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Luzerne County coroner identifies slain prison guard, cause of death

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Update: Boy reported missing in Jim Thorpe has been found

TUNKHANNOCK &#8212; No situation seemed to rattle Sydney Faux.Not when Nanticoke put two on to start the third. Not when the game-tying runs were standing on base in the top of the seventh.The Tunkhannock sophomore just bore down.Faux coaxed a soft liner back to the circle for the final out as Tunkhannock made a four-run fourth inning stand up en route to a key, 4-2 victory in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 softball.Tunkhannock (9-4) keeps its hopes alive for a three-way tie in the division. Wyoming Area (10-3) and Nanticoke (8-4) play later in the week.The Tigers also swept the season series with Nanticoke.&#8220;If we would have lost this game, we were looking at probably an eight or nine seed in districts,&#8221; Tunkhannock coach John Keefe said. &#8220;I told the girls in the outfield that we got half of our job done this week. We have to regroup and focus on Dallas next. It was huge. We needed this win.&#8221;It was the old adage of what could have been.The Trojans outhit the Tigers, 9-4, and Tunkhannock only had runners reach base in the first and fourth innings.Nanticoke had plenty of chances early, but couldn&#8217;t get it going.After leaving a runner on third to end the second, the best chance to strike early was the third. Morgan Briggs&#8217; single back up the middle, and Rachel Roccograndi&#8217;s stand-up double over a shallow left fielder put two on with no outs.That&#8217;s when Faux buckled down, retiring the next three batters.&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t worried because I have total trust in our fielders,&#8221; Faux said. &#8220;They are all amazing. I never have to worry if someone hits it. The infield is strong, and the outfield always makes the plays. The fourth inning really calmed me down. I knew that we would hit the ball, and put some runs across the plate.&#8221;The seventh is when the real pressure hit.With Tunkhannock holding a 4-1 lead, Kiera Brown ripped a two-out, run-scoring single to center, allowing Briggs to cross home &#8211; trimming the deficit to 4-2. Jenna Lipowski, who ripped an RBI in the fifth, picked up her second hit of the afternoon to keep the rally alive. But that&#8217;s as far as the two ladies advanced.Faux forced a soft liner that she easily snared in her mitt for the final out. She needed less than 100 pitches to complete the nine-hitter with five strikeouts.&#8220;We got rolling late, but give Tunkhannock credit because she pitched a nice game,&#8221; Nanticoke coach Ryan Stetz said. &#8220;She was fantastic and hit her spots. Their coaches called a great game, and kept us off-balance. Again, they were solid defensively. I thought we minimized the damage in that fourth inning, and held them to the four runs. We gave ourselves a chance at the end with the tying runs on base. That&#8217;s all you can do.&#8221;Tunkhannock did all of its damage in the fourth.Paige Mokychic&#8217;s RBI single to right scored Traci Kromko to break the scoreless tie. They weren&#8217;t done, adding three more &#8212; thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Faux, Karlie Bulford&#8217;s RBI single to right and a Trojan error allowing the fourth run to cross home.Brown, Lipowski, Cassie Novakowski and Briggs each had two hits in the loss. Leandra Ramos and Miranda Bohn combined on the four-hitter with five strikeouts for Nanticoke.In all, Tunkhannock had three of its four hits in the fourth and took advantage of two costly errors.&#8220;We got the runners on, and were able to get some bunts down when we needed to,&#8221; Keefe said. &#8220;One thing we do pretty well is run the bases. Their head is up, and they pick up the coach at third long before they get to second. It was a big win. I can&#8217;t say that enough.&#8221;Tunkhannock 4, Nanticoke Area 2Nanticoke `AB`R`H`BI`2B`3B`HRRoccograndi ss`4`0`1`0Brown CF `4`0`2`1`Lipowski 3B `3`0`2`1Ramos P-RF `4`0`0`0Bohn DP-P `2`0`0`0O&#8217;Donohue C `2`0`0`0Tocket 1B `3`0`0`0Novakowski 2B `3`1`2`0Briggs LF `3`1`2`0Murphy RF `0`0`0`0Totals `28`2`9`2Tunkhannock `AB`R`H`BIKrispin CF `3`0`0`0Hampsey 2B `3`0`1`0Kromko 3B `2`1`0`0`Kwiatkowski C `3`0`1`0Hodge CR `0`1`0`0Reposa LF `3`0`0`0Mokychic 1B `3`1`1`1`Traver RF `3`0`0`0Faux P `2`1`0`1K. Bulford DP `2`0`1`1J. Bulford SS `0`0`0`0Totals `24`4`4`3Nanticoke Area `000 `010 `1 &#8211; 2Tunkhannock `000 `400 `x &#8211; 42B &#8212; NAN, Roccograndi.Nanticoke Area `IP `H`R`ER`BB`SORamos (L) `3.1`3`4`3`2`3Bohn `2.2`1`0`0`0`2Tunkhannock `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOFaux (W) `7`9`2`2`1`5

Tunkhannock uses big fourth to power past Nanticoke