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Aaron Yurko, Dallas baseball blank Wyoming Area

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NEWPORT TWP. &#8212; Nanticoke stayed in sole possession of first place for about 24 hours.The next 24 hours could shake up the top of Division 2 once again.Hazleton Area&#8217;s offense overcame a lackluster performance a day earlier, banging out 12 hits to defeat Nanticoke 6-2 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional softball game Tuesday.Nanticoke (10-3) remained in first place, but was joined by idle Tunkhannock (10-3).Nanticoke and Tunkhannock finish up their regular seasons Wednesday. Nanticoke hosts Wyoming Area (8-5) while Tunkhannock travels to Dallas (3-10). Wins by both or losses by both will set up a playoff game for the divisional championship, with the game likely Friday and at a neutral site.&#8220;We love the challenge and the competition,&#8221; Nanticoke coach Ryan Stetz said. &#8220;Our team, we&#8217;re very confident. Our girls rise to the occasion. Unfortunately, it didn&#8217;t go our way today, but we&#8217;ll be back tomorrow.&#8221;Hazleton Area (13-0) clinched the Division 1 title, its fourth in a row, by defeating Crestwood 3-1 Monday. But the offense produced its fewest runs in its last eight games and managed just five hits. Hazleton Area batters were also facing Nanticoke&#8217;s Leandra Ramos, who threw a one-hitter a day earlier.&#8220;During yesterday&#8217;s JV game, we sent most of the girls out to hit in the cage just to prepare for the faster pitching,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Heather Dale said. &#8220;I knew they would be ready. Plus, I think we prefer this kind of pitching anyways.&#8221;Megan Trivelpiece and Hope Kinney certainly liked it. Trivelpiece doubled with two outs in the first, the first of three two-baggers for her. Kinney followed with a shot to left field that hit the protective yellow plastic on the top of the fence and went over for a homer and 2-0 lead.&#8220;It just hit the top,&#8221; Kinney said. &#8220;I was looking and going, &#8216;Please go over. Please go over.&#8217; And it finally did.&#8221;Hazleton Area tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Jessica Bernotas opened the inning with an infield single as her hard grounder took a wicked hop and ricocheted off Nanticoke third baseman Jenna Lipowski. Mackenzie Yori followed with a bunt single, and both girls moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Rebecca Rossi.Trivelpiece then hit her second double, this one to left-center, to score Bernotas and Yori. Trivelpiece scored on a sacrifice fly by Celine Podlesney to bump the advantage to 5-0.&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t too worried,&#8221; Trivelpiece said about the flat offensive performance against Crestwood. &#8220;We work hard and always put our best effort in. I was confident in our hitting today.&#8221;Trivelpiece hit her third double in the seventh and scored on Podlesney&#8217;s groundout.Podlesney also contributed in the circle, holding Nanticoke to three hits until Brinley Sobeck&#8217;s RBI double in the fifth. She got touched up for three singles in the sixth, including an RBI base hit by Megan Murphy.NOTES: Wednesday&#8217;s Wyoming Area at Nanticoke game begins at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised live on WQMY. &#8230; Nanticoke&#8217;s Miranda Bohn saw her first action since breaking her hand against Holy Redeemer on March 31. Bohn, who is the team&#8217;s No. 2 pitcher, flied out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. &#8230; Hazleton Area has won 20 consecutive WVC regular-season games. The Cougars&#8217; last loss was 7-3 to Nanticoke last year.Crestwood 8, Coughlin 6The Comets scored in all six innings they came to the plate and held off a Crusaders rally. Kate Thomas got the final three outs for the save with Haley Naperkowski earning the win.Jordan Olenginski tripled for Crestwood while Taylor Pawlush doubled for Coughlin.Hanover Area 7, Northwest 1Michelle McNair homered, tripled and knocked in three runs as Hanover Area defeated Northwest.Haley Bobos homered and had three RBI. Mary Kate Penczkowski struck out 11 and scattered four hits.Nikki Cragle had two hits, including a double, for Northwest.Berwick 5, Dallas 0Kylie Levan pitched a complete-game shutout and had three hits as Berwick defeated Dallas.Shea Petty led the Dawgs at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a double and three RBI. Brooke Stout added two RBI.Kendra Saba had two of Dallas&#8217; five hits.Meyers 7, MMI Prep 0Lexi Bruno pitched a four-hit shutout for the Mohawks, striking out 10 for the win. Betsy Macko (three hits), Sarah Smith (three RBI) and Erin Morris (three runs) led Meyers at the plate.Maddie Perchak went 2 for 3 for the