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Hanover Area baseball blanks GAR in District 2 opener

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A wild way to win a District 2 Class 3A baseball playoff game for Crestwood

<p>WEST PITTSTON &#8212; The offense perked up just enough. Pitcher Hope Jones settled down just enough.</p><p>The combination helped produce the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 softball championship for Tunkhannock.</p><p>Tunkhannock scored twice in the first inning and Jones worked out of a couple jams as the Tigers defeated Nanticoke 3-1 Friday at Wyoming Area&#8217;s Atlas Complex in a special playoff game to determine the champion.</p><p>Tunkhannock (12-3) won its first divisional title since 2010. It also became the second seed in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs and will host 15th-seeded Coughlin (0-15) at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Nanticoke (11-4) lost in a special playoff game for the divisional title for the second consecutive year. The Trojanettes will be the D2-3A fourth seed and host 13th-seeded Lake-Lehman (3-11) at 4:30 p.m. Monday.</p><p>The Tigers hadn&#8217;t hit well this week, bringing in a .170 average in two games that included a 5-0 loss to Nanticoke on Monday where their lone hit came in the seventh inning.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to say we&#8217;ve been slumping,&#8221; Tunkhannock coach Bob Hegedty said, &#8220;but we&#8217;ve just haven&#8217;t been hitting. (Thursday) at practice, we didn&#8217;t do any hitting at all. We just did some infield and outfield in about a 45-minute practice and let them reset their minds. I thought their approaches tonight and swings tonight were better.</p><p>&#8220;I mean, we&#8217;re going get groundouts when you face good pitching. But we got some big hits when we needed them.&#8221;</p><p>Tunkhannock managed just three hits, but made each one count thanks to some small-ball tactics.</p><p>Hope Jones led off the game with an infield single. Faith Jones, her twin sister, followed with a bunt. An error put the Jones girls on second and third. Kendra Schultz then dropped down another bunt to score Hope.</p><p>An out later, Tunkhannock got the big blast it&#8217;s been waiting for as Kailey Reposa launched a triple to right-center to score Faith and give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.</p><p>&#8220;That was a really big deal,&#8221; said Reposa, the only senior in the starting lineup. &#8220;Our team definitely feeds off stuff like that. We get up with hits like that. I feel like that was bigger for the team and our cheering than it was for the score.&#8221;</p><p>Nanticoke answered back with a run in the bottom of the first. Rachel Roccograndi and Kiera Brown hit consecutive singles, and Roccograndi scored on a sacrifice fly by Jenna Lipowski.</p><p>The Trojanettes managed just one more hit &#8212; a single by Morgan Briggs in the fourth &#8212; but had several opportunities to score. They stranded a runner at second in the second inning. They had first and second in the third, but couldn&#8217;t score. Briggs was left at third after her single.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we gave it everything we had except for getting the key hit to swing it to our side,&#8221; Nanticoke coach Ryan Stetz said.</p><p>Then came the fifth when Hope Jones issued three walks to load the bases, with the final one coming with two outs. She worked out of another jam, getting a groundout to end the threat. She then retired the next six Nanticoke batters, including the top of the order in the seventh, to end the game.</p><p>&#8220;It was really nerve-wracking. I was so nervous,&#8221; the freshman pitcher said. &#8220;But you hit your spot and they hit it where you want them to.&#8221;</p><p>Tunkhannock scored its third run in the fifth on a two-out double by Hope Jones to deep left. Sydney Faux, who had walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, scored on the hit.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>WVC Division 2 Championship</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Tunkhannock 3, Nanticoke 1</strong></p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>HJones p`3`1`2`1</p><p>FJones ss`2`1`0`0</p><p>Schultz cf`2`0`0`1</p><p>Simmons lf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Reposa 2b`3`0`1`1</p><p>Mokychic dp`3`0`0`0</p><p>Traver rf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Faux 1b`2`1`0`0</p><p>Krispin 3b`1`0`0`0</p><p>Farr c`0`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`22`3`3`3</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Roccogrndi ss`3`1`1`0</p><p>Brown cf`4`0`1`0</p><p>Lipowski 3b`1`0`0`1</p><p>Tocket 1b`1`0`0`0</p><p>Novakwski 2b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Briggs c`2`0`1`0</p><p>Ramos p`0`0`0`0</p><p>Bohn p`1`0`0`0</p><p>Murphy rf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Sobeck dp`3`0`0`0</p><p>Benscoter lf`0`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`20`1`3`1</strong></p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`200`010`0`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke`100`000`0`&#8212;`1</strong></p><p>E &#8212; Tunkhannock 3, Nanticoke 1. LOB &#8212; Tunkhannock 2, Nanticoke 8. 2B &#8212; HJones. 3B &#8212; Reposa. SF &#8212; Lipowski. SAC &#8212; FJones, Schultz, Krispin, Tocket, Ramos 2.</p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>HJones (W)`7.0`3`1`0`6`4</p><p><strong>Nanticoke`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Ramos (L)`4.2`3`3`1`1`1</p><p>Bohn`2.1`0`0`0`0`1</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock pitcher Hope Jones, center, celebrates with her teammates after defeating Nanticoke 3-1 Friday for the WVC Division 2 softball championship. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tunkhannock pitcher Hope Jones, center, celebrates with her teammates after defeating Nanticoke 3-1 Friday for the WVC Division 2 softball championship. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc5_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Hope Jones eludes the tag of Nanticoke catcher Morgan Briggs to score her team&#8217;s first run Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc5_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Hope Jones eludes the tag of Nanticoke catcher Morgan Briggs to score her team&#8217;s first run Friday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Faith Jones is safe at first as Nanticoke second baseman Cassie Novakowski can&#8217;t get to an errant throw on Jones&#8217; bunt in the first inning Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc4_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Faith Jones is safe at first as Nanticoke second baseman Cassie Novakowski can&#8217;t get to an errant throw on Jones&#8217; bunt in the first inning Friday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock third baseman Danielle Krispin makes a throw to first in the fourth inning Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc3_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>Tunkhannock third baseman Danielle Krispin makes a throw to first in the fourth inning Friday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock catcher Hailey Farr grabs a strike thrown by pitcher Hope Jones on Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_wvc2_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>Tunkhannock catcher Hailey Farr grabs a strike thrown by pitcher Hope Jones on Friday. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams | for Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Tigers defeat Nanticoke for WVC Division 2 crown</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>

Tunkhannock takes Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 softball title