Easton, PA — By Kyle Craig | For lehighvalleylive.com Easton Area High School’s baseball team officially celebrated the closing of Charles Richards Field, its home of 61 years, on May 2. Adding one more 15-run victory to the venue’s history didn’t hurt, though. The eighth-seeded Red Rovers smashed ninth-seeded East Stroudsburg South 15-0 in four innings during a District 11 Class 6A pigtail game on Monday in Palmer Township. Easton (10-11) advances to meet top-seeded Allen, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champion, in the district quarterfinals 4 p.m. Wednesday in Allentown. “I’m really happy that they came out today and played all three phases of the game really well,” Red Rovers coach Carm LaDuca said. “When we’re able to do that and put things together, we’re a pretty good baseball team.” “Every aspect of the game, we were doing well today,” Easton senior catcher Max Martenis added. “The bats were hot. [Nolan Stem] pitched a really good game. It was nice.” Easton scored in all four innings and broke the game open with seven runs in the third. “It felt great,” Red Rovers senior second baseman Khamryn Singto said. “I was very happy to see our team came out ready to play. We were putting the ball all over the place.” Martenis got the hosts on the scoreboard by lacing a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning, plating Singto and senior Chase Shollenberger, who singled and walked, respectively. In the next frame, senior Cole Ordway walked with two outs, and Singto chased him home with a triple to deep center field. According to Singto, the Rovers had a better approach on Monday than recent exhibitions with Bangor and Whitehall. “Our past scrimmages, we were just hitting the ball in the air,” the senior said. “I’m thinking with the slower pitching we’ve seen, we were just trying to jack the ball. We were just focusing (today) on getting the ball on the ground and hitting line drives.” Sophomore Zack Martenis started Easton’s seven-run surge by scoring a pair with a triple, making it 5-0. After sophomore Max Suffness added an RBI knock and Ordway was hit by a pitch, Singto cracked his second three-bagger of the day to plate two more. Shollenberger, a Monmouth University recruit, punctuated the outburst by smashing a home run over the right field wall and onto 25th Street. The Rovers initiated the 15-run rule via a pair of bases-loaded walks, a run-scoring passed ball and a two-run error in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Nolan Stem, who is committed to the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, tossed all four innings for the Rovers, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out five. “He’s had some wins over some really good baseball teams,” LaDuca said of his pitcher. “... I think he was pretty much around the plate and able to attack the zone, and we were able to make plays [behind him].” “He was really dotting the lines today,” Max Martenis added. “Every pitch I called, he put it where I wanted it. It was perfect.” Alex Perez, Aidan Cruz and Orion Tucker had hits for East Stroudsburg South, which closed the spring at 10-11. If Easton makes an underdog run to a District 11 title, it would likely host a state playoff game at Richards Field. At the moment, the Rovers were happy to earn another victory on their home diamond, which will be replaced as part of the construction of a new high school. “It’s really amazing,” Singto said of posting another home win. “I played here my whole high school career. I started as a freshman. It’s sad that next year we’re not going to be able to come back to this field.” Easton posted two wins in the regular season against the team holding the No. 1 ranking in the lehighvalleylive.com Top 12 (Parkland and Liberty). The Rovers can accomplish that feat one more time against Allen (18-5), which is the top-ranked squad after winning its first league title since 1991. “I just want to go in there and act like it’s another game,” Singto said. “They’re at the top of the league now, but I think we can get up there. We’ve beat No. 1 teams multiple times ... I think we can hang in with them.” “I think if we play like we did today, we could beat anyone,” Max Martenis said. “We just need to come out like that every time.” LaDuca was pleased with Monday’s performance but knows the Canaries present a significant challenge. “We did really well, but we also know, moving onto Wednesday, that we’re facing an extremely well-coached team that has an incredible amount of talent and has had a super year,” the coach said. “We have a big mountain to climb on Wednesday, but we’re excited to have that opportunity.