Dunmorean of the Month: Dan Schreffler

Posted on April 2, 2025 by The Dunmorean

By Steve Svetovich

Dan Schreffler, 60, and his wife, the former Lisa Magnotta, settled in Dunmore 22 years ago and the couple has no regrets.

Schreffler, married for 25 years and originally from West Hazleton, received an associate degree in computer science from Penn State Worthington and worked in the software engineering business before a 26-year career at Metropolitan Life Insurance. He and his wife moved to North Apple Street in Dunmore 22 years ago.

After retiring from Metropolitan Life, he decided seven years ago to start a wine-making business in Dunmore.

He opened Space Time Mead Cider Works, 419 South Blakely St., Dunmore, seven years ago.

The business specializes in honey wine, hard cider and maple syrup wine. Local honey is also sold. The honey comes from Murphy’s Bee Farm Honey in Newton Township.

“We were taught to make the maple syrup wine by a gentleman in the New England region,” said Schreffler, an affable fellow. “We get the syrup from Lochs Maple Farm in Tunkhannock.

“Most of our resources come from within 40 miles of the winery. We are very big on supporting local. All of our wine is homemade. It’s made right in the back of the store.

“We are the only winery in Northeast Pennsylvania that resources all of its ingredients within the state.”

Schreffler said starting the business in Dunmore was a dream come true, although he is looking to possibly retire by the end of this year.

“I love it,” he said. “The best part of the business is the people I get to meet. I never got to meet so many people in corporate America. I meet more people in one year than I ever did working for three decades in corporate America.

“My wife and I, however, have reached the age where we are talking about retiring. It’s almost certain we will retire by the end of the year. We want to enjoy the business until that time comes.”

The Dunmore wine maker also believes in giving back to the community.

“We give at least 10 percent of our revenues back to the community,” he said.

“We give a good portion of our revenue to various community events and fundraisers. One big one for us is the Lackawanna River Conservation Association. We also help with the Dunmore Cemetery and decorate for the reenactment scenes held by Julie Etsy.”

Schreffler has also been Judge of Elections in Dunmore for the past 20 plus years.

“I love Dunmore,” he said. “I like a walkable community. There are good people and food everywhere. I’m so happy we landed here.”

Schreffler, who has earned national awards for his products, is a mover and shaker in the borough with his mead and cider. The awards include three times winning Best Meads at the Annual American Wine Society Competition and several Double Gold winning meads.

Schreffler, currently training for a half marathon run, is the state’s only American Cider Association Certified Pommelier which is essentially a sommelier for cider. He is also a Beer Judge Certification Program certified mead and cider judge.

“I am lucky to be living in Dunmore,” he said. “It is a walkable, generally quiet community. I can walk to the corners and get so much great food, including sandwiches, pizza, pasta, candy and chocolates from the Dunmore Candy Kitchen, ice cream from Mannings, and breakfast from the Bucktown Diner.

“We have easy access to quality health care, arts and culture and an active running community in neighboring Scranton. We live here because it has access to almost anything we want. What it lacks is usually less than four hours away.”

Dunmore baseball coach predicts big season for Bucks

Posted on April 2, 2025 by The Dunmorean

By Steve Svetovich

Dunmore Bucks veteran baseball coach Sid Hallinan, Jr. is predicting a big year for his team this season.

And so far his Bucks are living up to expectations with three straight convincing early season wins over Wyoming Area, 11-1, Carbondale Area, 23-2, and West Scranton, 10-0.

Hallinan spoke to The Dunmorean following the team’s opening win last month over Wyoming Area, 11-1.

“The win over Wyoming Area was spearheaded by Jamie McMynne and Cady Jackson’s dominance on the mound and the big hits by Matt Iezzi to generate runs,” said Hallinan. “It was a team effort in that we played very well defensively and at the plate limited our strikeouts and overwhelmed Wyoming Area defensively.”

McMynne pitched four and one-third innings of one-run ball and Cady hurled one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts.

Iezzi, a senior, went three-for-four with a bases-clearing triple in a four-run first inning and later hit a walk off homer in the bottom of the sixth. Iezzi scored three runs and drove in four in the win. Senior Max Forgione was two-for-four with two RBIs and a run.

