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Hanover Area baseball tops Nanticoke in battle for first place

Kelley’s walk-off single gives Dallas win over Hazleton Area

DALLAS &#8212; The way Maddie Kelley saw it, if she hit the softball too hard or too softly the results would have been different.Instead, she hit it just right Tuesday.Kelley&#8217;s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth plated the game&#8217;s only run as Dallas upset previously undefeated Hazleton Area 1-0 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.&#8220;If it went further, it would have been caught. If it went shorter, it would have been in the infield,&#8221; Kelley said. &#8220;I had two opportunities previously with a person on base and didn&#8217;t do anything with that. I knew I had to do it. It was my last chance.&#8221;Kelley hit a soft liner to left field &#8212; just out of reach of Hazleton Area shortstop Mikaela Browdy who lunged to her right &#8212; to score Sydney Kern from third base. The win had extra meaning since Dallas (3-2 Div. 2) and all Division 2 teams play Division 1 teams just once. Division 2 leader Wyoming Area (6-1) has already lost to Hazleton Area.Hazleton Area (5-1 Div. 1) suffered only its third on-field loss in WVC play since 2013. The Cougars fell to Berwick in 2013 and Lake-Lehman last year. They had to forfeit a win against Wyoming Valley West &#8212; and technically the Lehman game &#8212; last year for using an illegal player in those two games.Kern started the 10th with a walk and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kelly Snyder. Two innings earlier, the Mountaineers failed on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Kern moved to third on Saddie Trudgen&#8217;s groundout before scoring.&#8220;The first time we tried to sacrifice, they threw the runner out at (second),&#8221; Dallas coach Joyce Tinner said. &#8220;Kelly put down a great bunt. They had to go to one; they couldn&#8217;t go to two. That was a huge difference in the game, putting a runner in scoring position with one out.&#8221;Hazleton Area had runners on base in all but two innings and stranded five of them in scoring position. Celine Podlesney opened the top of the ninth with a single and moved to second on an error on the hit. The Cougars couldn&#8217;t get her in. Nor could they get Megan Trivelpiece home after starting the seventh with a single. The next three batters all lined out to infielders.&#8220;We got runners on,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Adrienne Rebarchak said, &#8220;but we couldn&#8217;t get the timely hit we needed. They got runners on, found the holes, hit the gaps and today they were the better team.&#8221;Maybe by a matter of a few feet considering what occurred in the first inning. Hazleton Area&#8217;s Lexi Wolk launched a blast to deep center field. Anywhere else and it would have been a home run, but the batter&#8217;s eye extends about four feet higher than the rest of the fence and the ball hit that addition. Wolk settled for a double.&#8220;We knew if we could hang with them long enough we had a chance,&#8221; Tinner said. &#8220;Maddie pitched a great game today. A couple times when they got a hit, we came back. We came back and played great defense when we had to and made the plays when we had to. Overall, I&#8217;m proud of how we played today.&#8221;Berwick 7, Lake-Lehman 1Berwick broke open the game with three runs in the seventh to defeat host Lake-Lehman.Kylie Levan tripled and Courtney Hummel doubled and singled for Berwick (5-1 Div. 1), which pulled into a first-place tie with Hazleton Area in Division 1.Cassie Konopki and Lexi Oplinger each had two hits for Lehman (0-7 Div. 2).Tunkhannock 12, Wyo. Valley West 2Tunkhannock used an eight-run second inning to take control and end the game after five innings.Lindsey Kwaitkowski was 4 for 4 for Tunkhannock (2-2 Div. 2), falling a triple short of the cycle. She had four RBI. Jenna Bulford and Traci Kromko each had two RBI.PostponementsCoughlin at Nanticoke was moved to April 29. Pittston Area at Wyoming Area will be played May 1.Dallas 1, Hazleton Area 0 9 inn.Haz Area`AB`R`H`BIYori 3b`4`0`0`0VBernotas lf`3`0`0`0JBernotas ph`1`0`0`0Wolk cf`4`0`2`0Sachse rf`2`0`1`0Podlesney 1b`4`0`1`0Kaschak pr`0`0`0`0MaTrivelpiece 2b`2`0`0`0MeTrivelpiece dp`4`0`2`0Kinney c`3`0`0`0Browdy ss`3`0`0`0Book ph`1`0`0`0Varela p`0`0`0`0Totals`31`0`6`0Dallas`AB`R`H`BISzatkowski ss`4`0`2`0Perez cf`4`0`0`0Kern lf`2`1`0`0Snyder c`3`0`1`0Trudgen 3b`4`0`1`0Kelley p`4`0`2`1LaNunziata dp`1`0`0`0Johnson 1b`3`0`0`0KeSaba 2b`3`0`0`0Bolton rf`2`0`0`0Totals`30`1`6`1Hazleton Area`000`000`000`&#8212;`0Dallas`000`000`001`&#8212;`1Two outs when winning run scored.2B - Wolk, Podlesney, Szatkowski 2.Haz Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOVarela (L)`8.2`6`1`1`2`6Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOKelley (W)`9.0`6`0`0`4`0Berwick 7, Lake-Lehman 1Berwick`010`003`3`&#8212;`7 Lehman`000`001`0`&#8212;`1Pitching &#8212; WP, Moriah Lynn 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO. LP &#8212; Abbey Hogan 7 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO.2B &#8212; BER, Hummel. 3B &#8212; BER, Levan.Top hitters &#8212; BER Levan 2-4; Hummel 1-4. LL- Cassie Konopki 2- 3, Lexi Oplinger 2-3.Tunkhannock 12, Wyo. Val. West 2 (5 inn)Wyo. Val. West`000`02`&#8212;`2Tunkhannock`081`12`&#8212;`12Pitching &#8212; WP &#8212; Sydney Faux 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; LP &#8212; Chloe Ruckle 1.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO; Melodi Raskiewicz 3.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.2B &#8212; TUN, Molly Hampsey, Traci Kromko, Lindsey Kwiatkowski, Kailey Reposa, Paige Mokychic. 3B &#8212; TUN, Jenn Bulford. HR &#8212; TUN, Kwiatkowski.Top hitters &#8212; WVW, Sabrina Hamersley 2-2; Jaden Belles 1-2, RBI; Audi Welles RBI. TUN, Kromko 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Hampsey 2-3, RBI, 2 runs; Kwiatkowski 4-4, 4 RBI; JBulford 2 RBI; Karlie Bulford 2-3, 2 runs.