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<p>NEWPORT TWP. &#8212; The way Back Mountain&#8217;s Victoria Spaciano and Nanticoke&#8217;s Elizabeth Mendrzicki were pitching Wednesday, opportunities to score were scant. Even making contact was rare.</p><p>So it was going take some daring &#8212; and some good fortune &#8212; to score. Back Mountain had both in its last trip to the plate.</p><p>Back Mountain scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, erasing a one-run deficit to defeat Nanticoke 2-1 in a Section 5 Little League 9-10 Softball elimination game.</p><p>Back Mountain will play undefeated Archbald at 5:30 p.m. today at the Newport Township field. A victory by Back Mountain would force another game at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Nanticoke was eliminated.</p><p>&#8220;I told my girls that there are six innings,&#8221; Back Mountain manager Brian Thomas said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve come back from a one-run deficit before, so I said that I believed in them and we pulled through.&#8221;</p><p>Back Mountain had just one hit and struck out 11 times against Mendrzicki through five innings. Its only hit to that point was a bloop single to right by Jordyn Dutko in the fifth. Things changed in the sixth with the season on the line.</p><p>Maddie Kerdesky opened the sixth with a walk and stole two bases to get to third. Ella Schmoll then hit a low liner down the first base line just out of reach of Nanticoke first baseman Alexis Atkins to tie the score 1-1.</p><p>Schmoll wasn&#8217;t even supposed to be batting. She was selected by Nanticoke as an injury replacement for Back Mountain shortstop Jordan Thomas, who injured her hand in her previous at-bat. Since Back Mountain was out of reserves, Nanticoke was allowed to pick Thomas&#8217; replacement and Thomas, although capable of returning, couldn&#8217;t re-enter the game.</p><p>Maggie Ropietski followed Schmoll and launched a flyball to right-center field. The outfielders collided going for the double, but Nanticoke was able to recover and throw out Schmoll at the plate. That gave Spaciano a crack at her counterpart. She grounded out, but an error during the sequence allowed Ropietski to score the winning run.</p><p>&#8220;All game we were looking for the opportunity,&#8221; Thomas said, &#8220;but it just wasn&#8217;t there. Nanticoke played a tight game. The timing for steals weren&#8217;t there. The bottom of the sixth was a last-ditch effort. But hats off to Nanticoke&#8217;s pitcher. We had trouble hitting her all day. &#8220;</p><p>Like Back Mountain, Nanticoke had issues trying to get base runners. It took a 1-0 lead when Mendrzycki doubled to left, with the ball taking one hop before hitting the fence. She then stole third and scored on an error on the steal.</p><p>Mendrzycki&#8217;s double was the only ball Nanticoke got out of the infield. Spaciano was dominant in the circle, striking out 14. The only other hit she allowed was an infield single to Mendrzycki in the sixth.</p><p>The loss was Nanticoke&#8217;s second by one run in the tournament. It opened with a 1-0 setback to Archbald.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re a great bunch of kids,&#8221; Nanticoke manager Rich Brogan said. &#8220;They worked great as a team. Not one time all year did they ever give up. I mean, we&#8217;ve been in some tough games. We lost by one run this game, one run the first game. We&#8217;ve played some tough competition.</p><p>&#8220;This is a good group of girls and we&#8217;ll be back. We have half the team moving on and half the team coming back.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Back Mountain 2, Nanticoke 1</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Atkins 1b`3`0`0`0</p><p>Brogan c`3`0`0`0</p><p>Mendrzycki p`3`1`2`0</p><p>Heffron ss`3`0`0`0</p><p>Lukowski 3b`0`0`0`0</p><p>GCheslaw ph`1`0`0`0</p><p>Shotwell 2b`1`0`0`0</p><p>Pegarelli ph`1`0`0`0</p><p>Guydosh rf`1`0`0`0</p><p>MCheslow ph`1`0`0`0</p><p>Mager cf`2`0`0`0</p><p>Smith lf`0`0`0`0</p><p>Subarton ph`1`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`20`1`2`0</strong></p><p><strong>Back Mtn`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Kredesky rf`2`1`0`0</p><p>Thomas ss`1`0`0`0</p><p>Ropietski 2b`3`1`1`0</p><p>Spaciano p`2`0`0`0</p><p>Hunt c`1`0`0`0</p><p>Mackey cf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Brdaric cf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Fleschut lf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Dutko lf`1`0`1`0</p><p>Schmoll 3b`3`0`1`1</p><p>Hudak rf`1`0`0`0</p><p>Park 1b`2`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`19`2`3`1</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke`000`100`&#8212;`1</strong></p><p><strong>Back Mountain`000`002`&#8212;`2</strong></p><p>E &#8212; Nan 2, BM 2. LOB &#8212; Nan 3, BM 3. 2B &#8212; Mendrzycki. SB &#8212; Mendrzycki 2, Spaciano, Dutko, Kerdesky. SAC &#8212; Smith, Hunt.</p><p><strong>Nanticoke`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Mendrzycki (L)`5.1`3`2`1`2`11</p><p><strong>Back Mtn`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Spaciano (W)`6.0`2`1`0`0`14</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Back Mountain's Maggie Ropietski, center, gets hugged by teammates after scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Nanticoke 2-1 in the Section 5 9-10 Little League softball elimination game in Newport Township on Wednesday evening.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Back Mountain's Maggie Ropietski, center, gets hugged by teammates after scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Nanticoke 2-1 in the Section 5 9-10 Little League softball elimination game in Newport Township on Wednesday evening.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Back Mountain&#8217;s Maggie Ropietski, left, and pitcher Victoria Spaciano celebrate their 2-1 victory over Nanticoke in the Section 5 9-10 Little League siftball elimination game Wednesday evening in Newport Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Back Mountain&#8217;s Maggie Ropietski, left, and pitcher Victoria Spaciano celebrate their 2-1 victory over Nanticoke in the Section 5 9-10 Little League siftball elimination game Wednesday evening in Newport Township. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Back Mountain&#8217;s Maggie Ropietski, center, gets hugged by teammates after scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Nanticoke 2-1 in the Section 5 9-10 Little League softball elimination game in Newport Township on Wednesday evening. The Nanticoke 9-10 All-Stars softball team cheers in the dugout while holding a 1-0 lead over Back Mountain in the sixth inning. Back Mountain would come back to win the game, 2-1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_LittleLeagueSoftball_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Back Mountain&#8217;s Maggie Ropietski, center, gets hugged by teammates after scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Nanticoke 2-1 in the Section 5 9-10 Little League softball elimination game in Newport Township on Wednesday evening. The Nanticoke 9-10 All-Stars softball team cheers in the dugout while holding a 1-0 lead over Back Mountain in the sixth inning. Back Mountain would come back to win the game, 2-1. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Sixth-inning rally eliminates Nanticoke</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Back Mountain defeats Nanticoke in Section 5 9-10 softball