The Bucks second win, 23-2 over Carbondale Area, came in just four innings. Sophomore catcher Evan Mizenko led the Bucks with a four-for-five game and hit a bases loaded triple in the top of the fourth. He had six RBIs in the game.

Mason Stets, a junior, pitched a complete game giving up three hits, three walks and two runs while striking out six. He also drove in three runs.

Forgione was two-for-three with two runs and an RBI. Cady was two-for-three with three runs, two RBIs plus two walks.

A seven-run first inning, highlighted by a two-run homer by Forgione and three-run homer by Bobby Hoban, led Dunmote to its third straight win, 10-0, over West Scranton, in a five inning contest.

Forgone pitched three innings of shutout ball, giving up only one hit with three strikeouts. Iezzi pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Hoban was two-for-two with five RBIs. Stets was two-for-three with an RBI and run scored.

Dunmore’s pitching staff consists of Jamie McMyne, Max Forgione, Jackson Cady, Mason Stets, Matt Iezzi and Anthony Yerka.

“Our pitching staff this season is very experienced and we run five deep with two other guys to fill innings if needed,” said Hallinan.

“They understand how to pitch and not just throw. The pitching staff and our catcher Evan Mizenko are on the same wavelength when it comes to which pitches are being called and why. The pitching IQ is high. That’s special.”

Players who see most of the action in the starting lineup include second baseman/shortstop Stets, shortstop Forgione, center fielder McMynne, first baseman Iezzi, third baseman Cady, catcher Mizenko, outfielder Bobby Hoban, utility man Yerka, outfielder Nate Grochowski, outfielder/third baseman Jimmy Clark and outfielder/second baseman Jaedyn Kura.

The reserves are Brendon Novorosky, Mark Schuster and Colin Sciartilli.

Coach Hallinan praised his stalwart shortstop/pitcher Forgione. “Max approaches the game with almost a sense of professionalism whether it’s hitting, fielding or pitching. However, the biggest change in him is his ability to lead. He has grown so much as a leader not just by example, but vocally which was uncomfortable for him early on as a sophomore captain.

“Our guys try to make themselves better by watching his work ethic. Now they hear him and follow him. He is more relaxed and having more fun. Our guys feed off that. He wants to win so bad. That motivates me and our coaching staff on a daily basis.”

Coach Hallinan talked about the heavy hitting of Iezzi. “Matt grew up in a big way last year. He approached batting practice differently and in a more extreme way. It paid off for him and our team. We talked early on last year that every swing and rep in batting practice needs to have a specific purpose other than hitting the ball 400-feet.

“Once he bought into that, he took off. His batting average, slugging average and on base percentage all went up while his strikeouts went down. The boys called him Matty Ice because he trusts himself so much in the big moment due to his approach and IQ at the plate. The three-for-four with six RBIs in game one this season just proves he is ready for a big year.”

The enthusiastic coach also had positive comments about McMynne. “Jamie came to us as a skinny, energetic, hard-working freshman two years ago. He just wanted to throw hard. That transformed into a pitcher who got stronger in the weight room, brought a routine in to prepare mentally and physically and continues to work hard.

“I love that we butt heads sometimes on pitch selection. He made me better in that regard due to his high IQ on the mound. At the plate he is fun to watch, generates power and drives in runs for us. He can also hit for average and has a high on base percentage. Centerfield comes almost easy for him. He is excellent defensively. When he is on the mound, I get a little nervous that he is not in the outfield.”

Hallinan is assisted by Nick Valvano, Derek Forgione and Mike Vescovi who is also head J.V. coach.

Frank Spager is the Junior High baseball coach. His assistants are George Stefanski and Dylan Svetovich.

“Our goals are simple and that is to win,” said the energetic Hallinan.

“With that being said, winning our division is not easy. However, these kids have been working very hard every day since October to get better. We want to win so badly and improve. We want to win our league. We say why set the bar low. Set it high. We want a district championship and to make a strong state run. There is no reason we can’t do it. We take the approach to improve game by game. We fix our mistakes as we go along. We want to achieve big things. That’s why we are working so hard.

