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PGC releases endangered bird American Bittern after recovery from broken wing

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McNeill not taking the summer off

Proceed with extreme caution. That&#8217;s probably the best strategy for higher seeds in the District 2 softball playoffs.Run into a hot pitcher &#8212; season over. Make a few mistakes &#8212; season over. The bats suddenly go dead &#8212; season over.It doesn&#8217;t matter where a team starts the playoffs, it&#8217;s where it ends. And for some good teams in recent years, the season came to an abrupt close with an upset loss.&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if we can win it,&#8221; Crestwood coach Bob Bertoni said, &#8220;but we could scare some teams and win a game or two. The girls play hard.&#8221;Crestwood was only 5-10 during the Wyoming Valley Conference season. At times, the Comets hit well. At others, the pitching and defense was solid. Meshing all three elements has been difficult, but if 10th-seeded Crestwood does it could be a tough game for seventh-seeded Wyoming Area (8-6).Dallas (3-11) has a very young team, but some are pointing to as a possible contender in 2017. Next season could come early if the No. 12 Mountaineers can bump off No. 5 Valley View (8-5). They have a veteran pitcher in Maddie Kelley, and that could go a long way. The 12-vs.-5 matchup produced an upset last year when Pittston Area bumped off Abington Heights.&#8220;I think Maddie threw one bad game this whole year where she wasn&#8217;t hitting her spots,&#8221; Dallas coach Joyce Tinner said. &#8220;As long as Maddie can throw, yeah I think we can be in games. We just have to make the plays. You can&#8217;t keep giving up runs on errors.&#8221;The Class 2A and 3A playoffs begin Monday. The Class A and 4A postseason starts Tuesday.Here&#8217;s a look at the four tournaments.CLASS 4ADefending champion: Hazleton AreaWVC Outlook: Hazleton Area (15-0) will be going for its fourth consecutive district championship. The Cougars returned five of 10 players who played in the D2-4 Class 4A title game last year against Williamsport. They play the winner of Tuesday&#8217;s quarterfinal &#8212; No. 5 Scranton (8-5) at No 4. Delaware Valley (8-5).Wyoming Valley West (9-6) is the other WVC team in the bracket. The sixth-seeded Spartans posted their first winning regular season since going 9-5 in 2009. The offense has struggled for most of May except for an 8-4 season-ending win against Pittston Area. They play Tuesday at No. 3 Wallenpaupack (9-4), which has won eight consecutive games.District 4&#8217;s Williamsport (11-8) is also in the tournament. If Williamsport wins the championship, then the D2 teams which lost to Williamsport in the semifinals and finals will play June 2 for the District 2 title.Prediction: Hazleton Area to defeat Wallenpaupack for the title and a spot in states.CLASS 3ADefending champion: NanticokeWVC Outlook: By far the most competitive bracket. There are seven legitimate contenders and about four dark horses who could spoil some seasons.Fifth-seeded Valley View (8-5), a traditional Lackawanna League power, won four consecutive D2-3A titles from 2010-2013. The Cougars were the top-seeded team the past two years, but was eliminated in the semifinals the past two years. They host No. 12 Dallas (3-11), a very young team but one with a solid pitcher in Maddie Kelley, on Monday. The game is now a 3 p.m. start.No. 8 Berwick (6-9) had its streak of five consecutive winning regular seasons end. The Dawgs, who won the district title in 2013, host No. 9 Scranton Prep (5-8).No. 6 Pittston Area (9-6) will host No. 11 West Scranton (3-10). The original brackets released Wednesday didn&#8217;t account for the Patriots&#8217; make-up game with Hazleton Area on Thursday and had them playing Dallas. Pitcher Taylor Baloga has been a big part in Pittston Area posting its first winning record since 2005.No. 10 Crestwood (5-10) at No. 7 Wyoming Area (8-6) is probably the most intriguing game. Wyoming Area defeated Crestwood 3-1, but it was like many Warriors&#8217; games this season where they can&#8217;t seem to put big innings together. Crestwood hasn&#8217;t put defense/pitching and hitting together often. It&#8217;s either one or the other. If the Comets get both, they could make things interesting. This game will start at 3 p.m.Tunkhannock (12-3) received the second seed by defeating Nanticoke 3-1 Friday in the WVC Division 2 championship game. The Tigers draw 15th-seeded Coughlin (0-15), which they defeated 14-0 this season. The caveat is the Tigers could end up with a very tough draw in the quarterfinals against Wyoming Area.Nanticoke (11-4) fell to the fourth seed and gets 13th-seeded Lake-Lehman (3-11). It&#8217;s the same way the Trojanettes started their march to the D2-3A title and a place in the state semifinals last year.Prediction: Nanticoke to defeat Tunkhannock for the title and a spot in states.CLASS 2ADefending champion: Holy RedeemerWVC Outlook: Holy Redeemer (12-o) isn&#8217;t only the defending district champ, it&#8217;s the defending Class 2A state champ as well. The Royals are the No. 2 seed because they lost a coin flip with Montrose (12-0) for the top seed.Redeemer had to fill some holes due to graduation, but pitching wasn&#8217;t one of them. The duo of Morgan Bienkowski and Kristen Coffay has been excellent all