District Two Baseball Playoff Preview
By: Nate Johns | Sportzwire | May 20, 2025 | Photo courtesy Bob Gaetano
After a wild two months filled with cancellations, rescheduled games and enough rain to make people create the concept of “May showers” the baseball regular season in District Two has come to an end. It’s playoff time and that means it’s time to take a look at and break down every bracket, as well as give a prediction for which teams will make the championship game. Teams will be listed in order from highest seed to lowest and only the district champion will make the state tournament except for in AAAA, where both championship game participants will qualify.
A: Susquehanna, MMI Prep, Forest City
The winner of this class will be in a play-in game against the District 12 champion. Susquehanna has already qualified for the title game by securing the top seed. The Sabers have relied on Matthew Callender and Travis Rooney on the mound, and the two recorded eight combined wins and 123 combined strikeouts. William Marcy also made a couple of pitching appearances, but his impact is in the batter’s box. Marcy hit .364 and had seven doubles and nine home runs this season.
MMI Prep spent much of the season fighting with the Sabers for the number one seed. The Preppers return a lot of pieces from a team that won a district title and a state playoff game last year. Caleb Skuba has been the driving force of the offense with a .439 batting average along with nine doubles and two triples. Lucas Pesotine has the only home run the Preppers have hit this year. The pitching staff has been led by Skuba and Josh Witner who have both recorded over 20 strikeouts, although every pitcher on the staff has an ERA of at least 4.00. That should match up well with a Forest City team that only scored more than four runs twice in the regular season, one of them was their lone win in a 7-6 game against Blue Ridge. Throw in the fact the Foresters have to take an hour long bus ride to this game. It looks like a rematch from the Class A title game last year will be in order.
Championship Prediction: MMI Prep vs Susquehanna
AA: Holy Redeemer, Elk Lake, Old Forge, Wyoming Seminary, Mountain View, Lackawanna Trail, Holy Cross, Blue Ridge
This is the most interesting bracket in terms of possible upsets. Assuming the top four seeds advance to the semi finals, Wyoming Seminary beat Holy Redeemer 5-4 on May 12 after losing to them 4-2 earlier in the season. As for the Royals, they won five of their final seven games of the regular season with losses to Williamsport and the aforementioned Blue Knights. Elk Lake had a win over Mid Valley and had a close loss to Holy Redeemer 3-2 on April 25. Old Forge suffered some close losses in LIAA Division Two, but can hang with anyone in the field.
Elk Lake seems like the safest bet to make the championship game. The Warriors have three hitters batting over .400 in Noah Gesford, Brayden McMicken and Alden Felker. McMicken hit six home runs in the regular season and Gesford led the team in RBIs with 25. The Warriors also have four strong pitchers in Gesford, McMicken, Brayden Miller and Dawson Sherman. Miller and Sherman both recorded over 50 strikeouts during the regular season. The Warriors are a deep team.
The other hypothetical semi final between Holy Redeemer and Wyoming Seminary would be a very exciting rubber match. The Blue Knights have Leo Nockley, one of the top baseball prospects in the state of Pennsylvania. Nockley hit .358 and led the team with three home runs and 18 stolen bases. Teddy Kraus led the pitching staff with an ERA of 2.00. The Royals have a deep rotation with three pitchers that have an ERA under 2.00 in Nick Mazzarella, Drew Cisney and Cody Quaglia. Quaglia leads the team in batting average at .410. The Royals and their pitching should be able to win the third game and get back to the championship game after coming up short in the AAA title game last year.
Championship Prediction: Elk Lake vs Holy Redeemer
AAA: Dunmore, Riverside, Lake-Lehman, Montrose, Lakeland, Western Wayne, Carbondale Area
Dunmore secured the one seed with a record of 17-3 and they enter the postseason hot, having won nine of their last 10. That streak included wins over Old Forge and Elk Lake. Their offense has led the attack, as they scored double digit runs in eight of their games this season. Five Bucks have recorded multiple home runs this season, including Bobby Hoban and Max Forgione. Their pitching staff is also dangerous, as it includes Forgione with an ERA of 1.37, Jackson Cady who has an ERA of 1.34 which leads the team, Matt Iezzi with an ERA of 1.44 and Jamie McMynne who has an ERA of 1.50.
