Pretty good decade for Lackawanna League baseball. It saw a couple teams reach the state championship game and of the 46 District 2 titles up for grabs from 2010-2019, the Lackawanna League took home 25.

So, who were the best players?

With the Times-Tribune All-Region teams serving as the pool of players, let’s assemble the Lackawanna League’s All-Decade Team. We’ll break it down position-by-position over the next few days.

Up next: the corner infielders. The way we pick the All-Region team has changed over the years. It used to be there was a first baseman, a second baseman, a third baseman and a shortstop. Now, it’s just four infielders. So, this is a mix of players who played primarily first base or third base the year they were All-Region.

Here are the candidates, sorted by the year they made the All-Region team. You can vote for your top five at the bottom of the post.

 

Dan Pittack, Lakeland

Decade stats: .694, 24 RBIs, 22 runs, 43 hits, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs
All-Region bio: From 2010 — “Times-Tribune Player of the Year. Chiefs’ top run producer, hitting .694 with 43 hits, 24 RBIs and 22 runs. … Also ace of the pitching staff, posting a 5-2 record with a 2.06 earned run average and 61 strikeouts. … First All-Region selection.”

Cameron Damski, Valley View

Decade stats: .374, 13 RBIs, 40 runs, 43 hits, 4 doubles, 1 triple
All-Region bio (two teams, one as a pitcher): From 2010 — “Third baseman hit .431 with 15 runs scored while posting a 6-1 record with a 1.43 ERA in helping the Division II champion Cougars to an undefeated regular season. … First All-Region selection.” From 2011 (pitcher) — “Posted a 7-0 record with a 2.00 earned run average, striking out 61 in 47.1 innings. Seven wins were first in Division II, while his 61 strikeouts ranked third. Threw four complete games to help the Cougars to second straight D-II title.”

Kyle Booth, Scranton

Decade stats: .374, 34 RBIs, 20 runs, 40 hits, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run
All-Region bio: From 2011 — “Breakout season with the bat and the glove. His .471 batting average was fourth in Division I and 185 points higher than his average a year ago. Drove in 17 runs, scored 14, tied for seventh in hits (24) and fourth in doubles (6).”

Billy Nelson, North Pocono

Decade stats: .418, 70 RBIs, 65 runs, 79 hits, 24 doubles, 1 triple, 12 home runs
All-Region bio (three teams, twice as a pitcher): From 2011 (third baseman) — “Power-hitting corner infielder who also hit for average. His .463 average was sixth in Division I, while his 15 RBIs tied for 11th. Also was top 10 in runs (ninth with 19), hits (fourth, 25), doubles (third, 7) and home runs (sixth, 4).” From 2012 (pitcher) — “Hard-throwing righty was at his best in the postseason, allowing only one earned run over 18 innings of work (0.39 ERA) while posting a 0.778 WHIP. A force at the plate, hitting .415 with 28 RBIs, five doubles, one triple and six home runs. Second All-Region selection.” From 2013 (pitcher) — ” With a blazing fastball, the North Pocono ace went 7-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 50.1 innings. Struck out a Lackawanna League regular-season best 81 batters. … Batted .389 with seven doubles and one home run. … Lackawanna League Division II coaches’ player of the year. … Third All-Region selection.”

Vince Rebar, Holy Cross

Decade stats: .415, 40 RBIs, 51 runs, 61 hits, 11 doubles, 13 triples, 6 home runs
All-Region bio: From 2012 — “Owner of one of the more unbelievable statistics of the season: he slugged 13 triples for the Crusaders. Batted .444 and of his 24 hits, 20 went for extra bases — good for a 1.093 slugging percentage. First All-Region selection.”

Matt Staback, Valley View

Decade stats: .381, 53 RBIs, 31 runs, 53 hits, 18 doubles, 3 home runs
All-Region bio (two teams): From 2012 — “Posted a .479 batting average in the middle of the Cougars’ lineup. Drove in a team-high 21 runs while also leading Valley View in doubles (7). Scored 12 runs and slugged one home run. First All-Region selection.” From 2013 — “Anchored the Cougars’ offensive attack. Batted .383 with 18 hits, 10 runs scored and 18 RBIs. Blasted five doubles and a team-high two home runs. … Batted .400 with one run scored, two RBIs and a double in the District 2 Class AAA tournament. … First-team Lackawanna League Division I coaches’ all-star. … Second All-Region selection.”

Mike Rapisardi, Montrose

Decade stats: .427, 42 RBIs, 28 runs, 50 hits, 11 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs
All-Region bio: From 2012 — Lefty batted .540 — with 27 hits — for the Meteors while driving in 24 runs. Had a team-best seven doubles. Was also solid on the mound, going 3-0 (1-0 in the postseason) with a 1.71 ERA. First All-Region selection.”

