Dallas Baseball Uses Balanced Attack to Spoil Lake-Lehman Senior Night
By: Nate Johns | Sportzwire | May 15, 2025 | Photo courtesy Sportzwire
One hour after taking down Wyoming Valley West 9-8 in a continued game from their own senior night, the Dallas Mountaineers beat the Lake-Lehman Black Knights 11-3 on their senior night. The Mountaineers played a complete game on both sides of the ball, led by junior pitcher Dominick Zangardi and senior outfielder Kaden Coyne.
Offensively, Dallas started off hot, scoring the first three runs of the game. Connor Healey and Zach Williams base hits in the second and scored on a Dylan Geskey sacrifice fly and a Pat Flanagan single respectively. For the Black Knights, they responded in the bottom of the third with three runs of their own. Tristan Purdy drew a one out walk and later scored on a wild pitch. Chris Sholtis and Will Jenkins both drove in one run each with singles to tie the game. Sam Finarelli knocked a single to center field and it looked like the Black Knights would take the lead, but Geskey threw out the runner with an amazing throw from left field to end the inning. “It was a big play in the game. Kind of a turning point in the game.” Coach Mike Viglone said in a post game interview, “all of our outfielders have really good arms, and we give them leeway so they have a shot to throw somebody out. Throw a cut or throw him out and Dylan did a great job there.”
The Mountaineers scored their 11 runs in just four innings, compiling eight walks and nine hits on the evening. Coyne led the way with two walks, a double and 2 RBIs. The UMass commit said after the game, “I just wait for my pitch. Don’t swing in, anything outside the zone, just looking to drive the ball up the middle on the offspeed.” Sophomore catcher Brady Youngblood also had a big game with three RBIs along with a walk and a single. Senior Jack Leandri chipped in with two hits of his own. Coach Viglone said of the team’s offensive performance, “I thought our guys had some good at bats. Hit a lot of line drives up the middle, things like that.”
On the pitching side, Zangardi started the game off hot for the Mountaineers, pitching two perfect innings and striking out five of the first six batters. Zangardi said after the game, “I just find the zone, just hit my spots and trust my defense behind me.” Zangardi pitched four innings and allowed three earned runs while striking out eight batters. Coach Viglone said of Zangardi, “Dom has pitched a lot of innings for us this year. You know, from the left side he’s a tough pitcher. He gives us a lot of innings.” Healey and Dylan Chapman pitched a combined three shutout innings in relief. “And Chapman, he’s been clutch all year. He’s been getting a lot of big outs for us, pitching in a lot of big games for us. We have faith in him so he’s done a great job for us,” Coach Viglone said following the win.
The Mountaineers finish the regular season at 12-7 and will be the No. 4 seed in the District 2 AAAAA playoffs. The Black Knights end the regular season with a record of 12-8 and will be the No. 3 seed in the District 2 AAA playoffs.
