Birches move on in Norco playoffs

The Birches advanced to the next round of the Norco Legion playoffs, while Tamaqua faced elimination tonight in Berks-Schuylkill Legion action.

NORCO LEGION

Birches-Wind Gap

The Birches picked up a 12-7 victory over Wind Gap to sweep the best-of-three quarterfinal round series in Norco Legion playoff action.

Travis Raseley banged out three hits, scored three runs and added four RBIs for the Birches. Joe Weismith added three hits and four RBIs.

Xavier Hammond pitched the entire game to get the win.

The third-seeded Birches (16-7) will open semifinal round action at No. 2 Bath at 5:30 on Friday night.

Birches 301 500 3 - 12 10 1

Wind Gap 005 002 0 - 7 9 4

Hammond and Weismeth; DeJesso, Evans (5) and T. Young.

SCHUYKILL-BERKS LEGION

Tamaqua-Minersville

It took nine innings and more than 24 hours to settle the Schuylkill-Berks Legion Baseball League North Division playoff opener between Tamaqua and Minersville.

Darkness forced the suspension of the slugfest Tuesday with the score tied at 14 after seven innings.

Minersville wound up a 15-14 winner after play resumed on Wednesday.

Jeremy Sborz hit a walk-off single driving in the winning run for the Miners in the bottom of the ninth.

Tamaqua will now host Schuylkill Valley at 5:30 tonight in an elimination game.

Ryan King threw two scoreless innings on relief to get the win.

DIST 18 11-12 LL

Jim Thorpe-

Franklin Twp.

Jim Thorpe defeated Franklin Township 15-4 in a game played over the weekend.

Derek Joyce was the winning pitcher, striking out four over five innings of work. Nick Porembo pitched the sixth to preserve the win.

Offensively, Jim Thorpe was led by Owen Snisky, who had three hits, including a two-run homer. Brendan Carroll and Aaron Joyce each had three hits, while Jake Burkhart, Kenny Pugh, Max Pompa, and Vincent Isabella all had two hits.

TJ Buss, Noah Sensinger, and Damian Mele each had two hits for Franklin, with Sensinger and Mele each scoring two runs.

Jim Thorpe-

Valley East

The game between Jim Thorpe and Valley East was suspended due to rain and lightning on Sunday with the score tied 5-5 in the top of the sixth.

When the game resumed, Valley East scored in the seventh to win 6-5 and eliminate the locals.

Aaron Joyce and Kenny Pugh each blasted solo home runs for Jim Thorpe. Nick Porembo, Brendan Carroll, and Jake Burkhart contributed singles.

For Valley East, Robbie Mattes and Heath Sakusky eash had two hits, and Josh Zukosky had the game winnning hit.