Mike Vieira, Old Forge

Decade stats: 13 RBIs, 31 runs, 30 hits, 4 doubles, 1 triple
All-Region bio: From 2013 — “Blue Devils leadoff hitter helped lead team to the PIAA Class A semifinals. Batted .380 with 19 hits, 20 runs scored, seven RBIs and three extra-base hits. … Hit .333 with six runs scored and one RBI in the postseason. First-team Lackawanna League Division III coaches’ all-star. … First All-Region selection.”

Shane Rivenburgh, Lakeland

Decade stats: 41 RBIs, 46 runs, 61 hits, 13 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs
All-Region bio (two teams): From 2014 — “Unique first baseman in that he was a table setter for the District 2 champion Chiefs. Batted .370 with 20 hits and 18 runs. Also drove in 12 runs, and had three doubles, a triple and two home runs. … Batted .500 (8-16) with seven runs and four extra-base hits in the playoffs. … First All-Region selection.” From 2015 — “Batted .436 with 17 hits, 15 runs and eight RBIs. Added eight extra-base hits — six doubles and two home runs. … Heart of the Chiefs’ offense. … Division III coaches’ all-star. … Second All-Region selection.”

Colby Thomas, Mountain View

Decade stats: .415, 52 RBIs, 81 runs, 61 hits, 13 doubles, 9 triples, 7 home runs
All-Region bio: From 2014 — “Key to the Eagles’ offense. Led the Lackawanna League in batting average (.607) and runs (31) and tied for the top spot in home runs (four). … Had 17 hits, 10 RBIs, four doubles and two triples. … Lackawanna League Division IV coaches’ player of the year and first-team all-star. … First All-Region selection.”

Sean Homenchak, Mid Valley

Decade stats: 41 RBIs, 25 runs, 42 hits, 14 doubles, 1 home run
All-Region bio: From 2015 — “Junior first baseman batted .379 with 22 hits, including nine extra-base hits. … Had a Lackawanna League best 24 RBIs. … Division III coaches’ all- star. … Hit a walkoff, three- run home run in a key game against Lakeland.”

Austin Shattin, Holy Cross

Decade stats: 48 RBIs, 37 runs, 52 hits, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs
All-Region bio: From 2016 — “Big lefty-swinging first baseman batted .367 with 22 hits, 17 runs and nine extra-base hits, including four home runs … Led Lackawanna League with 25 RBIs.”

Matt Hayes, Lakeland

Decade stats: .424, 67 RBIs, 78 runs, 75 hits, 12 doubles, 4 triples, 8 home runs
All-Region bio (three teams): From 2016 — “First baseman batted .457 with 21 hits, 17 runs, 18 RBIs and three extra-base hits. … In five games against top Division III teams Holy Cross and Mid Valley, batted .533 (8 for 15).” From 2017 — “Sweet-swinging first baseman batted .368 with 14 hits, 18 runs, 15 RBIs and six extra-base hits, including two home runs. … Had an on-base percentage of .629 and also stole 12 bases. … Second All-Region selection.” From 2018 — “Chiefs’ slugging first baseman led Lackawanna League with .563 batting average. … Had four HRs, 23 RBIs and 35 runs. … Lackawanna Division IV Coaches Player of the Year and three-time All-Region selection.”

Ben Grochowski, Old Forge

Decade stats: .423, 50 RBIs, 36 runs, 77 hits, 10 doubles
All-Region bio: From 2017 — “Helped the Blue Devils to a District 2 Class 2A title and into the PIAA quarterfinals. … Led the Lackawanna League with 30 hits, batted .429, scored 15 runs, drove in 22 and had five doubles. …Also with 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA.”

Nate McLain, North Pocono

Decade stats: .308, 22 RBIs, 28 hits, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run
All-Region bio: From 2018 — “Sure-handed third baseman who batted .315 with 17 hits, including six doubles and one home run, 10 runs and 18 RBIs for District 2 Class 5A champion Trojans. … Also 5-1 with 0.97 ERA and 47 strikeouts.”

Brendan Kucharski, Mid Valley

Decade stats: 46 RBIs, 31 runs, 37 hits, 6 doubles, 13 home runs
All-Region bio (two teams): From 2018 — “Power-hitting first baseman had 16 hits, nine of which were home runs, to lead Lackawanna League. … Batted .320 with 14 runs and 25 RBIs. … Two grand slams, 10 RBIs at PNC Field on April 13 against Holy Cross.” From 2019 — “Batted .304 with four doubles, three home runs, 12 runs and 15 RBIs. … Feared hitter who compiled 17 walks. … Drew four intentional walks in the District 2 Class 3A semifinal loss.”

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

In case you missed it, check out the candidates for Lackawanna League’s top catcher of the decade.

 

Lakeland’s Matt Hayes makes the catch.