Riverside and Lake-Lehman are no strangers to one another, as they have met in the playoffs multiple times over the years. The Vikings have won five straight games, including beating Mid Valley. Jose Sosa leads the offense with a .432 batting average, and the pitching staff has two solid pitchers in Nicholas Bohenek and Connor McNally. The Black Knights will lean on Chris Sholtis and Jake Naugle to get outs. The Vikings were a borderline top seed for most of the year and should get their chance at revenge over the Bucks.
Championship Prediction: Riverside vs Dunmore
AAAA: Mid Valley, Crestwood, Wyoming Area, Scranton Prep, Valley View, Honesdale, Berwick, Greater Nanticoke Area
The only bracket with two state qualifiers in District Two, yet only the top three seeds have a record above .500. Mid Valley is the most likely team to qualify for the title game as they will not have to face either Crestwood or Wyoming Area to get there. The reigning District Two AAA champions return a lot of pieces from that team, including strong hitters Nick Mills, Cooper Lukasavage, Anthony Balashaitis, Lorenzo Hernandez and Joey Joey Romanosky. Hernandez, Mills and Lukasavage lead a deep pitching staff. The Spartans should have a chance to go on a deep playoff run.
Crestwood and Wyoming Area met back on March 20 and the Comets won that game 8-3. Both teams have a record of 11-9. I trust the Comets to get the job done once again as they enter the postseason with four straight wins. Keep an eye on Chris Litchkofski as an MVP on the mound.
Championship Prediction: Crestwood vs Mid Valley
AAAAA: Pittston Area, Abington Heights, North Pocono, Dallas, Wallenpaupack, West Scranton
Pittston Area enters the season with a perfect record of 20-0. MaxPreps has them ranked as the No. 7 team in Pennsylvania and No. 2 in class AAAAA. They secured the No. 1 seed and berth in the semi finals, likely against a Dallas team they swept in the regular season. They have four elite pitchers in TJ Johnson, Elijah Barr, Beau Widdick and Silvio Giardina, who is committed to Lehigh, and they all have an ERA under 1.65. On the batting side, Giardina, Widdick, Jake Aftewicz and Dom Innamorati are all batting over .400. This team is a well oiled machine and have shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
On the other side of the bracket, Abington Heights and North Pocono are no strangers to one another. The Trojans beat the Comets 7-5 at home after the Comets beat the Trojans 10-0 earlier this season. The two teams were supposed to meet for the LIAA Division One Championship, but that game was postponed. This game should have much higher stakes, and with the Comets at home, I give them the edge.
Championship Prediction: Abington Heights vs Pittston Area
AAAAAA: Hazleton Area, Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre Area, Scranton, Delaware Valley, Wyoming Valley West
Hazleton Area once again holds the top seed and sits in a prime position to continue their dominance in District Two. After a run to the state semifinals last year, they are back and ready to go. They just have to get past a tough Scranton team that beat Dallas, who split their series with Hazleton earlier this season. Or they have to get past Delaware Valley, who split their season series with Scranton. The offense, led by Dominic Marino, Ryan Racho and Nick Ledger, should support a strong pitching staff of Marino, Freddy Corrado and Chris Peters.
Williamsport will likely face Wilkes-Barre Area on the other side of the bracket. The Wolfpack boast impressive wins over Dallas and North Pocono, the former of which was on the road. The Millionaires went 1-1 against District Two competition this season, losing to Dallas 8-5 on the road then beating Holy Redeemer 13-2 at home. With the home field advantage, the Millionaires should get their rematch from last year with the Cougars.
Championship Prediction: Williamsport vs Hazleton Area