“Our team attitude is to give our opponents seven innings of great baseball. We want to make it tough for our opponents. We want to beat down every opponent. Our guys deserve to win every game because of their extreme willingness to get better..We have talent and get mentally stronger each day.

“The mood and energy is different this year. The coaches and team leaders feel it. We will work hard and have a ton of fun. The people of Dunmore will enjoy watching these boys play baseball the way it was meant to be played.”

Holy Cross advances to state basketball semifinal losing on buzzer beater

Posted on April 2, 2025 by The Dunmorean

By Steve Svetovich

Holy Cross advanced to the PIAA Class 3A boys basketball semifinals, losing at the buzzer, 58-57, to West Catholic Saturday, March 22, at Parkland High School, Allentown.

After almost four full quarters of intense basketball. West Catholic sophomore Jayvon Byrd caught an in-bounds pass with a little more than a second left on the clock and drilled a 3-pointer to lift the Burrs to a dramatic 58-57 win over the Crusaders.

It was a heartbreaking loss for coach Al Callejas, Jr. and his Crusaders who were hoping to go to the state final.

The buzzer beater set off a wild celebration and trip to the state final for the Burrs.

Holy Cross (25-5) reached the PIAA Class 2A final last season.

Senior Michael Hughes, who was named Times-Tribune Player of the Week following the loss, nearly delivered a win for the Crusaders.

He made key steal when West Catholic tried to hold the ball for a final shot with 1:30 left in the game with the score knotted, 55-55.

Then after a timeout, Hughes, a Class 2A all-state player last year, drove to the basket in the final seconds and drew a foul. A clutch performer, Hughes swished both foul shots to give the Crusaders a 57-55 lead with 6.4 seconds left in the contest and two fouls to give.

Holy Cross forced West Catholic to chew up time by committing both fouls.

That set up the Burrs underneath the basket with 1.6 seconds left.

Adam Badyrka of Holy Cross then kicked a pass on an in-bounds play, but there was still 1.3 seconds left.

Naseem Perez then found Byrd open and he hit the game winning 3-pointer. The Crusaders collapsed to the gym floor as the basketball sailed through the net.

“I am heartbroken for these kids,” coach Callejas, Jr. said. “They gave me everything they had.”

Holy Cross standout Matt Lyons scored 14 points and had four rebounds in the tough loss. “It was a hard fought game and we gave all the effort we had,” he said.

“The team played great all year. It was amazing to see what we could do after how far we went last year. Getting back to the eastern final, in a higher classification is not an easy task. Everyone left it all out there for what was to be the final game for us. It’s just a shame it had to end that way.”

Adam Badyrka also scored 14 points and hauled down six rebounds. “It was a tough loss, but a great season,” he said.

“The season was unbelievable and a great ride. I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of guys. It’s tough to go out like that, but it’s a season to remember. This team was special and it’s going to be one to remember. I love this group of guys, the seniors, the coaching staff and the entire Holy Cross community. If not for them, this season is not possible. I hope for the best for all the seniors on their road to the future.”

Hughes, who scored a team high 15 points, reflected on the loss and great season. “The run our team made this year was very fun,” he said. “I made so many memories with my teammates and coaches. I could not have asked to play with a better group of people. I am definitely going to miss the experience.”

Despite losing to Riverside, 61-50, in the District 2 Class 3A final, the Crusaders began the state playoffs with an overtime win over Troy, 72-68. Holy Cross then beat Audenried Charter, 58-55. The Crusaders easily beat Lancaster Mennonite, 63-52, to advance to the state semifinal.

Hughes led the Crusaders with 15.5 points per game this season. Lyons averaged 14.9 points and Badyrka 14.0 points.

C.J. Thompson and Mario Matrone were also key contributors on the team. Thompson was named Times-Tribune Lackawanna League Division II Defensive Player of the Year. Both Thompson and Lyons were named to the All-Defensive team.

Hughes and Lyons were both named Lackawanna League boys coaches’ first-team all-stars.