back home the next day on Wednesday for senior night. Seniors Jake Holbert, Michael Fonti, Jordan Santiago, Eli Piefer, and Gannon Decker were recognized for their unmatchable commitment to the game and our school. The stands were filled, and the fans were loud, looking to steal one from the visiting 8-8 Valley View Cougars. A big crack to left field by Jordan Santiago allowed his fellow Senior Gannon decker to get on the board early in the first inning. It was a picture-perfect start. Jake Holbert pitched two perfect innings, until Valley View made their first appearance on the scoreboard in the third. The game was tied, and tensions were high. This was a must win for Paupack. The game slowed down as both defenses had great showings. Jake Holbert accounted for eight strikeouts, leaving room for hope. Until finally, the sixth inning rolled around, and the bats were going for the Bucks. Hits came from Jordan Santiago, Greg Van Gorder, Thomas Kirstead, and finally, CJ Doty leading to Santiago scoring a crucial run late in the game. Sophomore Cam Lynch came in to relieve Jake Holbert for the final inning and shut the Cougars out with a strike out and zero hits. The Buckhorns hung in and persevered through a very tough game.
With two days of rest and practice, Paupack was ready to go for their final game of the week, and second to last regular season game of the year, on Saturday at Scranton Prep. Playing the Cavaliers is always a tough task no matter what the sport, but the Bucks have shown they can play with them, as they only lost by one run earlier this season. Although Prep started the game with an unusual losing record of 7-8. Their record seemed to be no indicator, as the Cavaliers got on the board early in the first inning. The Buckhorns matched it in the top of the third inning when Gannon Decker notched his 24th run of the year, which is second among all players in the Lackawanna Division 1 Conference. Despite this, Prep would have an even bigger third inning, scoring four runs and turning the score to 5-1 in the blink of an eye. Prep added yet another run the following inning. With the Paupack senior pitchers resting, things weren’t looking good for Paupack. The Bucks attempted to fight back tallying two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, although it proved to not be enough to catch up to the offensive onslaught by the Cavaliers. Final score, 6-3.
The Buckhorns sit at 10-9 and have one remaining game in the regular season on Monday the 13th at home vs Scranton.