Preppers.Hazleton Area 6, Nanticoke 2Haz Area`AB`R`H`BIYori ss`4`1`2`0Rossi cf`3`0`1`0Trivelpiece 1b`4`3`3`2Kinney c`3`1`2`2Podlesney p`3`0`0`2Kost dp`4`0`1`0Koschak 2b`4`0`0`0Johnson rf`2`0`0`0Book ph`1`0`1`0Bernotas 3b`3`1`2`0Gebhart lf`0`0`0`0Totals`31`6`12`6Nanticoke`AB`R`H`BIRoccogrndi ss`4`0`0`0Brown cf`4`1`1`0Lipowski 3b`3`0`1`0Tocket 1b`3`0`1`0Redneski pr`0`0`0`0Novakowski 2b`3`0`0`0Briggs c`3`0`2`1Ramos p`3`0`1`0Murphy rf`1`1`0`0Bohn ph`1`0`0`0Sobeck dp`3`0`2`1Benscoter lf`0`0`0`0Totals`28`2`8`2Hazleton Area`200`030`1`&#8212;`6Nanticoke`000`011`0`&#8212;`22B &#8212; Trivelpiece 3, Sobeck. HR &#8212; Kinney.Haz Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOPodlesney (W)`7.0`8`2`2`1`1Nanticoke`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SORamos (L)`7.0`12`6`6`0`2Crestwood 8, Coughlin 6Coughlin`000`311`1`&#8212;`6Crestwood`121`112`x`&#8212;`8Pitching &#8212; COU, Molly Poray (L) 6 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 8 R, 5 ER, 1 K. CRE, Haley Naperkowski (W) 6+ IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K; Kate Thomas (S) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.2B &#8212; COU, Taylor Pawlush; 3B &#8212; CRE, Jordan OlenginskiTop hitters &#8212; COU, Pawlush 2-4, run; Tori Martin 2-4, run. CRE, Olenginski 2-4, run; Abbie Macko 2-4 run, RBIMeyers 7, MMI Prep 0MMI Prep`000`000`0`&#8212;`0Meyers`500`101`x`&#8212;`7Pitching &#8212; MMI, Desiree Dinko (L) 6 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. MEY, Lexi Bruno (W) 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 10 K.Top hitters &#8212; MMI, Maddie Perchak 2-3. MEY, Betsy Macko 3-3; Sarah Smith 2-4, 3 RBI; Erin Morris 2-4, 3 runs.Hanover Area 7, Northwest 1Northwest`100`000`0`-`1Hanover Area`202`030`x`&#8212;`7Pitching &#8212; NWT, Nikki Cragle (L) 5 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Brooke Harvey 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; HAN, Mary Kate Penczkowski (W) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K.2B &#8212; NWT, N.Cragle; HAN, Karly Bennett. 3B &#8212; HAN, Michelle McNair. HR &#8212; HAN, McNair, Haley Bobos.Top hitters &#8212; NWT, Cragle 2-3; Liz Gurzynski RBI; Harvey 1-4, run; Brenna Babcock 1-2. HAN, McNair 2-3, 3 RBI, 2 runs; H.Bobos 2-2, 3 RBI, run; Bennett 2-3, 3 runs.Berwick 5, Dallas 0Dallas`000`000`0`&#8212;`0Berwick`002`102`x`&#8212;`5Pitching &#8212; BER, Kylie Levan (W); DAL, Maddie Kelley (L).2B &#8212; BER, Sammi Starr, Shea Petty.Top hitters &#8212; DAL, Kendra Saba 2-3; Sam Kern 1-3; Maddie Kelley 1-3; BER, Levan 3-4; Shea Petty 3-4, 3 RBI; Brooke Stout 3-4, 2 RBI; Lexi Fries 2-3.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke second baseman Cassie Novakowski jumps to catch the ball during the game against Hazleton Area on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke second baseman Cassie Novakowski jumps to catch the ball during the game against Hazleton Area on Tuesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke shortstop Rachel Roccograndi catches and throws the ball to first base for the out against Hazleton Area during the game on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke shortstop Rachel Roccograndi catches and throws the ball to first base for the out against Hazleton Area during the game on Tuesday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area catcher Hope Kinney (left) gets the out on Nanticoke&#8217;s Kelsi O&#8217;Connor while she slides into home during the second inning on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area catcher Hope Kinney (left) gets the out on Nanticoke&#8217;s Kelsi O&#8217;Connor while she slides into home during the second inning on Tuesday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mackenzie Yori (right) fields a grounder backed up teammate Taylor Kaschak during the game against Nanticoke on Tuesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL051816Softball3.jpg</photo3><caption3>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Mackenzie Yori (right) fields a grounder backed up teammate Taylor Kaschak during the game against Nanticoke on Tuesday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>WVC SOFTBALLDivision 1`W`L`Pct.`GBx-Hazleton Area`13`0`1.000`&#8211;Pittston Area`8`5`.615`5Wyo. Val. West`8`6`.571`5&#189;Berwick`6`8`.429`7&#189;Crestwood`5`9`.357`8&#189;Coughlin`0`14`.000`13&#189;Division 2`W`L`Pct.`GBNanticoke`10`3`.769`&#8211;Tunkhannock`10`3`.769`&#8211;Wyoming Area`8`5`.615`2Dallas`3`10`.231`7Lake-Lehman`3`11`.214`7&#189;Division 3`W`L`Pct.`GBx-Holy Redeemer`11`0`1.000`&#8211;Hanover Area`10`2`.833`1&#189;Northwest`7`5`.583`4&#189;Wyo. Seminary`7`5`.583`4&#189;Meyers`4`8`.333`7&#189;MMI Prep`2`9`.182`9GAR`0`12`.000`11x &#8212; Clinched division title</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

H.S. Softball: Hazleton Area knocks off Nanticoke