Little League: Back Mountain National defeats Abington for third straight Section 5 title

DALLAS TWP. — Abington answered one power surge by Back Mountain National on Friday evening.

It had no solution to the other.

National smashed four home runs and pitcher Ben Nulton quelled Abington bats after the first inning in a 7-2 victory in the Section 5 Little League Major Baseball championship game.

District 31 champion National will head to the state tournament for a third consecutive year. It will open play at 1 p.m. Wednesday against the Section 8 champion at the Newville Little League.

Carter Samanas and Nulton — the second and third hitters in the batting order — combined for four home runs and all seven RBI. The offense was top heavy as Samanas, Nulton, leadoff hitter Kellan DeFalco and cleanup hitter Nick Federici had eight of National’s nine hits and scored six times.

“Very difficult,” Abington manager John Kwiatkowski said. “Those first four hitters, it doesn’t matter what you throw at them they are going to hit the ball. You just try to manage where they hit it, and obviously a couple car windshields got broke out there tonight.

“Congratulations to them. They are just a fantastic hitting team and great group of baseball players. I wish them all the luck in states.”

Samanas sent the first pitch he saw over the left field fence. Nulton followed with a blast to center for a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the first.

Abington tied the score in the bottom of the first. Shane Goldberg led off with a single and then Jake Kwiatkowski and Gannon Wilson hit consecutive RBI doubles. Nulton surrendered three singles after that and retired the last nine batters for a 84-pitch complete game.

National manager Rich Samanas wasn’t concerned after Abington’s first three batters of the game had hits.

“Not at all,” Samanas said. “Good group that fought the whole season. Even in rec league, they’re a bunch of fighters. It’s a long game. We knew Abington was going to be hard. There is no quit in them, so we knew it would be a battle the whole time.

“Having a three-run cushion, you’re thinking about them coming back the whole time, too.”

The 5-2 advantage was provided by the manager’s son when Carter Samanas launched a three-run homer in the third inning. Liam Dieffenbacher, who worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and DeFalco, who bounced a single up the middle, scored on the homer.

Nulton made in 7-2 with a two-run home run in the sixth.

National’s defense also came up big. Abington had two runners on with one out in the third when center fielder DeFalco nailed a runner at the plate trying to score from second on a single. Samanas picked off a runner from his catcher’s position for an inning-ending double play in the second.

“That was awesome, man,” Rich Samanas said of DeFalco’s throw. “Listen, we come here daily. We practice cuts, we practice throwing through. Kellan catching that ball and going straight home with it and Carter coming down with the tag, that’s a huge play. That stops them from continuing to push.”

National made it to the state final four last year where it lost in the elimination bracket semifinals. The team lost in the elimination bracket quarterfinals in 2022.

Section 5 Major Baseball Championship

Back Mountain National 7, Abington 2

Back Mtn. National`AB`R`H`BI

DeFlaco cf`3`1`1`0

Samanas c`2`3`2`4

Nulton p`3`2`3`3

Federici lf`3`0`2`0

Van Valkenburgh ss`2`0`0`0

Engel rf`3`0`0`0

Lapidus 1b`2`0`0`0

Medrano 3b`2`0`0`0

Kovach 2b`2`0`0`0

Greblunas eh`2`0`0`0

Dieffenbacher eh`1`1`1`0

Ronczka eh`2`0`0`0

Totals`27`7`9`7

Abington`AB`R`H`BI

Goldberg 3b`3`1`1`0

Kwiatkowski ss`2`1`2`1

Wilson lf`2`0`1`1

Thomas 1b`2`0`1`0

Nalevenko 2b`1`0`0`0

Jordan p`1`0`0`0

Hillebrand rf`2`0`0`0

Volchoff eh`2`0`1`0

Donohue cf`2`0`0`0

Spanish eh`2`0`0`0

McIntyre c`2`0`0`0

Conaboy eh`1`0`0`0

Totals`22`2`6`2

Back Mtn. National`203`002 — 7

Abington`200`000 — 2

E — BMN 1, Abington 1. DP — BMN 1. LOB — BMN 5, Abington 5. 2B — Kwiatkowski, Wilson. HR — Samanas 2, Nulton 2. SAC — Jordan.

Back Mtn. National`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Nulton (W)`6`6`2`2`2`6

Abington`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Jordan (L)`5.1`7`5`5`1`0

Wilson`0.2`1`2`2`1`0