season. Second baseman Olivia Mennig is the only senior, so the Royals should be in the mix for a district title in 2017 as well. They have a bye and will play Wednesday against the winner of Wyoming Seminary at Elk Lake.Seminary (7-5) is the 10th seed and enters off its best regular season since going 14-1 in 2007. The Blue Knights are young and will have a tough task Monday against Elk Lake (9-3), whose only losses were to Montrose 6-1 and 4-3 and Lackawanna Trail 7-2.The upper part of the bracket features the only all-WVC first-round game &#8212; GAR (0-12) at Hanover Area (10-2). Hanover Area won both regular-season games 26-0 and 13-2, so the Hawkeyes should have little trouble in their opener Monday. The team has a nice blend of players, with three seniors leading the way. Catcher Haley Bobos and pitcher Mary Kate Penczkowski have been steady and reliable throughout their careers. Shortstop Michelle McNair has seen an uptick in her power production.Meyers (4-8) is the No. 12 seed and will have its hands full with No. 5 seed Mid Valley (9-3) in a Monday night game. Ninth-seeded Northwest (7-5) was hit hard by graduation and arguably exceeded expectations. The Rangers travel to No. 8 Holy Cross (7-5), a perennial Lackawanna League power which finished with its worst regular season since 2012.Prediction: Redeemer to defeat Hanover Area for the championship and a berth in the state playoffs.CLASS ADefending champion: Mountain ViewWVC Outlook: Fifth-seeded MMI Prep (2-10) is the only WVC team in a field of seven teams. Only top-seeded Lackawanna Trail (7-5) has a winning record.MMI&#8217;s first game is Tuesday at No. 4 Blue Ridge (4-8), which has struggled to score runs and has won two of its four victories by one run. The Lackawanna League&#8217;s Old Forge (2-10) won six of the last eight D2-A championships, but finished with one of its worst regular seasons in recent memory.Prediction: Lackawanna Trail to defeat Mountain View for the championship and a berth in the state playoffs.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Danielle Krispin swings at a pitch from Pittston Area&#8217;s Taylor Baloga during a game earlier this season. Both teams will play in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_PSD042416Tunk-V-Pitt3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Danielle Krispin swings at a pitch from Pittston Area&#8217;s Taylor Baloga during a game earlier this season. Both teams will play in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs on Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>DISTRICT 2 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT(District champions advance to states)All games 4:30 p.m. unless notedCLASS 4A (DISTRICT 2-4 REGIONAL)QuarterfinalsTuesday, May 24&#8226; No. 5 Scranton (8-5) at No. 4 Delaware Valley (8-5)&#8226; No. 6 Wyo. Valley West (9-6) at No. 3 Wallenpaupack (9-4)SemifinalsThursday, May 26&#8226; Scranton-DelVal winner at No. 1 Hazleton Area (15-0)&#8226; Paupack-Wyo. Val. West winner at No. 2 Williamsport (11-8)ChampionshipTuesday, May 31&#8226; Semifinal winners at site &amp; time TBACLASS 3AFirst roundMonday, May 23&#8226; No. 9 Scranton Prep (5-8) at No. 8 Berwick (6-9)&#8226; No. 12 Dallas (3-11) at No. 5 Valley View (8-5), 3 p.m.&#8226; No. 13 Lake-Lehman (3-11) at No. 4 Nanticoke (11-4)&#8226; No. 14 Honesdale (2-11) at No. 3 North Pocono (10-3)&#8226; No. 11 West Scranton (3-10) at No. 6 Pittston Area (9-6)&#8226; No. 10 Crestwood (5-10) at No. 7 Wyoming Area (8-6), 3 p.m.&#8226; No. 15 Coughlin (0-15) at No. 2 Tunkhannock (12-3)QuarterfinalsWednesday, May 25&#8226; Scranton Prep-Berwick winner at No. 1 Abington Heights (12-1)&#8226; Dallas-Valley View winner vs. Lehman-Nanticoke winner at higher seed&#8226; North Pocono-Honesdale winner vs. West Scranton-Pittston Area winner at higher seed&#8226; Wyoming Area-Crestwood winner vs. Coughlin-Tunkhannock winner at higher seedSemifinalsFriday, May 27&#8226; Quarterfinal winners at higher seedsChampionshipWednesday, June 1&#8226; Semifinal winners at site &amp; time TBACLASS 2AFirst roundMonday, May 23&#8226; No. 9 Northwest (7-5) at No. 8 Holy Cross (7-5)&#8226; No. 12 Meyers (4-8) at No. 5 Mid Valley (9-3), 7 p.m.&#8226; No. 13 GAR (0-12) at No. 4 Hanover Area (10-2)&#8226; No. 14 Carbondale (0-12) at No. 3 Riverside (10-2)&#8226; No. 11 Dunmore (5-7) at No. 6 Lakeland (9-3)&#8226; No. 10 Wyoming Seminary (7-5) at No. 7 Elk Lake (9-3)QuarterfinalsWednesday, May 25&#8226; Northwest-Holy Cross winner at No. 1 Montrose (12-0)&#8226; Meyers-Mid Valley winner vs. GAR-Hanover Area winner at higher seed&#8226; Riverside-Carbondale winner vs. Dunmore-Lakeland winner at higher seed&#8226; Elk Lake-Seminary winner at No. 2 Holy Redeemer (12-0)SemifinalsFriday, May 27&#8226; Quarterfinal winners at higher seedsChampionshipWednesday, June&#8226; Semifinal winners at sie &amp; time TBACLASS AQuarterfinalsTuesday, May 24&#8226; No. 5 MMI Prep (2-10) at No. 4 Blue Ridge (4-8)&#8226; No. 6 Old Forge (2-10) at No. 3 Susquehanna (5-7)&#8226; No. 7 Forest City (0-12) at No. 2 Mt. View (5-7)SemifinalsThursday, May 26&#8226; MMI-Blue Ridge winner at No. 1 Lackawanna Trail (7-5)&#8226; Susquehanna-Old Forge winner vs. Forest City-Mt. View winnner at higher seedChampionshipTuesday, May 31&#8226; Semifinal winners at site &amp; time TBA</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

There’s no easy road in D2 softball playoffs